Photograph of the 1924 unveiling of the Shanghai War Memorial to the Great War. The memorial was built to commemorate around two hundred Shanghai expats (from the Allies) who died in the Great War.

It is worth remembering, of course, that China joined the war on the allied side in late 1917. But this was only just remembered in 1924, and resentfully so: China’s ‘late’ arrival on the Allied side was felt by many local foreign residents to be worse than not having joined the conflict at all. However noises were made in public about the need for an addition being made to the monument to recognise the sacrifice of the many Chinese members of Labour Corps who worked for the allied forces. But as far as I can find out, the monument never came to bear any inscription or plaque commemorating the Chinese dead of the Great War.

Professor Robert Bickers
Lost monuments and memorials of the Shanghai Bund