This film is part of Free

Our Boys

British troops make their presence felt in Shanghai as China slides towards civil war.

Non-Fiction 1927 1 mins Silent


This is one of several Topical Budget newsreel items covering the arrival of British troops in Shanghai early in 1927. The Shanghai Defence Force was formed to protect European interests in the city from Chinese nationalist forces, and included battalions of the Royal Marines and the Coldstream Guards. Troops were withdrawn later that year, but China's long civil war had begun.