These photos belong to an old lady who thinks they were taken by a relative of hers during the Boxer Rebellion but I think they date from later, possibly WWII. One of the pictures shows a prominent memorial. Does anyone know where it is? If I can discover the location I will then be able to date the pictures more accurately and ascertain which conflict was occurring at the time they were taken. I would be most grateful for any suggestions or advice on further enquiry. I tried the Imperial War Museum but they said they cannot help with pre-1914 conflicts, despite the fact that the tin hats worn by the soldiers suggest WWI at the earliest. They weren't very helpful. Thank you.
Hi Gerald, welcome to the forum. Looking at the pics i would say that they were taken between the 1920's - 1940's going by the style of the cars in the background in the 3rd pic. It also suggests that going by the uniform the soldiers are American and the pics were taken in America rather than China, possibly somewhere where there is a China Town near a dock. Surprisingly the sand bagged area are there to stop people leaving the dock area rather than covering the possiblity of someone trying to break in to the dock. I've not seen that memorial before and would also be interested in knowing where it is. I started out thinking that it maybe Singapore but until the end of WW2 i don't think that there was a war memorial there. It also has a Oriental God on it so i'm thinking that maybe its one that the Chinese put up after WW1 to commemorate their war dead. If it had been the Box Rebellion the pics would of had to of been taken pre 1901 but the style of cars and uniforms don't go with that idea. It is possible that they were taken in China between the two WW's but i'm not sure that the Chinese had so many American cars at that stage as it was still very much a third world country. Also the buildings are more American than Chinese, even the Chinese cities did not have buildings that were so Western in their design. Hope that helps Sniper
I would say its Hong Kong/ Shanghai harbour and the armoured car is to do with when the Communists tried to end foreign rule in 1927.
Thank you for your reply, Kbak. You're right, it is indeed Shanghai and the year is 1927. The monument in the background of the middle picture is situated on the Bund (seen here from a different angle) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shanghai_1928_Bund_Cenotaph.jpeg Similar armoured cars can be seen in news reel footage relating to this campaign at the British Pathe site, although I couldn't see no. 77! I got to the bottom of this a couple of weeks back but forgot to update the thread, but thanks all the same for getting in touch. And belated thanks to Sniper also for taking the time to respond - much appreciated. All the best, Gerald.
I could tell it was Shanghai from the first sight. It was called Pairs of the East back then. It was an international port city, that is why there were many foreigners and foreign buildings as well. Hong Kong was nothing compare to Shanghai until 1960~1970s. This photo was from Shanghai in 1930. As you can see, the buildings were indeed western in style. You can even see them today (I have been there), these buildings are still there. There were plenty of cars there. Plenty of mafia with Tommy guns too. It was almost like in big cities in the U.S.
