Annamite Soldier in 1940 Shanghai

We see a lot of pictures of western, Chinese and Sikh police and soldiers in old Shanghai – far fewer Annamite soldiers who worked and served in the French Concession. This picture is from 1940 and is of an Annamite soldier guarding Shanghai’s “Newspaper Row” (Avenue Edward VII) – I’ll blog on the attacks on “Newspaper Row” imminently. Annamite soldiers may have been in Shanghai earlier but certainly the  3rd Regiment of Tonkinese Rifles was posted to Shanghai in 1915, another company was sent to the city in 1927 during the disturbances. Anyway, here’s “A tough little French Annamite” on Avenue Edward VII (Yan’an Road today and the elevated highway)….