Yesterday the Daily Mail published this interesting article describing how displaced persons (DPs) helped rebuild Britain after World War Two. Their invaluable contribution to society not only took place in Britain but in other countries too. In Australia, many of the Europeans who fled Soviet terror worked on important building projects and expanded industry. It was the perfect arrangement, DPs needed a safe new home after the war and countries needed to fill their labour shortages.
Amid dark times when essential industries were crippled by staff shortages, immigrants from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania filled a gap in the workforce and restored communities across the country.
Between 1946 and 1950, 13,000 Latvians, and more than 6,000 Lithuanian and 5,000 Estonian Displaced Persons (DPs) came to Britain as part of two organised European Volunteer Worker schemes, Balt Cygnet and West Ward Ho!
To read the full article, please click here: Revealed: How tens of thousands of Eastern European immigrants helped rebuild Britain in the dark days after WWII
