 Loo, who married a French woman and maintained a business there until the 1950s.Between 1915 and 1916, with the World War I conflict at its height between the allies and the Central Powers of Germany and Austro-Hungary, the British recruited more than 100,000 Chinese (Chinese Labour Corps) and their French allies some 40,000, and shipped them to the French western front as desperately needed labour to relieve an acute manpower shortage.They cleared mines, repaired roads and unloaded ships, with their contribution going unrecognized for decades.