The Mirpuris (from Pakistan) appear to have been good deal more reluctant to establish themselves in Britain than the Sylhetis. Their own local colonies only started to be established during the course of the Second World War. Many ships were being sunk in the Atlantic at the time, and the stokers, often Mirpuris and Chachis, were undoubtedly amongst the most vulnerable members of their crews. Escape from the stokehold, in the deepest recesses of the engine-room, was most unlikely in the aftermath of a torpedo attack. Nevertheless, a significant number of Mirpuri and Chachi seamen did find themselves on the quaysides of Britain, having been rescued but, unlike the Sylhetis with their restaurants, they had no obvious source of employment.

Once again providence intervened. Britain's heavy engineering plants in cities such as Birmingham and Leeds were desperately short of labour, as so many men had gone off to join the army, and the ex-stokers were well used to working in hot and dangerous conditions. Once a small number of Mirpuris and Chachis moved into such jobs, it was not long before many more came to join them - not least because they were much better paid as foundry workers than as stokers.

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