In early 1940 Liepmann was offered research funding at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, but was unable to take it up owing to his internment by the British authorities in May 1940 as an enemy alien. Following his release in February 1941, he was unable to obtain either a visa or an ocean passage to Canada to take up the position. In 1942 he received a scholarship to work at the Royal Institute of International Affairs/Chatham House in Cambridge; then from April to September 1943 he was employed for his linguistic skills as a monitor by the BBC.
