The Labour Corps of the First World War mainly comprised a now largely forgotten multi-ethnic army of tens of thousands of workers (along with British servicemen unfit to fight), without whose manpower the war would have ground to a halt.
Working under military control, these unarmed non-combatants carried out crucial tasks behind the lines on the Western Front and in other theatres of war.
They built and repaired docks, roads, railways and airfields, manned ports, stores and ammunition depots, unloaded ships and trains, dug trenches and constructed camps.
Britain sustained such appalling losses during the Battle of the Somme that virtually every fit serviceman was now needed for fighting. The demand for labour to carry out essential logistical work was becoming critical.
The government had to look to the Empire and beyond to bolster the existing Labour Corps (formed in 1915) to meet the escalating need for workers to support the army.
After the Armistice of 1918, the Corps undertook the dangerous and challenging work on former battlefields, clearing live ordnance and exhuming bodies, reburying them in the great military cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Despite their vital contribution (including Chinese, Indian and South African soldiers, many of whom were injured or died), they often suffered from the then-racist attitudes of the British Empire, segregation and discrimination. After the war, their dead received no recognition from Britain in the form of war memorials.
The Chinese Labour Corps
In China, which had been neutral but entered the war on the Allied side in August 1917, public proclamation and British missionaries spread the call for volunteers for the Chinese Labour Corps.
The reward of a higher pay rate than the men were used to, food, housing, medical services and financial support for their families back home was offered.
Around 95,000 primarily poor peasants from remote villages in the Northern provinces volunteered for service in France and Belgium.
A similar number served with the French. Their gruelling journey from China to the Western Front by ships and trains took three months and cost many lives.
The CLC was formed into companies of up to 500 men, each under the charge of a British officer. They worked 10-hour days, seven days a week and gained a reputation for hard work and ingenuity. They were allowed three days off a year.
The South African Native Labour Corps
The South African government agreed to provide men for the South African Native Labour Corps, provided they did not mix with white communities, as this would break the colour bar between races.
Many of the men were educated and included respected warriors and leaders. Yet, all were kept segregated in heavily guarded camps to prevent the men from being influenced by new ideas of equality.
Around 20,000 men had signed up because they believed that, despite being oppressed by the white South African government, demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire would gain them a voice in their deeply divided land. This hope was never realised.
The Indian Labour Corps
The Indian Labour Corps, numbering more than half a million men, served across the globe during the First World War. Support workers were traditionally integrated into the Indian military and were known as ‘followers’.
Around 50,000 were sent to France and Belgium, many from north-east India. They arrived in Marseilles, France, in June 1917 after a long, arduous journey in which many died.
The Indian Labour Corps were often used close to the front line, carrying ammunition and building fortifications. They also worked as drivers and cooks, repairing tanks, carrying the wounded and nursing the sick.
Despite the hardships of the Western Front, for some, the experience improved on the extreme poverty found at home.
Labour Corps casualties
Though concentrated behind the front line, the work of the Labour Corps had its dangers. Depots and sea ports were targets for air raids, and many accidents were associated with the handling of unstable shells and explosives.
It’s estimated that 2,000 men from the Chinese Labour Corps (there are claims the figure is much higher) and 1,500 of the Indian Labour Corps died while serving on the Western Front, some as a result of enemy action, or of wounds received in the course of their duties, but many more in the flu pandemic that swept Europe in between 1918 and 1919.
Around 1,300 South African Native Labour Corps died, including 618 men bound for the Western Front on the SS Mendi on 21 February 1917.
In thick fog near the Isle of Wight, another British merchant ship collided with the Mendi, which sank immediately. There was no attempt at rescue. Their names are inscribed on the Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton.
During apartheid, the ship became a symbol of the injustice faced by Black South Africans.
Labour Corps graves and memorials
There are many Labour Corps graves in England, including Shorncliffe, Plymouth, Birmingham and Manchester. Many men died from illness before they could reach the Western Front or the flu pandemic.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has identified 105 Labour Corps members buried in the UK. Labourers were classified as war casualties, and great pains were taken to mark their graves appropriately.
Written by Nicky Hughes.
Further reading
Thank you for this respectful attention to the contribution and sacrifices of Labour Corps members.
Are you sure picture 8 is not of George V
Good spot! We’ve amended
Reblogged this on Tish Farrell and commented:
The service of thousands of non-white personnel who provided essential labour and more during World War 1 more often than not went unregarded and unrewarded. In East Africa alone 50,000 conscripted African porters of the Carrier Corps lost their lives. Many families who had waved goodbye to their sons never heard of them again, or received their pay, or compensation, or even a thank you from the British Army. That is one story. Here are many others – of the Chinese Labour Corps in particular:
Reblogged this. Such an important story. Thank you.
For someone in our modern society, where racial discrimination has clearly been identified as a social evil, your account of the WWI labour camps reads like a horror story.
A very timely reminder of these brave men’s sacrifices, Tish. The photos are quite heart-rending.
Very interesting and informative, but no mention of the Egyptian Labour Corps? Any reason?
I had no idea. Thanks for the educational poke via your blog.
A wonderful post. 🙂
There’s so little awareness of the huge contribution and sacrifice made by these men and they were treated terribly, thank you for this post..
My uncle who was unfit for service was with the Chinese labour core and brought back some Chinese words which intrigued us as children. Sorry I never really talked to him about his experience
This is really wonderful! But injustice and discrimination is still ingrained in the so called elite. We (the British} can have no bigger debt of gratitude to any people than we owe to the Ghurkas of Nepal. Even now these fantastic soldiers are discriminated against with derisively or non existent pensions or access to help. They have only recently been given the right to live here, while every Tom, Dick or Harry, seem able to just walk in the door. Many of these brave men still live unsupported by Britain, in remote Corners of Nepal. Fortunately, the The Ghurka Welfare Trust, is there to help. They provide access to medical aid, build small community clinics, and are now even beginning to build care homes for the elderly, infirm, and widowed. It is a wonderful charity which attempts to redress the wrongs imposed on these loyal people by Governments of every colour for too long. We owe a debt of gratitude, and thankfully there are still some people who chip in to repay some of that debt. They need more funds as do all charities. In keeping with tradition of proud people they do not beg, but if you can help please look them up, and see the marvellous hands on work that is being done!
Thank you for raising awareness of this, I was completely unaware of these Labour Corps. A fitting tribute should be constructed at the National Memorial Arboretum in my opinion. It’s the least we could do.