Canada’s “All Black Battalion” - No. 2 Construction Company - BHM 2024 - 20th of May, 1917 transcript

[Music] in World War I the Canadian people from all walks of life were signing up for military service but in one part of the country one group of people were being turned away at recruiting offices the black Canadians of Nova Scotia following protests and appeals from the Black Nova Scotia Community the Canadian military authorized on the 5th of July 1916 entirely black Battalion the number two construction Battalion of the Canadian expeditionary Force formed in pikto then trained at Truro in less than a year they were shipped off to England their commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hugh Southerland a railroad contractor by trade he too was born in Nova Scotia on the 6th of July 1916 he was appointed commanding officer of the new number two construction Battalion his first Duty was to raise a battalion of men but immediately faced difficult ulties in achieving the required number of recruits by the end of summer he'd only managed to recruit around 109 men forcing him to make attempts to recruit from black communities in Ontario United States and even the Caribbean he was Notorious for discharging men out of the service for misconduct the unit would never achieve full Battalion strength the rest of the unit's officer core was made up of other white Canadian officers that is except for the unit chaplain an American expat preaching and TR Nova Scotia Reverend William white would be the unit's only black officer achieving the rank of Captain the rank in file came from various backgrounds Cooks Carpenters Etc the unit would depart Canada on the 17th of March 1917 listing 19 officers and 604 other ranks taking passage on the SS Southland before departing Nova Scotia Colonel southernland would be demoted to the rank of major to reflect the size of the unit he commanded in route two privates would die of illness before the vessel arrived in Liverpool on the 7th of April 1917 departing Liverpool for sea for major southernland was hopeful his unit would be utilized as a railroad unit but while performing military training the unit was interrupted to perform potato planting the men were happy to get out of marching and weapon drill but major southernland requested assignment to France the Canadian expeditionary Force accepted the request on a few conditions request by the units other ranks to transfer to other units would be honored about 100 men would be transferred to other Canadian units mostly replacements for infantry battalions and other logistical units the unit would also be renamed the number two construction company for a mixture of two reasons the first was the unit's failure to recruit and retain men to a battalion level the second was a request by the commanding officer of number one construction Battalion complaining his men had to share a similar name with a black unit departing England on the 17th of May 1917 with nine officers and 495 other ranks the number two construction company was to be attached to the Canadian forestry Corps in Yoda France near the French Swiss border despite major Sutherlands aspirations to do railroad work the unit for the rest of the war would be assigned mostly forry duties despite some of the men having to be quarantined due to measles upon arrival the unit when it arrived on the 20th of May 1917 went straight to work cutting Lumber would be the primary duty but occasionally construction parties would be assigned to transporting Wood Road and rail maintenance and wood mill work while maybe not as dangerous as Frontline combat Duty it was nonetheless vital to the war effort freed up valuable maritine and rail logistics for other supplies and Manpower this Lum would go to be producing crates revetments and other military necess Necessities it was thankless work but they did it exceptionally nonetheless Sundays were a day off for the other ranks in the company the men were given leave to visit the nearby French Villages the unit also boasted a band and Cinema showcasing both and celebrating with the locals on dominion day the 1st of July December was a strange time though because on the 16th of December 1917 in the capital of Nova Scotia Halifax was the site of a devastating EXP expion the news reached the men on the 8th of December among the ranks anxiety of what had happened at home gripped the men Christmas brought some comfort a turkey dinner but their Plum puddings didn't arrive on Christmas day three officers and 180 other ranks were transferred to the hospital at alen con the medical officer citing climatal conditions are too severe for the colored men despite this prognosis the men were transferred in the cold an open top by box train cars worsening their condition one of the men sent to hospital was the unit's chaplain Captain White it's also at this time that the Canadian expeditionary Force decided to form an additional seven construction companies some of the men were taken away from second construction company to kingi to form a new company so on the 1st of January 1918 only eight officers and 257 other ranks remained this loss of Manpower was supplemented though with the addition of 15 Russians the unit history records them as useless and spreading socialistic Doctrine many of the Russians were caught in Camp when they were supposed to be working most troubling was when the Russians were buying up the unit supply of cigarettes to sell to the local French people pocketing the profits after major southernland reported these events to command the Russians were transferred in the wake of the German spring Offensive Command ordered the company to begin military drills and and be prepared for action on the Western Front on the 3rd of April 1918 the men resumed rifle and bayet drills but by the end of April the Germans had failed to break the Western Front and the need for emergency troops had faded the men went back to their duties despite never fighting the Germans men still died in the service the primary reason for deaths was disease claiming around eight lives murder followed as the most numerous claiming two men private Su whose dead body was mysteriously found in the middle of the road a French soldier may have been the culprit but no case was ever brought before a judge the second death was Private Carvey after a brawl with Private Johnson Johnson had been part of the second construction Battalion before being transferred to a different unit when the two men saw one another on the 20th of November 1918 a fight broke out and private Carvey was killed Johnson was given a 15-year sentence for his crime the the Canadian construction units were some of the first to be shipped home arriving back in England by December 1918 unfortunately in kinmel park Wales after a sergeant in the second construction Battalion attempted to discipline white Canadian soldiers a fight broke out between the Canadians but thankfully no one was hurt the unit was broken up and shipped back to Canada in three separate vessels arriving in Halifax Nova Scotia at various times in January 1919 the majority of the other ranks were discharged by February 1919 anyone having enlisted outside of Nova Scotia were given train passes back to the province they had enlisted in the officers of the unit would be discharged at various times until the entire Canadian expeditionary force was disbanded on the 15th of September 1920 since the 1920s various Canadian institutes and persons have made memorials and given thanks company's trailblazing Endeavor to get an all black Canadian unit to serve in the first World War War their service provided a much needed logistical support for the on taunt war effort while we cannot measure how many yards they captured or prisoners they took the valuable space on vessels carrying ammo food or blankets overseas rather than Lumber is perhaps unmeasurable as was their honor