Premier et unique

When the First World War began in August 1914, thousands of men from across Canada responded to Prime Minister Borden’s call for volunteers. Initially, nearly 30,000 men were trained at Camp Valcartier, Quebec. In October 1914, the first contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) sailed for England. By mid-1915, over 80,000 men had volunteered for military service. 

 

A number of Black Canadian men went overseas with the first contingent. Several dozen more went overseas by mid-1916. However, many others, confronted with anti-Black racism, were turned away at recruiting centres. The men were often told that it was a “white man’s war” or their services were just not wanted. Others who had enlisted, were forced to leave the army when senior officers learned they were Black.

 

Black Canadians and their allies were determined that racism not prevent their involvement in the war.

 

No. 2 Construction Battalion was authorized on 5 July 1916, the largest Black unit in Canadian military history.  Staffed with white officers except for its Chaplain, Captain William Andrew White, they made it to England in April 1917 and to southern France in May.  Here, the main unit and its two detachments were attached to the Canadian Forestry Corps where they assisted CFC companies in the entire forestry process from felling the trees to taking the finished products to the local railway siding.  

 

They maintained logging roads, operated the boilers and the water system that provided electricity and drinking water for the camps.  The finished products they helped mill were used in the trenches and the front lines.  In early 1919, the men of No.2 Construction Battalion began returning to Canada, having left a legacy of hard work, discipline and pride.