No. 2 Construction Battalion—An Overview

Note: The content below is a blend of two previous posts on this blog—African Canadians and the Canadian Expeditionary Force (January 2014) and Pte. Joseph Alexander Parris—A No. 2 Construction Battalion Soldier's Story (January 2014). This post was last updated on May 19, 2021.

Background—African Canadians and the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Canadians from many racial and ethnic backgrounds were eager to serve with the newly created Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).  Unfortunately, some groups received a less than enthusiastic response at recruitment offices.  Canadians of Native, Japanese and African ancestry in particular encountered indifference, resistance and outright rejection when they attempted to enlist for overseas service.

Considering their record of previous military service with British military units, it is not surprising that African Canadians sought to enlist with the CEF after the outbreak of the First World War. While a handful succeeded in joining the First Canadian Contingent battalions that departed for England in September 1914, the vast majority were rejected due to their racial background.

To their credit, African Canadian communities and leaders across the country protested throughout the first year of the war. Their complaints largely fell on deaf ears until a November 1915 incident in New Brunswick provoked considerable backlash. A group of 25 Black volunteers who had persistently attempted to enlist throughout the year were turned away when they reported for service with the 104th Battalion at Sussex, New Brunswick.

In the aftermath of the incident, the unit's Officer Commanding (OC), Lieutenant-Colonel Beverley Robinson Armstrong, wrote to military officials, asking if consideration was being given to the formation of a “black battalion” anywhere in Canada. Simultaneously, Minister of Militia Sir Sam Hughes responded to correspondence received from John T. Richards of Saint John, NB, in relation to the Sussex incident.

The content of the Minister's letter was both curious and contradictory. Hughes stated that he had issued instructions that any African Canadian who met the CEF's physical requirements should be permitted to enlist in any battalion, a policy that was clearly not being followed. Subsequent to Hughes' correspondence, Adjutant-General William Egerton Hodgins wrote to the General Officer, Military District 6, Halifax, NS, on November 29, 1915, stating that the Minister had issued instructions that "the coloured men are to be permitted to enlist in any battalion.”

Despite such explicit statements from both civilian and military authorities, OCs and recruitment officers continued to reject Black volunteers, and their superiors, not wishing to overrule their judgment, declined to intervene. A similar incident in Ontario eventually brought matters to a head, forcing Canadian government officials to finally resolve the blatant contradiction between national policy and local practice.

In November 1915, J. R. B. Whitney, publisher of the Canadian Observer, a prominent African Canadian newspaper, offered to recruit a “Black” Ontario platoon of 150 men for service with a CEF battalion. When Minister Hughes replied that there was nothing to prevent him from doing so, Whitney raised the required number of volunteers, only to be told in March 1916 that no OC was willing to accept such a platoon.

The following month, Whitney once again contacted Minister Hughes, seeking an explanation for this rejection and requesting his platoon's accommodation within an existing battalion. The military's failure to meet his request represented tacit acknowledgement that discriminatory practices at the local level, not official policy at Ottawa, determined the fate of African Canadians wishing to serve with the CEF.

The availability and suitability of African Canadians for military service was readily apparent to some individuals within the military. Reverend Joseph Freeman Tupper, an Honorary Captain and Chaplain who enlisted with the 193rd Battalion on April 1, 1916, wrote to Minister of Militia Hughes, volunteering to raise an “integrated” battalion after local recruiters turned away more than 100 African Canadians. His offer received no serious consideration.

By mid-1916, events occurring in the larger context of the war eventually produced a resolution of sorts to the issue of African Canadian military service. Rising casualty figures overseas, combined with declining enlistment numbers at home, created a significant problem for the CEF—for the first time since the war's outbreak, it faced the prospect of declined numbers of men in uniform.

At the same time, there was increasing support amongst military commanders in Ottawa for the formation of a separate Black unit of some kind.  Unwilling to over-rule local COs who consistently refused to accept Black recruits, such action was perceived as the only acceptable solution, albeit not an ideal one.

In April 1916, after 18 months of discussion, contradiction and lack of action, Major-General Sir Willoughby Garnons Gwatkin, Chief of the Canadian Militia's General Staff, recommended that the “practice” of allowing individual Blacks to enlist in “white” battalions at the discretion of individual OCs should continue. He further suggested that African Canadians form one or more labour battalions for overseas service.

Gwatkin's memo became the basis for the CEF's recruitment policy with regard to African Canadians for the remainder of the war, and prompted the formation of a separate Black battalion.  On May 11, 1916, British authorities indicated their willingness to accept an African Canadian labour unit. Canadian military authorities quickly announced the formation of No. 2 Construction Battalion at Pictou, Nova Scotia on July 5, 1916. Granted official permission to recruit its personnel across the entire country, the unit provided the first official opportunity for African Canadians to serve overseas with the CEF.

No. 2 Construction Battalion—Organization & Recruitment

While its formation was a victory of sorts for the African Canadian community, there were significant elements of inequity in its structure. For example, all of its officers but one—Honorary Chaplain, Rev. William A. White of Truro, NS—were Caucasian, and infantry units remained virtually closed to African Canadian recruits throughout the remainder of the war, with only a handful of exceptions.

By coincidence, the unit organized in a barracks on the Pictou waterfront recently occupied by a Company of the 106th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles). The Truro-based unit was one of the few to accept African Nova Scotians into its ranks. At least 16 enlisted with the 106th and were transferred to active front-line infantry battalions when the unit was disbanded shortly after arriving in the United Kingdom. These men, however, remained the exception to the rule throughout the war.

Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Hugh Sutherland, a native of River John, NS, who had initially enlisted with the 193rd Battalion, was appointed the unit's OC. The remaining officers were drawn from across Canada and the United Kingdom, eight of whom were Nova Scotians. While organizers hoped to enlist a full complement of 1,049 men all ranks, initial response was disappointing. Whether discouraged by the CEF's previous discriminatory practices or dismayed at the prospects of serving in a segregated labour unit, young African Canadian men did not rush to enlist. By August 19, Lt.-Col. Sutherland reported a total of only 180 recruits at the battalion's Water Street barracks.

On September 9, in an effort to stimulate recruitment, No. 2 Construction relocated to Truro, a community with a sizeable African Nova Scotian population. The location was also closer to the Halifax area's large African Nova Scotian population. Lt.-Col. Sutherland laid out plans to obtain half of the unit's personnel from the Maritimes, an additional Company from Ontario and a fourth from Western Canada. In the end, 500 of the battalion's total enlistments came from Nova Scotia, 24 of whom were born or lived in Guysborough County. New Brunswick contributed 33 recruits, 11 of whom were part of a group of 20 black recruits rejected by the 64th Infantry Battalion in late 1915.

No. 2 Construction Battalion band & recruits, Windsor, ON

While the move to a more central location increased the provincial response, results from the remainder of the country were disappointing.  A total of 72 recruits from Ontario and six from Quebec enlisted for service, but appeals in Western Canada, where federal immigration policy blatantly discouraged African Canadian settlement, produced only 20 recruits.

By December 1916, total numbers stood at 575 all ranks, while a campaign launched in the United States during the winter of 1916-17 produced an additional 165 recruits. That same month, No. 2 Construction Battalion received word from military authorities in Ottawa that the unit was required overseas as soon as possible. Lt. Col. Sutherland replied that as full strength had not yet been reached, he wished to delay its departure for several months, hoping to increase the unit's numbers.

During the winter of 1916-17, Canadian government officials received an urgent request for steel rails required in France. In response, a party of 250 No. 2 Construction Battalion men were dispatched to load rails at Grand Trunk sidings in northern New Brunswick in early 1917. Completing the task in mid-winter conditions took a toll on the men's health. In fact, an outbreak of pneumonia among its soldiers claimed two lives.

Pte. Edwin Lionel Hay, a native of Port of Spain, Trinidad, was working as a mechanic in Sydney, NS, at the time of No. 2 Construction Battalion's formation, and enlisted with the unit at New Glasgow, NS, on July 25, 1916. Edwin came down with what first appeared to be a cold on January 29, 1917, but his condition quickly worsened. Admitted to St. Basile's Civic Hospital, Edmundston, NB, two days later, he passed away from pneumonia on February 12, 1917.

The second fatality was Pte. William John "Willy John" Jackson, a native of Antigonish, NS. Admitted to St. Basil’s Civic Hospital on the day prior to Pte. Hay's death, Willy John passed away from pneumonia on February 19, 1917. His remains were transported to Antigonish, where he was laid to rest in St. Ninian Parish Cemetery.

On March 17, 1917, No. 2 Construction Battalion officially mobilized at Truro with a complement of 19 officers and 605 other ranks (OR). Several days later, the battalion travelled to Halifax, where personnel boarded the SS Southland and departed for England on March 28. Upon landing at Liverpool, UK, on April 7, the men travelled to the CEF military camp at Bramshott. As it was significantly below full battalion strength of 1,049, No. 2 Construction was officially re-designated a Company shortly after its arrival, and attached to the Canadian Forestry Corps (CFC) for service in France.

No. 2 Construction Company—Service In France

On May 17, 1917, a total of 495 No. 2 Construction Company OR departed for France, accompanied by 11 officers. Upon crossing the English Channel, the men made their way to the Jura District of eastern France, near the Swiss border, where they were attached to No. 5 District, CFC. Its Headquarters' May 20th diary entry recorded the arrival of the Company, "composed of Canadian Negroes… despatched [sic] as a labour unit... and... employed on the various railway and other construction work."

CFC's Jura operations involved all aspects of forestry production. Teams of men worked in the forests year-round, selecting and harvesting mature timber that was transported by horse and wagon or narrow-gauge railway to CFC-operated mills. The men produced lumber for various purposes: ties for standard and narrow-gauge railways, pickets, beams and boards for military camp and trench construction. No. 2 Construction personnel worked in all aspects of the operation—assisting with mill operation, constructing a narrow-gauge railway to move logs to the mill yard, transporting logs to mills, milling timber, and loading finished products onto rail cars at a nearby siding.

No. 2 Construction personnel at work in France

While the majority of its personnel remained in the Jura District during No. 2 Construction's time in France, two smaller groups were dispatched to other locations for specific reasons. On November 12, 1917, one officer and 50 OR "proceeded to Cartigny as a detachment to assist No. 37 Company [CFC] in their work." The enlisted men had one thing in common—their service files record numerous minor disciplinary infractions.

CFC camps, like their civilian counterparts, were "rough and tumble" operations. The men worked a six-day schedule, with Sundays designated as a day of rest. Shifts were limited to a regular working day, leaving the men with free time in the evening hours. The proximity of French towns and villages, with their "estaminets"—small cafés that sold alcoholic beverages—offered a welcome diversion from a hard day's work, but often resulted  in mischief. In other instances, some of the men failed to adjust to the military's "discipline" expectations.

Disciplinary problems were not limited to No. 2's personnel. Every CFC unit's war diary is replete with references to disciplinary proceedings and courts martial addressing a wide variety of incidents, from violations of military rules and misbehaviour in camp to offences committed in nearby communities. In September 1917, CFC Headquarters decided to address the issue by sending the "repeat offenders" within No. 2 Construction's ranks closer to the front lines, where labour units were in demand. It was hoped that the change of scene would result in greater conformity to the military's expectations.

Upon arriving at Cartigny, the men were attached to No. 37 Company CFC and worked alongside its men in carrying out the operation's routine tasks—cutting and transporting logs, and repairing the roads used for transporting harvested timber to the mill, tasks virtually identical to their Jura routine.

When German forces launched a major offensive against Allied positions on March 21, 1918, No. 37 Company and its No. 2 Construction detail found themselves in a precarious situation. German artillery shells struck the area around the camp, forcing personnel to abandon the area. While lumber, machinery and the mill were left intact, important machinery parts were buried and stores removed.

Personnel marched out of camp at 5:00 pm March 23, with German forces less than two kilometres away, and made their way to a CFC camp at Wail, where work resumed the following day. No. 2 Construction personnel remained with No. 37 Company until early December, when they received orders to rejoin their comrades at Étaples, France, before proceeding to the United Kingdom.

A second group of No. 2 Construction men, consisting of 180 OR and two officers was assigned to Central Group CFC, No. 1 District, Alençon, on December 12, 1917, a move intended to address a different issue, at least in the minds the Jura District's medical officer and CFC Headquarters in France. 

A considerable number of No. 2 Construction's personnel were from the Caribbean Islands or parts of the southern United States. With a cold winter in the mountainous Jura region was fast approaching, the officer was concerned that men accustomed to a much warmer climate might develop health issues that would limit their ability to work and possibly require hospitalization, and notified CFC Headquarters of his concerns.

In response, CFC HQ agreed to re-assign these men to an area of France where winter conditions were much less harsh. The irony of this decision was that, by the time the selected personnel departed for Alencon, the rainy, damp November weather had given way to a cold, dry December, and the men exhibited no difficulty in adjusting to the changes. However, the decision had already been made and neither the medical officer nor CFC HQ wished to request a reversal, fearing embarrassment at their poor judgment.

Further insult occurred when the train assigned to transport the group to their new location. In the words of No. 2 Construction's war diary, "train accommodation [was] very poor, as all the men [were] placed in open box cars and exposed to cold weather. The reason given for moving these men away, viz. that the climatic conditions at La Joux are too severe for the coloured men[,] do not correspond with the train furnished."

The Alençon operation consisted of nine CFC companies logging the forests of Normandy. Upon arrival, No. 2 Construction personnel were attached to No. 54 Company, CFC. On March 25, 1918, the "entire district was put on production of pickets" for use at the front. Its operations involved several diverse groups. In addition to white CFC and black No. 2 Construction personnel, several parties of Russian reinforcements and German prisoners of war worked in its camps throughout the year.

In early April 1918, CFC Alençon personnel received orders to conduct infantry training when not working. The following month, specific orders required each Company to devote two half-days a week and three hours each Sunday morning to "Military Training.” Considering the discriminatory practices followed by most CEF infantry battalions, it is doubtful that this directive was applied to No. 2 Construction personnel.

Before the end of the year, a small number of CFC men were selected for service at the front. On October 4, 1918, as the Canadian Corps spearheaded the final weeks of a three-month offensive against German positions in northern France and Belgium, a draft of six non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and 150 OR left Alençon for the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp. Given the timing of their departure, these men likely saw service at the front before the war's conclusion.

The men of No. 2 Construction Company continued to work in the forests and lumber camps of Jura, Wail and Alencon throughout 1918. During the late summer and early autumn of 1918, CFC men across France were granted leaves in small numbers. In this instance, No. 2 Construction personnel, having worked “overseas” for 15 months, received the same privileges as their CFC comrades. Upon receiving news of the November 11, 1918 Armistice, No. 1 District CFC HQ's war diary reported that "a general holiday was to be observed throughout the District on November 12 for the purpose of celebrating the temporary cessation of hostilities.”

As fighting came to an end, production at CFC's various lumber camps ceased and personnel gradually returned to England. No. 2 Construction Company’s men were the first to depart, congregating at Étaples, France, in early December and crossing the English Channel to the United Kingdom in one group on December 14, 1918.

Throughout their time in uniform, No. 2 Construction's personnel experienced racist attitudes and discriminatory practices in a variety of ways. The most obvious example of discrimination was their exclusion from service with active combat units at the front. Racist attitudes were also common. Following its establishment, representatives of No. 1 Construction Battalion, an all-white labour unit, voiced their disapproval of the unit's name. When officials arranged for overseas transportation aboard SS Southland, combat units scheduled to sail aboard the same vessel protested No. 2 Construction's presence. In both case, Canadian military authorities ignored the objections.

Discriminatory practices continued during their overseas service. For example, while No. 2 Construction personnel at Jura, France, were permitted to participate in a July 1, 1918 "Dominion Day" sports competition, the men at Alençon were denied the same privilege. This inconsistency once again reflected the choices made by local OCs, practices that military authorities continued to ignore throughout the war.

Perhaps the most serious overseas incident is said to have occurred at Kinmel Park, Wales, UK, where No. 2 Construction's personnel were processed prior to their return to Canada. While undergoing the routine medical and dental examinations that were part of the discharge process, the men found themselves in a camp with personnel from numerous other units that were predominantly if not exclusively white. In such an environment, it is not surprising that friction eventually occurred.

Two No. 2 Construction veterans later recalled one particular incident. Private Benjamin Elms, a native of Monastery, Antigonish County, described a disturbance that broke out between No. 2 Construction personnel and a group of CEF infantrymen when "a white soldier made a racial remark." After No. 2 Construction's Sgt. Edward Sealy, a native of Barbados, ordered the man arrested, "his buddies came to release him and all hell broke loose."

Pte. Robert Shepard of Mulgrave, another No. 2 Construction veteran, had a slightly different recollection of the incident: "No. 2 was on parade under the direction of Sergeant Sealy. A sergeant-major from another unit ignored orders from Sergeant Sealy and interfered with the line of march. When he was arrested, some of his comrades attempted to remove him from the guard house. A riot broke out and a number of soldiers ended up in hospital."

Other reports present different accounts of the incident. One suggests that a white unit stepped in front of No. 2 Construction soldiers waiting their turn in the bath line. A second claims that white Canadian officers refused to return the salute of parading No. 2 Construction men during a regimental parade. Unfortunately, Sgt. Sealy's personnel file makes no reference to any incident.

Whatever may have transpired, the accounts may explain why military authorities seemed intent on quickly returning No. 2 Construction to Canada, in comparison to other CEF units. In general, the "rule of thumb" following the November 11, 1918 Armistice was to send the units that had served overseas for the longest period of time back to Canada first. That was not the case For No. 2 Construction's personnel, who left the continent one month after the Armistice, while other CFC units remained in France for weeks or months into the New Year.

Similarly, once the unit arrived in the United Kingdom in mid-December 1918, its soldiers were quickly processed and departed for Canada aboard the Empress of Britain on January 12, 1919. The vessel docked at Halifax 10 days later and the men disembarked, having spent almost 22 months overseas. Several more weeks of processing were required before No. 2 Construction’s personnel were formally discharged from military service in early February 1919.

Sources:

African Canadian Community - World War I. Windsor Mosaic. Available online.

Black Canadians in Uniform - A Proud Tradition. Veterans Affairs Canada. Available online.

Joost, Mathias. "No. 2 Construction Battalion: The Operational History." Canadian Military Journal, Col. 16, No. 3, Summer 2016. Available online.

List of Court-Martialed No. 2 Construction Battalion Servicemen Released. Boxscore News.  Available online.

No. 2 Construction Battalion. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Available online.

Regimental Record of Sgt. Edward Sealy, number 931011. Library & Archives Canada, Ottawa: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8751 - 48.  Available online.

Ruck, Calvin W.. The Black Battalion 1916 - 1920: Canada's Best Kept Military Secret.  Halifax, NS: Nimbus Publishing Ltd., 1987.

War Diary of Canadian Construction Company (Coloured), 1917/05/17 - 1918/10/31. RG9, Militia & Defence, Series III-D-3, Volume 5015, Reel T-10866-10867, File: 747. Available online at Library & Archives Canada.

War Diary of Canadian Forestry Corps - Headquarters - Central Group, 1916/11/30 - 1919/02/28. RG9, Militia & Defence, Series III-D-3, Volume 5016, Reel T-10867-10868, File: 751. Available online at Library & Archives Canada.

War Diary of Canadian Forestry Corps - Headquarters - Jura Group, 1917/11/26 - 1919/03/29.  RG9, Militia & Defence, Series III-D-3, Volume 5016, Reel T-10868, File: 751. Available online at Library & Archives Canada.