Those that laboured
- juliethanson64
- Jan 1
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 11
The Labour Corps of WWI
Note: The stories of the individual labour corps are detailed in separate blogs.
On 21 February 1917, in heavy pre-dawn fog near the Isle of Wight, the British merchant ship Darro collided with the SS Mendi. On board the Mendi were 823 men from the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps. Tragically, 650 of them perished that night.
These men were heading to the Western Front, not to fight, but to work. Their role was to support the war effort by performing the essential labour that enabled others—mainly European soldiers—to fight.
At the start of the war, many of these tasks were carried out by infantrymen, who, though trained to fight, were pressed into non-combat roles due to the growing demands of the war. However, as the war dragged on the need for additional labour intensified and countries turned to their colonies for help.
Labour was needed both on the home front—working in factories and filling jobs vacated by soldiers—and on the battlefield itself. In Italy, Libyans were recruited to work in Fiat factories, while in France, colonial workers were employed in munitions plants. But it was Britain that relied most heavily on colonial labour on the battlefields. (Germany recruited workers from occupied territories.
According to Professor Richard Holmes, in his book No Labour, No Battle, the scale of labour required was immense. Roads and railways had to be built and repaired, timber had to be felled and fashioned for everything from huts to duckboards, and discarded items—ranging from rifles to boots—had to be salvaged and refurbished. Additionally, labourers were responsible for transporting food, water, fuel, and ammunition, as well as maintaining essential equipment like sandbags, wire pickets, and water pumps. They also played a crucial role in recovering and burying the dead.
The South Africans aboard the Mendi were intended to join a broad network of colonial labourers on the Western Front. They would be working alongside Canadian Labour Battalions, other battalions of the South African Native Labour Corps, the British West Indian Regiment, Indian Labour Companies, Fijian Labour Companies, and the Cape Coloured Battalion from South Africa. Together, they formed part of a force of some 300,000 labourers working on the Western Front.
Labour was also recruited in other theatres of war. In the Ottoman Empire's occupied territories, workers from India, Mauritius, Palestine, Persia, and Egypt were brought in to support the war effort. Both the British and French also recruited local populations, including Arabs, Kurds, and Persians. It is believed that a labour battalion from the Seychelles may have also participated, although detailed information about this unit is scarce.
One of the more notable groups was the Canadian labour units, which included Black men from across Canada, and, it is believed, some African Americans. These units served in France. The Indian Labour Corps also worked in France and Mesopotamia, and it is estimated that around 1,500 Indian labourers died in France, most due to illness.
Despite their critical role, the treatment of these workers was far from ideal. Labourers were overseen by European officers and were often segregated, both from the fighting soldiers and from each other. For instance, South African Native Labour Corps workers were kept separate from Chinese workers, reflecting the racial segregation policies of the time.
Due to apartheid policies in South Africa, the white South African government insisted that segregation continue during the war. Britain, desperate for labour, agreed. As a result, many of these labourers, some of whom were highly educated and respected in their own communities, were kept in heavily guarded camps to prevent any notion of equality.
Around 20,000 men volunteered for the South African Native Labour Corps, hoping their contributions would earn them a voice in South Africa's future. Sadly, this hope was never realized.
Sources
No Labour No Battle, John Starline & Ivor Lee, 209, The History Press,
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