No. 2 Construction Battalion

Pictou, Pictou County

Whether told bluntly that “this is a white man’s war”, or politely that “we’ll call you if we need you”, countless patriotic Black Canadian volunteers were being rejected at recruiting stations at the outbreak of war in 1914.

Bucking a racist bureaucracy that didn’t want a “checkerboard army”, several Black leaders and their white supporters lobbied tirelessly to be given the chance to do what they considered their patriotic duty. They made public the humiliation Blacks were suffering, and after the issue was raised in the House of Commons, a change came about.

Blacks could join the war effort if they could gather together enough men to form a segregated battalion. Five hundred men from Nova Scotia, sixty from Toronto, three hundred and fifty from Ontario, and fifty from Western Canada enlisted to form the No. 2 Construction Battalion on July 5, 1916.

This Battalion was the only volunteer unit to engage in non-combative work before proceeding overseas: mainly lifting rails from the Grand Trunk sidings in Moncton, Nappadogan, and Edmunston, New Brunswick.

On March 25, 1917 the Battalion embarked from Halifax on the troopship Southland. As it was “three hundred under strength”, it was reorganized into a construction company and detailed into working parties digging trenches for the troops in training in England ,and repairing roads within the bounds of the Canadian command.

In 1917 they were attached to the Canadian Forestry Corps, departing for France on May 17. Upon arrival at La Joux, Jour Mountains, on May 21, they assisted in logging, milling and shipping operations, and repaired roads and assisted in relaying water supplies.

Battalion members excelled at their work and on April 3, 1918 were recommended for transfer to the Western Front. The war ended shortly thereafter, and the troops left for Canada in January of 1919.

“A letter was received by Major Sutherland … conveying the thanks of the Canadian Forestry Corps to the officers and men of this unit for their valuable and faithful services while attached for duty and discipline to the Canadian Forestry Corps“.

Captain George Borden summarized the mood well in Black Soldier’s Lament ¹ :

The bugle called and forth we went
To serve the crown our backs far bent
And build what e'er that must be done
But ne'er to fire an angry gun
No heroes we not nay not one

With deep lament we did our job
Despite the shame our manhood robbed
We built and fixed and fixed again
To prove our worth as proud black men
And hasten sure the Kaiser's end…

…Peace restored the battle won
Black sweat and toil had beat the Hun
Black blood had spilled black bodies maimed
For medals brave no black was named
Yet proud were we our pride unshamed…

A monument was erected in Pictou dedicated to all those who served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in World War I. Lest we forget.

Location:
Monument – southeast corner of Caladh Ave. beside Tourist Kiosk, behind the deCoste Centre and Fougiere's Restaurant, Pictou

For more information:
Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia
1149 Main Street, Dartmouth, NS, B2Z 1A8
Phone: (902) 434-6223
Email: mail@bccns.com
Web Site: http://www.bccns.com

See: No.2 Construction Battalion. in Nova Scotia's part in the Great War. Compiled and edited by M.S. Hunt. Halifax: the Nova Scotia Veteran Publishing Co. Ltd., 1920. p 148-154.

Ruck, Calvin W. The Black battalion (1916-1920): Canada's best kept military secret. Halifax, Nimbus, 1987.

¹ Ruck, Calvin W. The Black battalion (1916-1920): Canada's best kept military secret. Halifax, Nimbus, 1987. Appendix D.

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