A response to The Yorkshire Post’s, Story behind the First World War Cemetries and why they matter. That so respected an academic can detail the establishment of First World War cemeteries in such detail and not mention the harrowing contribution of the Chinese Labour Corps is testament to just how effectively their story has been …
Category Archives: Context
Corfflu Llafur Tsieineaidd | Two Videos in Welsh
Erbyn hanner ffordd trwy 1916, roedd y rhagolwg o’r cyngrheiriaid colli’r rhyfel yn dod yn bosibilrwydd wirioneddol. Roedd prinder gweithlu beirniadol wedi’I rhagfynegi wrth dilyn y colliad enfawr a ddaeth o’r Brwydr y Somme. Cafodd yr argyfwng hyn ei ddatrys gan y 96,000 o wirfoddolwyr Tsieineaidd a ffurfiodd y Corfflu Llafur Tsieineaidd a rhoddodd y …
Reflections on SS Mendi Centenary Commemorations: A Chinese Perspective
Steve Lau, Chair of the Ensuring We Remember Campaign, offers personal reflections on an SS Mendi commemoration event. The SS Mendi was en route from South Africa to France. On board were over 800 member of the South African Native Labour Corps. At 5:00am on 21st February 1917 the SS Mendi was sailing past the …
Countdown to China’s Great War centenary
Today’s our second anniversary. We launched the Ensuring We Remember Campaign on the 14th August 2014. It wasn’t a random date, it marked the 97th anniversary of China formally joining the allies as a belligerent in the Great War. From today, 14th August 2016 through to 13th August 2017 we will be remembering the men …
With the Chinese Labour Force in France in 1918
With the Chinese Labour Force in France in 1918 (The late Norman Mellor worked with the Chinese Labour Corps for some time after the war. In October 1999, a copy of his report was sent to me by his widow. Unfortunately the copy of the report – date stamped 29 Mar 1983 – is rather …
Chinese labour on the home front to be explored at Conference in September.
The Ensuring We Remember Campaign is delighted to be contributing to Dissenting Voices and the Everyday in the First World War Conference to be held at the National Archives over three days, starting on September 8, 2016. An outline of our presentation is given below. Trade Unionism and the Yellow Peril: The use of Chinese labour …
Englands Yellow Peril – Sinophobia and the Great War
As England suffered heavy casualties at the front during World War One, the nation closed ranks against outsiders at home. England sought to reaffirm its racial dominance at the heart of the empire, and the Chinese in London became the principal scapegoat for anti-foreign sentiment. A combination of propaganda and popular culture, from the daily …
Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party recognises and supports campaign
Our thanks to Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party for highlighting the need to recognise the contribution of the Chinese Labour Corps at a speech during an event to mark the Chinese New Year. Thanks too to Chinese for Labour, one of the Campaign’s Strategic Partners.
A tribute to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
We owe so very much to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Commission) in relation to commemorating the fallen men of the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC), as a community, as a society and as a nation. For almost one hundred years the Commission carried the torch that ensured that the light that illuminated the CLC’s contribution was …
I signed the petition because…
As a Chinese from the mainland I’m totally ignorant of this historical event back then but now that I know I feel so sorry for these men who made such a great contribution was totally forgotten by either their employers and their motherland people. It’s so sad. Dee,Coventry
A long train journey with men from Shandong
Steve Lau, Chair of the Ensuring We Remember Strategic Partnership Board, shares the story of an inspiring encounter with men from Shandong on a recent visit to China. Three hours before I was due to take off, my plans to fly from Jinan to Shenzhen were scuppered. I won’t explain why, not because it would …
Stanley Cemetery, Hong Kong
Stanley Cemetery sits on the southern side of Hong Kong Island and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The cemetery is not particularly large, but is immaculately maintained, as anyone familiar with the work of the CWGC would expect. Its entrance is dominated by …
Praise… of sorts!
“During the last big push by Germans, the Chinese labourers working behind the lines offered their services to help the wounded, who were streaming back from the front in all kinds of conveyances. When official permission was given, they gave their own cigarettes and food rations to the wounded men they were helping. The wounded …
The Chinese Labour Corps in Basra? Part 2
In a recent post, The Chinese Labour Corps in Basra? we explored the story of 227 unidentified Chinese buried in Basra, explaining our belief that records had been lost rather than the names of those Chinese having never been recorded. Our belief was based as much on cultural reasons as on anything else. Wherever possible the British paid respect to …
In memory of John “Jack” Johnstone
Private M1/5741 John “Jack” Johnstone, committed suicide on the 7th July 1916. Why it is hard to even guess a reason. Perhaps it was because of the date, he killed himself soon after the opening of the Battle of the Somme. Jack was only 21 he had his life in front of him. He was …
What should we remember?
An interesting question was posed in a report by Austrian researchers into commemoration. But what should we remember if existence and memory are no longer part of what we remember? It’s a great little sound-bite, but what does it mean? Ultimately, if we do not remember existence or memory, then what can we remember? Reflecting on the …
A message from France
I had never heard anything of these Chinese who came during the First World War. Through Mr Léo Lapointe’s book* I now know a little about the terrible conditions that they experienced. Nathalie, France * Most likely refers to the novel, Le planqué des huttes by Léo Lapointe’s
The difficulty of assessing China’s war loses
It is difficult to clearly evaluate China’s war losses during World War I (WWI). Firstly, defining the time period in question is a complex matter: China passed through a period of neutrality (August 1914 – March 1917), a period of severance of diplomatic relations (March 1917 – August 1917), and a period of declaration of …
2007 Article from the South China Morning Post
BEHIND THE NEWS Oct 08, 2007 A bronze plaque on the wall of a Paris railway building and a modest monument in a small park are the only reminders of a remarkable but forgotten story of the first world war – 150,000 Chinese volunteers who cleared mines, removed the dead and made munitions, and became …
Surely we should invite our Chinese friends to the Cenotaph
The following article, by Professor Michhael Wood, appeared in the April 2015 edition of BBC History Magazine. Our thanks to historyextra.com and the editorial team’s kind permission for us to reproduce the article. We’ve been filming in China on and off for many months now, and still enjoying every minute. It’s nearly 30 years since …
The Long Shadow
[T]he Chinese dimension of the Great War rarely figures in British-centred narratives despite its importance in understanding our own day. David Reynolds The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth Century, p432 ISBN-13: 978-0857206350
英国殖民大臣专电英属威海卫租借地行政长官骆克哈特
值此停战大喜之日，我向威海卫人民祝贺战争胜利，并感谢你们的帮助，从威海卫招募的华工军团对战争发挥了巨大作用，非常感谢华人社团对政府的衷心支持。 1919年11月11日 青少年爱国主义网
The `coolie’ killing fields
By Danny Buckland in The Independent, 28 June, 1997 Britain has made much of human rights in the run-up to the hand- over of Hong Kong to the Chinese, but who are we to point fingers? As Danny Buckland reports, thousands of Chinese labourers died at our hands from mistreatment, malnutrition and bullets during the turmoil …
The incredible story of Colonel AA Kennedy
The words of Andrew Denison, grandson of Colonel AA Kennedy, on the presentation of the banner (shown above) given to Colonel Kennedy by members of the Chinese Labour Corps. I thought I would tell you a little about my grandfather, Col. AA Kennedy, and how the magnificent banner that you are about to see came …
Why I signed the Petition…
I was surprised to see Chinese graves in the British Cemetery at Bellicourt near St Quentain. Now I know why they are there. These men desrve our respect and gratitude. John, Ickenham
Why I Signed the Petition
I believe that it is imperative that we recognize, appreciate, and commemorate the enormous personal contributions and sacrifices made by so many ordinary people in this terrible conflict. The story of the Chinese Labour Corps is an absolutely extraordinary one, and I applaud the Ensuring We Remember Campaign for their efforts to establish this woefully …
China’s problems at the outbreak of war: No 1. Spheres of Influence
China, at the outbreak of war, was effectively controlled (in large part) by five greet powers, Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Japan, through what was known as spheres of influence. Within these spheres the respective nations held sway, and even the Chinese government could not enforce its own laws if push came to shove. …
Book Review: China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization.
Xu Guoqi. China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2011 342 pp. £24.93 (Paperback), £68.55 (Hardback) ISBN 978-0521283236. Reviewed by Peter Worthing Department of History, Texas Christian University Beyond Betrayal: The Larger Picture of China and World War I Discussions of China and World …
Source of war dead records
Each day we publish an In Memoriam, detailing the names of those men of the Chinese Labour Corps who died on that day. Currently we are using the lists of names and their dates of deaths provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is generally believed that a significant number who died have not …
Shandong
Shandong (山東) literally means Eastern Mountains. As has been briefly explained in our short history of the Chinese Labour Corps the fate of Shandong is at the heart of the story of the Chinese Labour Corps. China’s spokesperson at the Paris Conference called it Chinas Holy Land. Certainly some of Shandong’s scenery is inspiring, as this …
Why it matters…
Why it matters. In an occasional series of articles, we ask people involved in the Campaign to tell us why it matters, Steve Lau writes in his capacity as Chair of the Chinese in Britain Forum, the Campaign’s lead body. —– To embark upon such a venture as the Ensuring We Remember Campaign isn’t done …
Protected: Observations on the Buckland article
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.