BLACK SOLDIERS EXPOSED

This pic from 80+ years ago is of my father.. Disciplined Fraternization with Females in Edmonton, Alberta. BMM ( Before My Mother)

8 months ago | [YT] | 0

BLACK SOLDIERS EXPOSED

History of No. 2 Construction Bn
In August 1914, tens of thousands of men across Canada rushed to their local recruiting offices to enlist and fight in the First World War. Many Black men who attempted to join were turned away. It was up to the Commanding Officer to accept them or not.
Over a two-year period, Black men who had attempted to enlist and Black community leaders wrote letters to the Canadian Government and Governor General of Canada. Some military officials also challenged the racist recruiting practices and proposed options to the military chain of command.
Many of these attempts were in vain. By 1916 however, there was an urgent need for increased troop contributions to include military labour units. In April 1916, Canada agreed to a request from Britain to form one or two labour battalions and it was then decided that, based on public pressure at the time, one would be a Black labour battalion.
No. 2 Construction Bn was officially authorized as a military unit on July 5, 1916. Recruiting began in the Maritimes on July 19, and later during July, the Battalion became one of the few units that was allowed to recruit across the country.
The men of No. 2 Construction Bn trained in the use of tools, tactics and equipment in large open camp areas in the Towns of Pictou and Truro, Nova Scotia. In December of 1916, the Battalion was advised to prepare for service overseas as their services were urgently needed.
In late January of 1917, while it was mounting a large recruiting campaign to get the Battalion up to strength, No. 2 Construction Bn sent 250 men to New Brunswick to remove railway tracks that were urgently needed for military operations in Belgium and France.
On March 28, 1917, No. 2 Construction Bn finally sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the SS Southland, and arrived in Liverpool, England on April 7. Because the Battalion had sailed with only 595 of the 1,049 officers and men required for full Battalion strength, the British War Office would not allow them to go to France. The Battalion was then reorganized as a labour company of 500 officers and men with the rest of the personnel remaining in England to serve as labour reinforcements.
On May 17, 1917, the newly renamed ‘No. 2 Canadian Construction Company’ was sent to support Canadian Forestry Corps operations in the Jura Mountains of southeast France near the Swiss border. On arrival at camp, they began intensively supporting logging operations immediately. This included operating and maintaining the water system that supplied all the camps, maintaining the roads and helping build a logging railroad. They were also involved in timber operations, helping cut the trees, hauling and then helping process them in the mills and eventually, transporting the sawn lumber to the railway station.
Lumber cut by the men of No. 2 Construction Company proved an essential requirement in the trenches and along the front lines in France. It was used for revetting the sides of trenches, duckboards for the bottom of trenches and across muddy terrain, artillery gun platforms, railway ties, ammunition boxes, accommodation huts and many more uses. Lumber from the Jura region was even used to build French fighter aircraft. The work of No. 2 Construction Company allowed the mills in Jura to produce twice as much lumber as Forestry Companies without their support. Such was the testament of their determination.
No. 2 Construction Company also supported other Canadian Forestry Corps operations. In November 1917, 50 men were sent to No. 37 Company at Péronne, France. Another 180 men went to No. 1 District at Alençon at the end of December 1917, where they performed similar work as in the Jura Mountains.
With the Armistice signed on November 11, 1918, lumber was no longer required for the war effort. No. 2 Construction Company and other Canadian Forestry Corps companies were soon sent back to England in early December 1918. Most of the men from No. 2 Construction Company then sailed for Halifax by mid-January 1919 and were dispersed back to the provinces from which they were originally recruited. The majority were discharged by the end of February 1919; and No. 2 Construction Company as a unit was officially disbanded on September 20, 1920, along with the dissolution of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
The brave men of No. 2 Construction Company showed the pride and dedication of Black Canadians during the First World War. They wanted to serve their country overseas in the face of blatant anti- Black racism on the home front. In serving, they played an essential role in Canada’s war effort. No. 2 Construction Cpmpany remains the largest all-Black unit created in the history of Canada and was demonstrative of the voices from all Black communities across this great country.

8 months ago | [YT] | 0

BLACK SOLDIERS EXPOSED

Jacob Courtney: A Legacy of Service
Jacob Courtney, born in Owen Sound in 1876 to Abraham Courtney and Carrie Parker, embodied the resilience of Black Canadians whose families had escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad. Despite barriers that labeled the First World War a “White Man’s War,” Jacob enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916, determined to serve his country. His wife, Rachel, passed away in 1908 shortly after childbirth, leaving Jacob widowed and responsible for raising their young son John. Balancing grief, fatherhood, and duty, Jacob worked as an interior designer while preparing for military service.
Jacob’s commitment to Canada was carried forward by his children. His son William (Bill) Courtney served in the Second World War, enduring captivity as a prisoner of war before returning home. Other sons, Donald and Louis Courtnet also enlisted in WWII, continuing the family’s tradition of sacrifice and resilience.
Their service reflects the broader contributions of Black Canadian veterans, who fought for freedom abroad while facing discrimination at home.
Preserved in Black Canadian Veterans stories, Jacob’s life reminds us that Canada’s liberty was built on families who endured loss yet carried forward pride, resilience, and service.

9 months ago | [YT] | 2