Canada's Black Second Construction Battalion’s Contribution

Like thousands of other Canadians during the First World War, young black soldiers were eager to serve their country. But at the time, informal segregation made it difficult for blacks to join the Canadian Army. On July 5, 1916, the Second Construction Battalion of Pictou, Nova Scotia, was formed. It was the first black battalion in Canadian history.

Black military heritage in Canada is generally unknown and unwritten. However, black Canadians have a long and honourable tradition of patriotism, sacrifice and heroism in the British, Canadian and American armed forces.

From the American Revolution (1775-1783) to the Korean War (1950-1953) blacks have fought and died for the cause of freedom. During the Revolutionary War the British Crown encouraged slaves to desert their rebel masters and join the British lines. Thousands responded to the call and the opportunity to escape the shackles of slavery. In the British-American War of 1812, blacks helped to defend Upper Canada against American attacks. A number of volunteers in Niagara were organized into the Company of Coloured men, a segregated unit with white officers.

Black militia units played a major role in subduing the Upper Canadian Rebellion (1837-1839). In all, five companies of black soldiers took part in some of the most important incidents of the war. By the 1850s, blacks began receiving military honours for their bravery. The first Canadian sailor, the first black man, and the first Nova Scotian to win the Empire's highest award for valour, The Victoria Cross, was William Edward Hall, a seaman from Horton's Bluff, Nova Scotia.
In 1860, prior to the American Civil War, approximately 600 blacks emigrated from California to Canada in hopes of escaping racial persecution. They settled on Vancouver Island’s Colony. After being denied the right to join the volunteer fire brigade, they decided to organize a volunteer military force known as the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. The unit became the first officially authorized military force in western Canada. Decades later during the South African Boer War (1899-1902), a small number of blacks served with the Canadian Contingent

At the outbreak of the First World War, black Canadians were turned away from recruiting stations across the country. Black people in a number of provinces viewed military service in wartime not only as a right, but also as a responsibility. They were not prepared to accept a policy that excluded them on racial grounds. Under persistent pressure, the Canadian military finally authorized the recruitment of an all-black non-combatant labour unit.

Recruitment took place across Canada, but the majority of recruits came from the Maritimes, mostly from Nova Scotia. Eventually, 605 men were accepted into the battalion, including 19 officers. On March 28, 1917, the battalion boarded the SS Southland bound for Liverpool, England. They eventually reached France, where they joined the Canadian Forestry Corps. Their commander was Lt. Col. D.H. Sutherland of River John, Nova Scotia and Hon. Capt. William A. White served as their chaplain. White was the only black commissioned officer in the British forces during the First World War.

The unit served honourably in France, providing lumber necessary to maintain trenches on the front lines. Some of the members went on to serve in combat units. There were unknown and forgotten heroes like James Grant, who came from St. Catharines, Ontario, and received the Military Cross in 1918. Roy Fells of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia was awarded the Military Medal while serving with the famed 25th Battalion from Nova Scotia. A black soldier, Curly Christian had the distinction of being the lone quadrilateral amputee to survive the war. He was present at the unveiling of the Vimy Ridge Memorial in 1936. And Jeremiah Jones of Truro, Nova Scotia, who crossed the bloody battlefield at Vimy Ridge and took an enemy machine-gun nest.

The battalion was disbanded in 1920 and seemed destined to fade into the mists of time, overlooked by history books. However, the veterans of the unit and their families never forgot. In 1932, Calvin W. Ruck, a social worker and civil servant from Sydney, helped to organize a reunion of the surviving veterans of the unit. Fours years later, Ruck published a book called Canada's Black Battalion, a history of the unit.

In 1987, Ruck approached the mayor of Pictou and suggested the Market Wharf receive recognition for its role in Canadian history. Four years later, Pictou town council declared the site a municipal historic property. From there, the Pictou council and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia in a joint effort tried to gain national recognition for the site and the battalion. The success was achieved, when in 1993; the Historic Sites and Monuments Board announced its decision to commemorate the Market Wharf for its role as headquarters for the No. 2 Construction Battalion.