Noyelles Sur Mer Chinese cemetery, Somme

[AMMOTECHXT]

CNV00037.jpgCNV00038.jpgCNV00039.jpgCNV00040.jpgCNV00041.jpgCNV00042.jpgCNV00043.jpgCNV00044.jpgThis is a war cemetery unlike most others you will see in France.

[Slick]

I have read a ton of books/stories about WW1 and WW2. Lots of trivia about it all still accessible in my head. This is the first I'd ever heard of the Chinese being involved in the Great War. An amazing bit of info. Thanks.

Rick

[millsbomber]

The Chinease cleaned up the battle fields after the war and also dug trenches during WW1

[butterfly]

Over 700 members of the Chinese Labour Corps were employed in the Central Workshops of the Tank Corps in France from the summer of 1917.

regards Kev

[Slick]

Are there any detailed sources of info on the Chinese Labour Corps?

Rick

[AMMOTECHXT]

I note from the info that the officers & NCOs were British, so wonder if there was any kind of war diary for the Chinese Labour Corps. If I get a few minutes spare I might have a check of The National Archives (TNA) catalogue via their web site.

I've had a quick look at TNA website and there are many references to the Chinese Labour Corps. One is WO 106/33 and concerns the organisation, recruitment and history of the Chinese Labour Corps 1916 - 1920. It does not expand much on what is in it and I guess to obtain more info you would need to contact TNA. The catalogue also lists references to hospital admissions to various General Hospitals eg 2nd, 18th & 19th, where Chinese Labour Corps men, among others from many other places, were admitted. Some Cabinet Office papers that are referenced give snippets of info, such as men were recruited from Northern China because the climate in that part of the country was more similar to that of the Western Front and people recruited from the South would have suffered in such a different climate from the one they were used to. The then Chinese government was perceived as thinking that there would be financial benefits to the country if they allowed their citizens to be recruited as labourers. However after the war there were papers that stated the USA and UK were concerned about repatriation of Chinese `coolies' who had been working in Bolshevist Russia. Oh, and the China / Tibet thing isn't new either but that is a different story. I have also found references to medal record cards of British officers & NCOs who served with the Chinese Labour Corps. Many were attached from other regiments. From previous research in family history I would suspect that many of them would have been wounded and medically downgraded but were still fit for a military role, like those who were re-allocated to the Labour and Pioneer battalions.

There are also links to the Access To Archives (A2A) network. One of those documents mentioned that Chinese Labour Corps men were banned from using a particular brothel (maison tolerees).