We Care!

The Battalion championed a
man who was instrumental
in allowing many Blacks into
the army: Captain William
Andrew White, the only Black
commissioned officer in the
British forces during World
War One. White became the
first Black man to receive
an honourary doctorate of
divinity from his alma mater,
Acadia University, and served
in the Black Battalion as a
chaplain.
More than 100 of the men
were from the United States
because that country had
not entered the war yet,
and there were a number
of Black Americans who
were eager to serve for
the British Dominion.
America had a much greater
number of Black Americans
commissioned as officers
compared to Canada: 600
Black American officers.
The Black Battalion was
unique and distinguished
from the other Battalions:
they were to report directly
to Ottawa and bypass the
usual chain of command
in Halifax, and they recruited
Blacks from all across
Canada. Although they
expected to recruit 1,000
soldiers throughout Canada,
they were met by spite and
discouragement.
It appeared that the rejection
and humiliation suffered
by many eager Blacks at
the beginning of the war
caused a fair amount of
unwillingness to now join
what they were told was a
white man’s war. From
all across North
America, the
Black Battalion
mustered 624
men, 18 of
which were white
officers.
The men were sent
to New Brunswick
to carry rails to ship
overseas. Pneumonia
broke out among
the men, and the
Battalion’s Private John
Lambert of Halifax died
from it. After receiving the
call to go overseas, they went
to Halifax and traveled to
Liverpool, England, aboard
the SS Southland to arrive on
April 7, 1917.
In August, Canada
established conscription
by way of the Military
Service Act, which called all
Canadian men, age 20 to 45,
forces made it to Europe,
the war was over before they
participated. The Armistice
Agreement was signed on
November 11, 1918, and the
troops were gradually sent
back home.
The Black Battalion didn’t
arrive back in Canada until
1919, and did not officially
disband until 1920, and that
“Many Blacks were eager to
join the Canadian Forces;
eager to fight, and to earn
the privileges and respect of
wearing the uniform.”
who had up to one child.
Sixty Black Canadians found
themselves in the army,
placed in a segregated labour
unit heading overseas to the
war. The No. 2 Construction
Battalion had been broken
up into a company more
than a month after their
arrival in England, and
they were attached to the
Canadian Forestry Corps.
Some of the Black Battalion’s
members were assigned to
combat in the front lines,
because Canada had lost
so many men in the
war. By the time
the conscripted
military
was the end of the segregated
unit. The Americans went
back home, and Captain
William White began his
ministry at Cornwallis
Baptist Church in Halifax
while raising his family of 12
children. The White family
soon became known for their
musical talents and several,
including Captain White’s
son Lorne and his daughter
Yvonne, gained recognition
for their performances
in concerts on radio
and television. Perhaps
the best known was his
daughter Portia White, who
developed an international
reputation as a classical
singer.
Like freedom, the Black
Battalion can symbolize a
multitude of things. It was
the last segregated Black
unit in the Canadian Forces;
however, it was a symbol of
racism. That whites could
not work alongside Blacks
was a culturally-enforced,
mistaken belief, and not an
ethical, actual fact. Through
time, enough people could
see past that, and change
was possible.
But what is perhaps most
striking is the symbol of
determination shown
by the Black men in the
battalion. They overcame
the words of rejection from
their white comrades; they
looked past the humiliation
of segregation; they fought
despite hearing that they
could not. When they
were told that they did not
belong, they proved, in fact,
that they did. Their struggle
to join the Canadian Forces
and defend Canada is
admirable and inspiring—
but only to those who have
heard and remember their
story.