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.
16 2011/2012