BLACK CANADIANS AND THE MILITARY
Prepared by J. R. Hind 24/01/2020.
Black Canadians have had a long and when given the opportunity, a glorious military history serving their country.
I will try to explain how military service changed, most often to meet the needs of war rather than a social enlightenment but never the less tended to have a positive effect on lives Black citizens over many years. I will try to show this, using examples of specific individuals.
The issue of racial discrimination in the Canadian military, results in part from the close connection between the Canadian forces and the Imperial forces back to the founding of Canada. The reliance on the might of the Imperial army and the Royal Navy is the basis for this practice. From the capture of New France in 1759 through the War 0f 1812-14 there was a continuing dependence on the British Crown to protect the country. After the founding of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 the fledgling Canadian military adopted the structure and regulations and military traditions of the ‘mother country’.
Over time, as the country matured so did the Canadian military. But it was a long time in coming for people of colour as follows:
BRITISH MILITARY LAW – PRIOR TO THE GREAT WAR AND ON.
The Manual of Military Law classed ‘any Negro or person of colour’ as an ‘alien’
Any person who is an alien may… ‘be enlisted in His Majesty’s regular forces, so, however, that the number of aliens serving together at any one time in any corps of the regular forces shall not exceed the proportion of one alien to every fifty British subjects.’
Once enlisted such an alien could ‘… not be capable of holding any higher rank in His Majesty’s regular forces than that of warrant officer or non-commissioned officer’.
Even the process of enlisting was discretionary: The Manual of Military Law provided that ‘… whether or not a man was accepted into the ranks depended on his colour or the way in which his colour was interpreted by a recruiting officer or an interviewing board”.
Enlistment in England was voluntary until the end of 1915 but when conscription
came in those who did not report when receiving their call-up papers now faced the courts, under the Military Service Act (which did not come into effect in Canada until late 1917).
The Military Service Act created it’s own problems now. What to do with the black conscripts?
- Many black enlistments were rejected.
- Transfer to the British West Indies Regt.
- Prompting them to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. (No2 Construction Bn.). Pte. Thomas Bush 1024188 of Norfolk, England does appear on the Nominal Role of No. 2 Construction Bn. 28 March 1917, I did not see any others from the UK.
The AMERICAN REVOLUTION
During the American Revolution, Blacks fought generally on the side of the British. The British governors of the thirteen colonies, in an effort to disrupt the rebel economy, by reducing the number of slaves available to do labour and to reinforce the ranks of area regiments. In 1775 the British Governor of Virginia promised emancipation to any Black slave who joined his army. 800 joined. The other governors also offered run-away slaves, (There where 300,000 slaves in the 13 Colonies) their freedom should they joined the British forces. Former slaves formed their own Corps, the Black Pioneers, which received commendations for bravery and conduct.
One such individual was Tony Small a run-away in South Carolina who joined the “Red coats”. In the battle of Eutaw Springs, it was during this battle that Tony carried the wounded Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763 – 1798) off the battlefield saving the Lord’s life.
In February 1789, guided by compass, he traversed the country with his friend Lord Fitzgerald, from Frederickstown to Quebec, falling in with Indians by the way, with whom he fraternized; and made his way down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Making Tony Small one of the early explores of this area. He would accompany the Irish Lord back to England and Ireland. They were a handsome, peacock pair, one walking behind the other, but always together. Fitzgerald became involved in politics and was shot in 1798
When the Americans finally won their independence many of the ‘freed slaves’ left for Canada along with the White UEL’s (United Empire Loyalists) who often took their slaves.
So it was that between the American Revolution and the War of 1812-14 many military trained Free Blacks came to settle in Upper and Lower Canada and the Maritimes.
With England smarting from it’s loss of the American Colonies and at the same time having to deal with the rise of French power and Napoleon few British ‘Regulars’ could be spared to defend the Canadian frontier. As a result, The ‘Citizen – Soldier’ or Militia became the standard for Canada’s military base. There were two main types of militia, the Active which were attached to garrisoned British units and Sedentary Militia who were very local and only called up when needed.
Active Militia’s often had Black men in their ranks, usually men who had served in the ARW. Sedentary Militia’s in the Kingston Niagara and Amherstburg areas, organized on a county basis, tended to be White.
The WAR OF 1812 – 14
Once again the necessities of war created by the American invasion of Canada saw Black men recruited into Black Only regiments; Capt. Robert Runchey, encouraged by Samuel Pier Point a Black ACW veteran, raised a company of Black men known as the “COLOURED CORPS” or “COMPANY OF COLOURED MEN”.
Blacks fought on the side of the British during the war of 1812, they fought in the battle of Queenston Heights, and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane.
The primary use of many of the Black units were as ‘SERVICE’ units, cutting wood, building roads and hauling the supplies, most were not armed due to a lack of trust by their White officers.
The Rebellion of 1837 – 38 (Upper & Lower Canada).
Generally Black men enlisted in Militia regiments would have been called up where needed to quell the revolts in their areas such as the “PEI Fencibles”. Five companies of Black volunteers did take part in the in the Battle at Toronto, there is no evidence that Blacks were involved at the Battle of St. Eustache in Lower Canada.
The Rev. Josiah Henson served as Captain in the 2nd Essex Company of Coloured Volunteers which help garrison Fort Malden for five months. This company was also involved in the capture of the schooner “Ann” in January 1838.
Although slavery had been abolished in the British empire by 1834, the Niagara riot (Solomon Moseby / Hackett) shows the insecurity of the Africans, and how little they could rely on the protection of their own government; nevertheless, when Mackenzie’s rebellion began that December, the Africans proved to be some of the strongest loyalists. They feared that a rebel victory would lead to annexation of Upper Canada to the United States and the reintroduction of slavery.
On December 11, 1837, Thomas Runchey, (a son of Robert of the War of 1812-14), was ordered to raise a corps of Africans, and a company of 50 men was in arms by December 15, under the command of James Sears. A second Black company was raised in Niagara under Hugh Eccles. Apparently, the men jailed as a result of the riot were released on condition they join one of the companies. The two companies were joined to together to form what was called the “Colored Corps” with a combined strength of about 130 men. The unit served along the Niagara frontier and Lake Erie shorline, from Chippewa to Drummondville during the winter. The Military or Jail was not unusual as you will hear later.
During the summer of 1838, however, when many militia units were to be disbanded as the rebel threat had largely passed, Runchey ran off with the money that was to have been paid to his men. Captain Sears paid the men out of his own pocket and he was not reimbursed by the government until 1840. Runchey, it appears, had deserted to the United States and never returned to Canada.
The colonial government after 1838 decided to reform the militia forces and sought to form a full battalion of 400 Africans, but this time, with no immediate emergency, few volunteers turned out. Africans, it appeared, had not fought to save the colonial government in Toronto, as much as they had fought to save their own distinct community.
Canadian Blacks in the British Imperial Forces.
The 1850’s saw the Britain’s Imperial forces involved in many parts of it’s far flung empire. Though Canada did not supply any units to these actions, Canadians did enlist and serve in many of these engagements. One such individual was:
William Hall was the first black man to win a VC. Born in 1827 in Nova Scotia, the son of a freed slave, Hall volunteered for the Royal Navy some time before 1852. In November 1857 he was part of the Naval Brigade from HMS ‘Shannon’ which helped to relieve the British Residency in Lucknow, winning the VC alongside Lieutenant Thomas Young. Hall remained with the Navy, rising to the position of Quartermaster and Petty Officer in HMS ‘Peterel’ before he retired in 1876.
His other awards and medals include:
- 1854 and 1855 the Turkish Crimean War Medal and the British Crimean War Medal
- 1856 was made Captain of the foretop
- On 19 Oct., 1901, the Duke of York, the future King George V, while visiting Halifax, was so impressed by Hall’s collection of medals. that he gave him a place of honour during a parade of British veterans.
This gallant warrior died at his home in Avonport, Nova Scotia, on August 25.1904.
A memorial was constructed to mark his bravery and still stands. In 1967 another plaque was placed on the memorial. It reads as follows: “This cairn marks the last resting place of William Hall V.C.”.
The American Civil War:
“Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States.” – – Frederick Douglass
The early reversals of the northern Union forces and the significant number of casualties forced them to look a Black recruits for infantry units.
Approximately 180,000 African Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy. Both free African-Americans and runaway slaves joined the fight. Some 900+ Blacks from Canada were part of the Union forces, 61 of those coming from Essex and Kent county.
Many of the Canadian Black may well have been ‘run-away’ slaves. Why risk their freedom and perhaps their life in this American war?
Wanted to help abolish slavery?
Had family in the confederate States still in bondage?
Wanted the $100 bounty for joining the Union Army?
The reasons are probably as varied as those that motivate and soldier to serve his country or a cause.
On July 17, 1862, Congress passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September, 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation
In general, white soldiers and officers believed that black men lacked the courage to fight and fight well. In October, 1862, African American soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers silenced their critics by repulsing attacking Confederates at the battle of Island Mound, Missouri. By August, 1863, 14 Negro Regiments were in the field and ready for service. At the battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27, 1863, the African American soldiers bravely advanced over open ground in the face of deadly artillery fire. Although the attack failed, the black soldiers proved their capability to withstand the heat of battle.
Although black soldiers proved themselves as reputable soldiers, discrimination in pay and other areas remained widespread. According to the Militia Act of 1862, soldiers of African descent were to receive $10.00 a month, plus a clothing allowance of $3.50. Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress granted equal pay for all black soldiers.
In actual numbers, African American soldiers comprised 10% of the entire Union Army. Losses among African Americans were high, and from all reported casualties, approximately one-third of all African Americans enrolled in the military lost their lives during the Civil War
The first Black commissioned officer in the United States Armed Forces was Major Martin Robinson Delany from Chatham, Ontario. He joined the Union Forces at the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65). Mary Ann Shadd would also take Black women into war with her recruitment of both Canadian and American Blacks.
The early reversals of the northern Union forces and the significant number of casualties forced them to look a Black recruits for infantry units.
The South African War 1899 – 1902:
It was during the Boer War in the 1890’s, when the concept of the White man’s war came into vogue. Neither side in the conflict enlisted Black soldiers.
Though there were no Black enlistment’s the Canadian Government for the first time demanded that any Canadian unit sent to the conflict would not be absorbed into the Imperial Army and would be under Canadian Command. This would have a greater significance in the “Great War” twelve years later.
The GREAT WAR 1914 –18
It would be W. W. I that would see the greatest change in Canada’s military an cement a new set of traditions and regulations that would be felt by Black Canadians from this point on.
With the outbreak of World War I, Black Canadians, like their White counterparts, flocked to the recruitment office. In the early days of August 1914 patriotic fever seemed as first to be colour-blind. This was particularly true in the Maritimes where many militia regiments had Black men in their ranks.
It must be remembered that although the Canadian government had exercised a degree of independence during the South African War the model of military organization and regulation was still based on the British Imperial Forces.
The 1910 Manual of Military Law stated that, ”any Negro or ‘person of colour’ was able to enlist in the army, but could not be capable of holding higher rank in His Majesty’s Forces than that of warrant officer or non-commissioned officer.”
Prior to 1914 every applicant for a commission had to complete form MT393A. Among the many questions asked was whether the candidate was of “pure European descent.” Like the concentration camp, the notion of White superiority was not a German invention
Although the official military policy was that anybody who was of age and medically fit could join the army, it was up to the local officer of the regiment or the battalion to accept or reject the applicant. Officers at the local level still had the idea of the ‘White Man’s War’. They rejected Black applicants with expressions such as ‘we don’t want a checker board army’. A Colonel Ogilvie, the officer commanding Military District 11, Victoria B.C., expressed his views in a letter to the Military Council headquarters dated December 9, 1915 : ‘… Several cases of coloured applicants for enlistment have been reported on by Officers Commanding units and the universal opinion is that if this were allowed it would do much harm, as white men here will not serve in the same ranks with negros [sic] or coloured persons.
There were cases of Blacks being initially accepted in the recruitment office, leaving their job, arriving to join up with their Battalion to be insulted and told that there would be no coloured men serving in that battalion. It would be an insult to the White soldiers! They had to return home and try to pick up the pieces of their lives. There were Whites who were trying to rectify this situation, most notably Captain J. F. Tupper of Westville, Nova Scotia, and J.R.B. Whitney, publisher of the Canadian Observer. Whitney raised a platoon of Black men after being advised by Lieutenant-General The Hon. Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence, that they would be attached to an existing Canadian Battalion. Whitney raised the Regiment, but faced a road block Hughes had failed to mention. Acceptance of Whitney’s regiment was up to the discretion of the Battalion officers. No Battalion would accept the Black regiment. Whitney had to disband his regiment.
The horrors of the early battlefield casualties soon changed British attitudes and the BEF began to transfer many Indian Army regiments to the middle east and finally to the western front to reinforce British battalions. This use of non-white troops became paramount after the 1916 Battle of the Somme when the British and Commonwealth units suffered 60,000 casualties in the first week of fighting. The question of where to find replacement quickly took on great importance.
It was decided by those in power that the best policy to follow would be the establishment of a non-combatant Black battalion. On May 11, 1916, the British War Office in London cabled the Governor General expressing its willingness to accept such a unit. In 1916 the population of Canada was between 7 and 8 million and the Black population was about 20,000.
On July 5, 1916, the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, was born. It was the first and only segregated battalion in Canada. Its headquarters were in Pictou, Nova Scotia. The battalion was to be made up of 1,049 men of all ranks, all officers save the Chaplin would be White. There was difficulty recruiting enough Blacks to make up the battalion, as there was a certain amount of resentment from the two years of rejection. And there was resentment that this segregated battalion was non-combatant.
To fill the ranks of this battalion, American Blacks were accepted as were Blacks from right across Canada. John Ware (the famous cowboy) and his two sons travelled from Alberta, to join the battalion. Rev. William Whitejoined the battalion as the Chaplain. He was given the rank of Captain, making him the only Black commissioned officer in the British or Canadian Army. During the same time period, there were over 600 army Officers in the United States Military.
In the BEF Walter Tull the grandson of a slave in Barbadoes, orphaned at nine one of six, grew up in a Methodist-run orphanage he became a printer and a professional football player. With the out break of war he would be the first Black to receive a King’s Commission but unlike the Rev. Capt. White, Lieut. Tull served in an infantry battalion. MID for “gallantry and coolness” he led his men through battles in Italy and France. It was at the 2nd Battle of the Somme that on 25 March, 1918 he was KIA. His men of the 23rd Middlesex Regt. thought so much of him that they made “numerous sorties, under murderous enemy fire to retrieve the fallen officers body.”
The Black Battalion (No. 2 Construction) received orders to go overseas on March 17, 1917. Being 200 men under strength and therefore not a true Battalionthe Canadian commanding officer took a demotion to Major to remain with his men. Upon arrival in England they learned that a British Military rule the forbid “soldiers of colour” from leaving their camp would apply to the men of No. 2 Construction. By this time the CEF was well established a an independent Corp and would not subject the men to this demeaning treatment. The battalion was sent to France for training, and did great service laying rail lines. Some members of the battalion were transferred to other units, and a few Black Canadians ended up in the front line trenches.
Even though Black men served their country and their comrades with great distinction credit earned was not always rewarded. Such was the case of Jeremiah Jones, enlisting in June of 1916 at the age of 39 this 6’ 6” man had a hard time making his way to the front in a combat unit because of the colour of his skin.
He persevered and on Easter Monday 1917 he went ‘over the top’ with the RCR’s as part of the Canadian Corps attack on the German stronghold at Vimy Ridge. A machine gun had pinned down he and the men of his unit when he volunteered to silence the gun. Single handedly he did just that, captured the gun and six prisoners. Jones said of the event: “I threw a hand bomb right into the nestand killed about seven of them…. I was going to throw another bomb, when they threw up their arms and called for mercy.”
Jones forced the Germans to carry the machine gun back to the Canadian lines where he had them place it at the feet of his CO. For this the CO recommended him for the DCM second only to the VC. Senior officers dismissed the recommendation and Jeremiah received nothing. He would be later wounded at Vimy and again at Passchendale but survived the war.
A young Black man from Chatham also found himself in the infantry.
HOSEY , STANLEY Regimental number: 3131622 Reference: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4517 – 3 Date of Birth 01/03/1897 @ Chatham, ON. Son of Cadmus Hosey of 277 Park Ave. E., Chatham, ON. A Labourer. Military Service Act No. 719073 AC. Attestation: 9/01/1918 @ Chatham, ON. to 1st WOR.
HOSEY Initials: S Nationality: Canadian Rank: Private Regiment: Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment) Unit Text: 47th Bn. Date of Death: 01/11/1918 Service No: 3131622 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: A.2. 14. Cemetery: AULNOY COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Young Stanley was in some trouble with the law in late 1917 having relieved the GTR of a couple of cases of whiskey he found in their freight shed. When he came before the magistrate to be sentenced he said he “would rather go to the Army than to jail”. He had just recently been conscripted (drafted) under the MSA of 1917. The magistrate asked the sheriff to look into this and if true he would be released to the military.
It turned out to be true and Stanley went to the enlistment depot but found military life not to his liking it seems and deserted, only to be caught by the Provost back in Chatham and returned to Army life.
Sadly, for Stanley, he was taken into the Army 9/01/1918 and immediately shipped overseas, taken up by the 47th Battalion he was involved in the last part of the German offensive and the last 100 days of the CEF push to end the war. Stanley was KIA ten days prior to the end of the “Great War” on 1/11/1918.
At the end of the war, there was no official recognition of the contribution made by No. 2 Construction Battalion. The official history of Canada’s contribution to the Great War does not include any mention of this Battalion. There is a certain irony that in 1917, when the war had taken a toll on the volunteer army, conscription was put in place in Canada. Conscription now included Black Canadians who had been rejected earlier. Blacks were stopped on the streets and if they could not provide the necessary papers, were forced in to the army, and sent overseas.
World War II.
By 1939 when war once again broke out, this time with Nazi Germany Black Canadians found that the institutional discrimination that had rejected them in 1914 – 1916 had changed.
At least that was true in the Army.
In the Army there were no segregated units. The Navy and Air Force initially rejected Blacks, despite official regulations, the recruiting offices for those services still practiced the old racism of 1914, indicating that the Black recruit was simply unsuitable.
By wars end some blacks did serve in the Navy, seldom as deck ratings, many as cooks and stokers below deck. Generally, the RCAF maintained a racial prejudice to wars end maintaining that Blacks were unsuitable for both ground and air crew’s, and attitude that continued into the 1950’s. F/O Alan Bundy was the only black to serve as an RCAF aircrew officer in W.W.II, this was similar in the RAF.
By the end of the war, there were several thousand Canadian Blacks serving in various branches of the Army. 58 Black enlistments from Chatham served and Guy Needham DOAS.
Over the next five decades the Canadian military all have opened to all visible minorities, the changing attitudes of the general public and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms did much to institutionalize anti-racism. Today Blacks are serving with distinction in every branch of the services, and hold ranks from private to senior officers.
CORPORL AINSWORTH DYE
………. 3PPCLI 1977 – 2002
Killed by ‘friendly fire’ 17/04/2002 at Kandahar with Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte Richard Green, and Pte. Nathan Smith.
Last updated 24/01/2020.
- R. Hind – “The search goes on…..”
