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balance being formed of an interpreter, a Head Ganger (equivalent to a CSM). Some Class One Gangers [sergeants], 7 Class Two Gangers [corporals] and 16 Class Three Gangers [lance-corporals] in charge of 14 men. These were known as paitou. No military titles were used for the labourers as they were not regarded as being service personnel.
The labourers were expected to work up to ten hours a day for seven days every week, time off being allowed for Chinese holidays. This was the norm for Chinese workers back in China and therefore not considered untoward. They were employed in ports to unload/load cargoes, repair roads, lay railway lines, build huts and aerodromes. At the end of the War, they were used to level shell holes, search for and unearth unexploded bombs, roll up barbed wire and also to collect the remains of bodies and bury them in graves already dug by CLC labourers. In some areas the labourers were eventually running their own truck repair shop, smith's shop, paint shop and motor-cycle repair shop. Others maintained the artillery and serviced tanks. Some also, as a pastime, constructed items from used war material [bomb cases, bullets, grenades, etc.] as souvenirs for the soldiers, and these items formed and were eventually known as 'Trench Art.' They were also adept at making items from other materials and also modelling and carving from chalk. The Imperial War Museum, London, has on display two lions carved from chalk and also, not on display, a lion modelled from clay by a labourer no. 53279, of the CLC. Unfortunately, there are no further details about this model. (see photograph)
To provide a picture of how Chinese labourers were employed let us examine the development of their employment on tank repair over the twelve months from August 1917 to August 1918. Members of the CLC first arrived at the Tank Central Workshops on 8th August, 1917. These were located in the Ternoise Valley, on the road between Hesdin and St. Pol. Tank HQ was at Bermincourt, Central Workshops at Erin but the whole establishment later expanded to take over more of the valley and include more villages.
The 51 Chinese Labour Company, consisting of 4 officers, 12 British NCOs and 200 tradesmen, was followed, on 26th August, by an additional 270 tradesmen.
A large number of the men failed the trade tests and, for those who