573
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
wwwhmmm.C.O.885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
W.0./ 56076.
Giov./56928/
16.
Gov./58402.
and con- nected papers.
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the rates of pay would be high, 38. a day being the lowest. It was decided that, in view of the small numbers available, the idea should be dropped.
The
Towards the end of August the War Office asked whether it would be possible to raise about 1,500 men for work on inland water transport in Mesopotamia. Governors of the West African Colonies (except the Gambia) were consulted by telegraph. The replies were as follows:--
Nigeria. Only 150 men of the type required could be obtained. Balance could possibly be enlisted in Liberia.
Gold Coast.-" Regret most emphatically report this Government cannot assist.” The reasons given were: (1) The labour supply in the Gold Coast is already inadequate; (2) the medical authorities strongly deprecated the proposal.
Sierra Leone.-Ordinary carriers could be got for the pay offered (18. 2d. per diem), but not Kroo boys, who were presumably the class required.
These replies were communicated to the War Office, who enquired whether there was any objection to their sending out officers to recruit natives. This was agreed to, and a Royal Engineer officer was sent out to Sierra Leone, where he is at present.
Two other officers have been sent by the War Office to Nigeria (on the 24th of October) for the purpose of recruiting native marine ratings for service in Mesopotamia. Colonel Haywood, in addition to recruiting combatants, has also been instructed to bear in mind the possibilities of obtaining labour from West Africa.
The present position as to the recruitment of labour in West Africa is therefore that three officers are on the spot recruiting for inland water transport and marine ratings, and a fourth (Colonel Haywood) is on his way, whose primary object is to recruit native combatants, but who is also to look into the question of the recruitment of labourers for service overseas.
EASTERN COLONIES.
I-NATIVE TROOPS.
After discussion with the War Office it was decided to consult Ceylon, Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong as to the possibility of raising native troops, and a telegram asking for the Governors' suggestions was sent on the 21st November.
Hong Kong.-Before a reply could be received it was found necessary to ask the Governor to suspend action, in view of the risk that any proposal for raising a military force would completely wreck the scheme for obtaining Chinese labour battalions.
Ceylon replied that it was impracticable to raise in the Colony a unit of any military value, and made proposals for the release of the Indian regiment there, and for the sending home of recruits. This is under the consideration of the War Office.
Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States.-The Governor and High Commissioner, after consulting the General Officer Commanding, found himself unable to put forward any proposals for raising native troops.
Mauritius.-A proposal was made to raise a contingent from Mauritius. Numbers W.0./45011 would in any case have been small, and the proposal had to be dropped as impracticable, largely on the ground of the extreme acuteness of the colour question in
This was in October. this Colony. The War Office agreed to drop it.
Seychelles is very small, and can only be regarded as hopeless from a military point of view. The population is described by the Governor (a colonel) as "the least warlike race he ever saw.'
See W.0./ 56076/15.
Wei haiwei. Apart from questions of the neutrality of China, the argument in the case of Hong Kong applies here. An attempt to raise combatauts would of course wreck the labour scheme.
Thus the net result of the attempt to see if native combatant troops could be raised in Eastern Colonies may be summed up as nil, unless the War Office will accept coloured recruits from Ceylon.
II. LABOUR.
By far the most important attempt to raise a coloured force of any kind in the Eastern Colonies has been the project of the War Office to raise 10,000 (or possibly 50,000) Northern Chinese, who were actually to be obtained in China, but nominally
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recruited in Weihaiwei in order to avoid international difficulties. This matter has been in the hands of His Majesty's Minister in Peking and the officers despatched to China by the War Office for the purpose. The scheme has been a complete failure to date, owing partly to the machinations of German agents, but chiefly to over-emphasis of the military side of the matter. The Chinese Government are suspicious and unfriendly, and the scheme is in a state of suspended animation, only 100 coolies having been obtained to date.* Meanwhile, so long as there is any hope of obtaining this important body of men, it is necessary to avoid any attempt to raise a military force in Weihaiwei or Hong Kong. A military contingent from either Colony would intensify the suspicions of the Chinese Government, and War Office and Foreign Office have jointly requested the Colonial Office to take no steps to raise any Chinese force for fear of prejudicing the larger scheme.
Hong Kong.-Although it was decided to work the British scheme from Weihai- wei, the district near Hong Kong is not being neglected.
On the 27th November Foreign Office informed the Colonial Office that the French 57028. were about to begin recruiting in the Cantou district, and Hong Kong was promised 0.A.G./. every assistance in the shipment of the coolies from the Colony. Any attempt to raise 38321. a labour contingent in Hong Kong would therefore interfere with French efforts.
The Colonial Office was informed by the Governor on the 9th October that the 48462, Naval authorities there had recently engaged unskilled dockyard labour for Basra.
Straits. At the request of the Naval authorities, the General Officer Commanding F.0./48010. sent an agent to Amoy to recruit 861 coolies for Mesopotamia. Foreign Office and the Colonial Office only heard of this through the Consul at Amoy: The number was subsequently increased to 1,900.
The same difficulties as have been experienced over the Weihaiwei scheme appear to have arisen. Obstruction by the Chinese authorities and German Consul followed, but it is not known at the War Office whether this has now been removed.
Federated Malay States. Eu Tong Sen (member of the Federal Council) has Gov./60220. offered to pay the passage of 200 Chinese skilled workmen for munitions (wages 118. 8d. per day inclusive). The Colonial Office is consulting War Office, Ministry of Munitions, and Ministry of Labour.
Mauritius. It is hoped to raise a labour force for service in one of the tropical theatres of war, but the Governor has not yet definitely reported what can be done.
Seychelles.-750 labourers are being (or have been) supplied to General Smuts for work at ports in ex-German East Africa.
WEST INDIES.
I-NATIVE TROOPS.
The contribution of the West Indies in coloured troops consists of (1) the West India Regiment, a force of two battalions, raised before the war by the War Office, and (2) the British West Indies Regiment, a regiment of the "New Army," raised since the war by the Colonial Governments on behalf of the War Office. It has been employed in France upon artillery supply duties and labour duties, in Egypt, in Mesopotamia upon river transport, and in East Africa with the West India Regiment. The men are partially trained in the West Indies, and ordinarily complete their training in Egypt.
Hitherto the supply of recruits for the new regiment has exceeded the available transport. By the end of 1915, 2,44€ had arrived. At the present date 6,073 have arrived, 1,000 await embarkation, and 3,000 more are being raised. This makes a total of a trifle over 10,000. There have been 167 deaths and 612 invalidings. The requirements of the War Office have been fully met, and the possibilities of further recruiting are not inconsiderable.
The Colonial Office is now in correspondence with the War Office as to a proposal to raise 500 to 1,000 sailors and firemen for service with the river transport in Mesopotamia. From the Colonial Office point of view, there is no reason to anticipate any great difficulty in giving effect to this proposal. But it is understood
It is now understood that the number of coolies has increased, and that a transport has been asked for, but figures are not available (30th December, 1916).
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