RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 49 'I am a Christian, Sir.' 'Very good,' replied the officer, 'I hope I am one too.' 'But I am a Presbyterian, Sir, and at the Depot there were others of that religion, and we could have a service together. In my hut now there are no Presbyterians, and all are wicked.' Mutinies did, however, occur, not only amongst service personnel of the Allies, but also amongst the various Labour Corps. Some were court-martialled and punished in various ways, i.e. hard labour, penal service, imprisonment or even death. In September 1917 some British soldiers stationed at the base camp at Etaples, south of Boulogne, caused trouble and rebelled. Word of this spread to some unwilling Chinese and Egyptians, working at Boulogne, who then stopped work unloading supplies and went on the rampage. Field Marshal Haig ordered this to be quelled and, as a consequence, 27 unarmed strikers were shot dead, 39 wounded and 25 imprisoned. On 10 October 1917, in a serious shooting incident in the Fourth Army area, 5 Chinese labourers were killed and 14 wounded. The inquiry into this incident came to the conclusion that this was due to the CO not appreciating the standard of discipline required to be maintained between his officers and British NCOs as regards the treatment of labourers. On 16 December 1917, a mutiny, as a result of bullying by British NCOs, was reported amongst 21 Company CLC at Fontinettes. The armed guard fired on the mutineers, killing 4 and wounding 9. A Canadian soldier was also killed. The next day, a British infantry platoon forced the Chinese to resume work and, after the ringleaders were jailed, normality was restored on 23 December. On Christmas Day 1917, labourers of 151 Company CLC conspired to kill their Sergeant Major, a "half-caste", as he had been an extortioner and had forced the men to work too hard. Two hundred men of the Royal Welch Fusiliers rounded up some of the mutineers whilst others had fled to near the HQ of 5 Corps at Locre. On Christmas Day, D. H. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 60 remembered that the cemeteries and memorials are primarily places of individual commemoration and excessive signage can detract from this. There are many cemeteries and memorials in Belgium and France where members of the Commonwealth forces are buried and commemorated. The Menin Gate at Ypres commemorates over 54,270 who died in the Ypres Salient, from October 1914 to the 15/16th August 1917, and who have no known grave. Those who died from 17 August 1917 to the end of the war and have no known grave, over 34,880, are commemorated on panels at Tynecot, which is also the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world with 11,856 graves. In France, the memorial at Thiepval commemorates over 72,000 Commonwealth members who died on the Somme and who have no known grave. At none of the above are there any names of members of the CLC. At Etaples, there are over 11,400 graves of World War I, including that of one Chinese member of the CLC, Fu Puzhen, 9436, a Ganger of the 56th Company. As Keith Stevens remarked, Fu here, alone, represents his countrymen with a population amounting to a quarter of the world's total. The last cemetery the Friends visited was Les Baraques Military at Sangatte, south of Calais. Of the 197 named CLC members buried there virtually all were from Shandong province and the metropolitan area of Zhili. Only two came from other provinces, Anhui and Hubei. There were several seamen commemorated who most probably would have been Cantonese from the south and recruited by the Royal Navy in Hong Kong. There are also graves of British personnel who served with or were attached to the CLC. We saw the grave of 2Lt E S Burley, Army Labour Corps, attached to the Chinese Labour Corps, who died on 15th February 1919, aged 44 years, whose parents came from London, England and whose wife lived in South Africa. On a later personal visit to this cemetery, with my wife, we located the grave of Gunner M E Barnes of the 43rd Company, Royal Garrison Artillery who transferred, in the rank of corporal, to the 135th Labour Company, Chinese Labour Corps Royal Garrison Artillery. He died on 19th November 1919, aged 49 years; and was a native of Lewes in Sussex. Also the grave of Private M Cooper of the 2nd/6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, who transferred to the 88th Labour Company, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n Abbeville Communal Extension, Somme Albert French National, Somme Arques-La-Bataille British, Seine-Maritime Ascq Communal, Nord Auberchicourt British, Nord * Ayette British, Pas de Calais Ayette Indian and Chinese, Pas de Calais Bagneux British, Gezaincourt, Somme Bailleul Communal Extension, Nord 1 71 4 3 I 34 2 31 Beaulencourt British, Ligny-Thilloy, Pas de Calais 14 Bellicourt British, Aisne Blargies Communal Extension, Oise Bourlon Wood, Pas de Calais Caudry British, Nord Charmes Military, Essegney, Vosges Chocques Military, Pas de Calais 7 3 21 1 3 19 4 1 16 Croisilles British, Pas de Calais Cross Roads, Nord 2 2 Daours Communal Extension, Somme Dernancourt Communal Extension, Somme 6 3 Don Communal, Annoeullin, Nord 2 Douai British, Cuincy, Nord 3 Doullens Communal Extension No2, Somme 1 Duisans British, Etrun, Pas de Calais 2 Ebblinghem Military, Nord 1 Etaples Military, Pas de Calais 1 4 Foncquevillers Military, Pas de Calais 2 Hazebrouck Communal, Nord Fosse No 10 Communal Extension, Sains-en-Gohelle, Pas de Calais Gezaincourt Communal Extension, Somme Haute-Avesnes British, Pas de Calais Huby-St Leu British, Pas de Calais Lapugnoy Military, Pas de Calais Le Fermont Military, Pas de Calais 49 4 12 1 5 2 Le Portel Communal, Pas de Calais 1 Le Quesnoy Communal Extension, Nord 2 Les Baraques Military, Sangatte, Pas de Calais 197 4 Les Rues-des-Vignes Communal, Nord 1 Lille Southern, Nord 2 2 89 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n Entertainment at the open air theatre of the Labour Corps at Enaples, France 23/6/1918 (by courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London, Q9007) 101 ================================================================================