The South African Native Labour Corps: Segregation and racism in World War One

Alan: So Femi, who do you think would have worn a jacket like this?

Femi: Right. I'm thinking like a historian here. It's clearly a military jacket.

Alan: Yes it is. Yep.

Femi: It doesn't have any decorations, so it's probably for someone fairly low rank.

Alan: Well it was worn by a member of what the British Government called the South African Native Labour Corps.

Femi: I'm guessing a Labour Corps means they worked behind the front lines.

Alan: Yeah, mainly in Northern France. And they were doing work such as loading and unloading ships, building roads and railways, carrying ammunition, quarrying stone and felling timber.

Femi: It's easy to forget how much has to happen behind the front lines. I usually just think about the trenches.

Alan: Yeah, I mean it really is. And this is all vital work. And by 1918 there were 25,000 South African men serving in that Corps. Including lots of teachers and local leaders.

Femi: Some of them were highly educated. Did they not fight at all?

Alan: Well, Labour Corps, including the British Labour Corps, knew that their main role wasn't to fight, but the South Africans weren't even given that opportunity by their government because they thought that white and black men serving side by side as soldiers would have undermined white rule in South Africa.

Femi: And that's just because they were black?

Alan: Yeah, I mean that racism is really deep rooted. I mean if we look at this label here, the k-word on that label was a term used to describe black people in South Africa at the time.

Femi: I know how incredibly offensive that term is today. And it's disturbing to see this on an official World War One military uniform.

Alan: Yeah, it is really shocking.

Femi: It seems like racism was a part of everyday life for the South African Native Labour Corps. I wonder how the men felt about it.

Femi: This jacket seems an unremarkable uniform. But the language surrounding it makes it an important source for understanding the treatment of the South African Native Labour Corps in World War One.

Historically, the term ‘native’ was used to describe non-European people who were the first to live in an area. This offensive term was used to describe South Africans in order to divide citizens by their heritage. The word on this label, the k-word, is an extremely offensive term for a black person.

This jacket was a sample sent to a manufacturer as a guide for how it should be produced. The label would have been written up and attached to the jacket by a member of staff working at the British Army Clothing Depot. We think perhaps the word came from an official source. If so, it is a stark and shocking example of the official attitudes of the time. This racism was a part of the very mechanics of the war effort.

In 20th century South Africa, the policy of segregation meant that people were separated simply because of their skin colour, and the Government refused to send men unless this continued during the war. Despite not having an official segregation policy, the British Government agreed as they believed the need for men was too great. In fact, it wasn’t until 2000 that a Parliamentary Bill specifically outlawed the 'k-word' as hate speech in South Africa.

What do you think this label tells us about the experience of men who joined the South African Native Labour Corps?

What other sources might we need to find to uncover how and why the term ended up on the label?

Femi: To expand our understanding of the South African Native Labour Corps in World War One, let’s explore the wider context.

The living conditions in France were difficult. South African men were segregated as far as possible from British and French soldiers and civilians.

Despite the tough conditions under which they served, the men of the South African Native Labour Corps provided invaluable support to the British Army: building and maintaining roads and railways, cutting timber and moving huge amounts of ammunition.

King George V personally visited the Corps in 1917 and highlighted their importance in the war effort. 'You also form part of my great armies, which are fighting for the liberty and freedom of my subjects of all races and creeds throughout my Empire. Such loyalty will not be forgotten.'

However, this is not obvious when we consider what happened at the end of their involvement. Pressure grew back home from white minority rule political groups who feared their loss of control over the black men, and in January 1918, the Corps were sent home. There were ten months left of the war.

On leaving France, the work of the Corps was praised by British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Douglas Haig. Yet the Corps was not rewarded – returning to continued segregation, and the South African Government even denied them the British War Medal.

In 1919, a contingent of the Corps quoted King George’s words back to him – questioning when they would receive their ‘liberty and freedom’. He did not answer.