Six headstones in Shorncliffe Military Cemetery in my hometown of Folkestone stand out against the rest, for each one is engraved with three columns of Chinese characters. The left column was the ultimate inspiration for my speech, translating to ‘jointly erected by Chinese labourers’. So, today, using what I learnt about Chinese labour thereon, I argue that my local history can tell a global story for two main reasons:

Firstly, Folkestone’s intimate connection with the Chinese Labour Corps sheds light on the odyssey of the labourers themselves. Secondly, the absence of the Chinese Labour Corps from Britain’s historical memory serves as a case study to better appreciate how imperial narratives can obscure the stories of marginalised peoples.

Captain Cecil Harcourt Lees once said, ‘Figure what it means to sign a contract for three years work at a place over six thousand miles away from your home’. You see, first and foremost, the odyssey of the Chinese Labourers can be deemed a global story, since it consisted of men literally crossing continents and oceans to participate in a world war. Recruitment of Chinese Labour by the British commenced in 1916, fuelled by a critical manpower shortage. For the successful recruits (mainly desperately poor peasants) a perilous journey by sea followed and many thousands ended up in Folkestone. According to the diary of William Snook (61st Company, Royal Defence Corps), on consecutive days, up to 3000 men would stay overnight in Folkestone and leave the next day for France.

But, for now, I’ll focus on the 2000 permanent labourers who resided in the Labour Concentration Camp beside Cherry Garden Avenue, in Folkestone. Regarding their tasks, Michael Summerskill (author of ‘China on the Western Front’) speaks of a resident recounting the men working on a requisitioned fairground engine, as well as helping at Shorncliffe Military Hospital, and loading and unloading at the docks. As for their limited leisure time, local historian Peter Bamford recalls the owner of photography studio H.B. Green telling him that some of the men would have their photograph taken whilst holding an alarm clock purchased from Sutton’s jewellers – a souvenir of their time in Folkestone. What’s more, a letter from the frontline makes reference to the men celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, so, rather optimistically I like to think that the men in Folkestone were also allowed to keep some of their cultural customs alive.

Lest we forget, however, that Chinese Labourers in Folkestone and France also endured great hardship, from air-raids and disease to mistreatment and segregation. Of the 95,000 Chinese men employed by the British, up to 20,000 are believed to have died (including the 6 men buried in Folkestone, who succumbed to Spanish Flu and other diseases). They were also victims of Britain’s tendency to overlook the contributions of its foreign labourers. As well as the Chinese, this included men from South Africa, Fiji, the West Indies, Mauritius, Egypt and beyond, rendering the experience of Chinese Labourers in Folkestone, France and the post war-period even more widely felt.

But the main point I would like to make is that the marginalisation of Chinese Labourers in British history is symptomatic of a much wider phenomenon, whereby ‘great’ empires such as Britain’s refuse to acknowledge that their peace, their sovereignty, their glorious monuments, were built off the back of exploitation, people of colour and other oppressed groups. Our post-war national identity, warped by white Anglo-British Exceptionalism, was so tied to the idea that we were the heroes, and we were the defenders of freedom, that the crucial work of the Chinese Labour Corps was relegated to the footnotes of history. This is what Lord Wallace of Saltaire refers to as “the Daily Mail approach’ to WW1; a view of the past which disregards the fact that “It was never a purely English effort: it required the effort of a great many people from a great many countries, willingly or unwillingly.”

Until recently, there was not a single tribute to them among our 40,000 war memorials! Painted out of the Panthéon de la Guerre – yes quite literally painted out of history – it is painfully ironic that this great canvas featured a wreath bearing the words “Aux héros ignores” (to the forgotten heroes). What’s more, their medals were bronze, not silver and only bore their numbers, not their names. CCP co-founder Chen Duxui pointed out that ‘While the sun does not set on the British Empire, neither does it set on Chinese workers abroad’. All this evidence indicates that Britain chose to ignore and downplay such a reality.

So, if like me, a stroll in a graveyard over Easter takes your fancy, look out for the names of Yang Chi Chun, Wang Chin Tien, Niu Yun Huei, Chen Te Shan, Liu Ching LI and Chiao Pi Cheng, in Shorncliffe. And let them be a reminder not only of the Labourer’s epic story, but also how these six men represent all the individuals who have been left out of historical narratives controlled by the very power structures which they sustained.  

A little bit about me: I’m Freddie Bosley, a student at The King’s School Canterbury, but I live near to the seaside town of Folkestone. Kent is an inspiring place for a history enthusiast like me and when I’m not caring for my pigs, chickens and dogs, I like to visit historical sites and take part in archaeological digs.

Photo: Six Chinese Labour Corps Graves at Shorncliffe Cemetery, Folkestone, UK. Photo taken on 27th August, 2016, by Angelus S. Marr. CC BY-SA 4.0; via Wikimedia Commons.