Chinese labour force embarking for France in 1918
Shows a Chinese labour force embarking for France from William Head Quarantine Station in 1918. The Canadian government operated a quarantine station at William Head B.C. from 1881 to 1958. During World War I a total of 80,000 Chinese were passed through William Head in batches of 8,000 to 10,000. They formed labour battalions to work behind the lines and did much of the cleaning up after hostilities ended. William Head was chosen as the site for the inspection and control of communicable diseases of people entering Canada. Chinese labourers were recruited to fill the manpower shortage caused by casualties during World War I and were known as the Chinese Labour Corps. A total of about 140,000 Chinese workers served on the Western Front during and after the War. Among them, 100,000 served in the British Chinese Labour Corps. About 40,000 served with the French forces. Catalogue number: HP057997; Association number: 193501-001.
- C-09581
- 1 black and white photograph
- 48.4359, -123.35155
- 48.4294, -123.3679
- Victoria’s Chinatown, a gateway to the past and present of Chinese Canadians
- Victoria's Chinatown Project Website: https://chinatown.library.uvic.ca/index.html
- 2012
- Digitized by BC Archives. 300 dpi jpg, no colour correction. Archived in Cataloguing on server. Cataloguing metadata provided by MH. Migration metadata by MT.
- Rights
- This material is made available on this site for research and private study only. These images are provided with the consent of the BC Archives, and cannot be reproduced or copied without their permission.
- DOI
