A special remembrance event will be held in the UK this week to honour forces from across the globe who carried out essential labouring duties for Allied troops during the First World War.
The Shorncliffe Trust will light 550 lanterns in their memory at Shorncliffe Military Cemetery, near Folkestone, on 9 September 2017.
Britain recruited men from China, the Caribbean and Africa to build roads and railways, and keep its armies supplied with munitions and other vital supplies.
This will be the latest in a series of Light in the Darkest Hour Centenary commemorations organised by the Shorncliffe Trust, a military heritage charity on the Kent coast.
The aim is ‘to shine a light’ on all those commemorated at Shorncliffe Cemetery, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War.
The 2017 event is dedicated to The Unremembered, a community engagement project in the UK commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of the labour corps.
Shorncliffe Camp, near the port of Folkestone, was used as a staging post for ferrying British and Commonwealth troops across the Channel to the Western Front.
Some members of the Chinese Labour Corps and the South African Native Labour Corps are among 471 First World War burials at the cemetery. More than 300 Canadians rest here.
Each of the 550 lanterns placed on the headstones of the fallen can be dedicated to a loved one through sponsorship. Folkestone residents, visitors, groups, organisations are invited to take part. For details see the Shorncliffe Trust, Light in the Darkest Hour – The Unremembered. The Trust is a heritage charity campaigning to protect the historic legacy of the Shorncliffe training grounds, which date from the Napoleonic wars.
The Unremembered is a project commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of the Labour Corps throughout the First World War, delivered by the Big Ideas Community Interest Company in conjunction with Britain’s Department for Communities & Local Government. Community groups are invited to get involved by holding their own ‘Unremembered’ event or join the conversation online.
Also in Centenary News:
Projects remembering the Chinese Labour Corps.
South Africa commemorates SS Mendi Centenary.
Information & images: The Shorncliffe Trust, Big Ideas Community Interest Company
Posted by: CN Editorial Team