The entrance of the WWI Chinese cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer
Between 1915 and 1916, with the World War I conflict at its height between the allies and the Central Powers Germany and Austro-Hungary, the British recruited more than 100,000 Chinese and their French allies some 40,000, and shipped them to the French western front as desperately needed labour to relieve an acute manpower shortage.[3] They cleared mines, repaired roads, unloaded ships. Their contribution went unrecognized for decades. Mainly aged between 20 and 35 and hailing from the southeastern Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu and particularly Shandong, they served as labour in the rear echelons or helped build munitions depots, repair railways and roads, and unloaded ships at Allied ports. Some worked in armaments factories, others in naval shipyards, for a pittance of three to five francs a day. At the time they were seen just as cheap labour, not even allowed out of camp to fraternise locally, dismissed as mere coolies. When the war ended some were used for mine clearance, or to recover the bodies of soldiers and fill in miles of trenches.[3]
After the Armistice, the Chinese, each identified only by an impersonal reference number, were shipped home. Only about 5,000 to 7,000 stayed on, forming the nucleus of the later Chinese community in Paris. Most who survived returned to China in 1918.[4] However, some were trapped in France by the 30 June 1920 collapse of the Banque industrielle de Chine. An estimated ten thousand died in the war effort, victims of either shelling, landmines, poor treatment or the worldwide Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Their remains still lie in 30 French graveyards, the largest at Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme, where some of the fiercest battles occurred.[5] The cemetery contains 842 gravestones each engraved with Chinese characters, guarded by two stone lions, gifts from China.[3][6]
After decades of neglect, the Chinese World War I labourers were ceremoniously recognized for their effort. An annual ceremony of tribute has taken place since 2002 at the cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer each April to coincide with the Chinese Festival of Qingming, attended by representatives of the French veterans’ associations, the Chinese ambassador to France and members of Chinese associations in France. A 2004 documentary film, “Journey With no Return,” (Voyage sans retour) was shown on French television.
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