We all know the First World War as being just that, the First World War - it's right there in the name! But it wasn't named that for nothing. The First World War was a truly global conflict due to the contemporary geopolitical situation and involved men and women from all over the world, from all walks of life and from different ethnicities. Let's go explore just some of the surprising but important inclusions that have been completely overlooked by everyone.
Tirailleurs Tonkinois in Monastir, Macedonia, 1917
Believe it or not, almost 100,000 Vietnamese men were sent to serve in France in different roles, including 48,922 soldiers! This number doesn't even include all those who remained in French Indochina to strike down internal rebellions throughout the war and there is even evidence that there were women workers amongst those sent to France. Joining French and other colonial soldiers in the trenches on the Western Front and beyond, Vietnamese soldiers suffered the same hardships that soldiers before and after them had done. In 1917 for example, one Vietnamese soldier wrote home saying that "[s]ince April, of the 300 [Vietnamese] soldiers [in my battalion], 250 were killed. Only twelve of those whom I had known since i left Indochina are still alive."^1
Unknown black British soldier, probably taken near the Somme battlefield 1916
Although scholars are not yet certain of the total amount of black British soldiers in the British Armed Forces during the First World War, their presence on the Western Front is indisputable. They are depicted in photographs taken during the war, mentioned in the memoirs and the memories of white veterans and in the remaining military and government records. Thanks to local and community historians, scholars are uncovering more and more names each year to add to the growing collection of black British soldiers in regular British regiments. This photograph is one such extraordinary example. This photograph was rescued after being thrown out on the street together with other photographs after the new owner of the attic they were in didn't feel like keeping them! Although their identities remain a mystery, they are a strong reminder of the participation of soldiers of African ancestry on the Western Front.
Brazilian pilots of the Brazilian Navy Air Corps, taken while training in England 1917
Even South America got a piece of the action in the First World War! Several naval battles took place in South American territory, two of the most famous being the Battle of Coronel (outside of Coronel, Chile) 1914 and the Battle of the Falklands Islands 1914, but after Brazil declared war on Germany due to Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, Brazil became the first South American country to be directly involved with the war on the Western Front, even though they saw no real action. Nonetheless, the presence of Brazilian pilots, technicians, medical personnel and sailors on European territory and in European waters is a great example of how truly global this conflict was!
Soldiers from several African colonies served in the First World War. Some against their will, some on their own accord. The wide variety in experiences of soldiers from the African continent are worth looking into and are far too complex to cover in a brief text like this. The South African Native Labour Corps is a good example of that complexity. The 20,000 men of the SANLC were only allowed to serve behind the frontlines in labour and supply roles, something which stands in stark contrast to their white South African counterparts that were eagerly welcome as regular, armed soldiers on the Western Front. The reason for this was the belief that by arming soldiers of African ancestry, whether they be from South Africa, Jamaica or even Great Britain in some cases, and allowing them to fight against and even kill white men would upset the status quo which in turn might have larger consequences in eroding white supremacy. Additionally, they were considered not have the intellectual or emotional capability to be good soldiers (and were therefore inferior to white soldiers).
Real colour photograph of Tirailleurs sénégalais on the Western Front, 1917
Remember when I said it was a complex subject? The case of the French Senegalese Tiralleuirs is a case in point. With the completely opposite view of the British Empire, the French Empire had no real issues with arming men from their French African colonies and shipping them to the Western Front. Both empires, the French and the British, suffered from manpower shortages and the French Empire had a far more pragmatic attitude towards using colonial soldiers in the trenches against their German foes, although it was equally racist. The Senegalese Tiralleuirs were a mix of both volunteers and conscripts, making attitudes towards serving under the French flag very contradictory. But fight they did, from the battles of Verdun and Somme in 1916 to Gallipoli 1915-1916 and throughout the end of the war in Europe. More than 200,000 men from French African colonies served during the First World War. Like the unknown Vietnamese soldier mentioned before, the Senegalese soldiers also experienced the worst that First World War warfare could offer, as this account from Senegalese veteran Demba Mboup reveals:
"We were fighting against the Germans. And I was with a white man named Debouse. So the French soldiers around us were attacking. And at a [predetermined] time our cannon - the 75s - opened fire at [targets] that were not aimed at the right distance. So . . . when the French [artillery]fired, the shells fell all around us and [exploded] there. [And] Debouse was [hit and] badly wounded. And I . . . took him to the [casualty clearing station]. [So afterwards], we were still trying to take the first line [of German trenches]. And a shell [fragment] came and killed one of [my] friends named Djob Ndiaye; it just flew by and cut off his head."^2
Private Miller Mack (1894-1919) of the 50th Australian Infantry Battalion
Private Miller Mack is one of many Aboriginal soldiers who served in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Like many of his contemporaries elsewhere, he defied the odds in actually serving in a role where he would experience actual combat. Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people were excluded from serving in the Australian army since they only accepted men of European ancestry. Many Aboriginals tried to join but were rejected due to their ethnicity. Not all, however. Some lied, some didn't "look the part" and some just slipped under the radar as recruiters, officers and medical officers all accepted them into the service. It all depended on luck and chance. From the first wave at Gallipoli to the last days of the war on the Western Front, Aboriginal soldiers fought alongside their white Australian comrades to the end. Private Miller Mack, pictured above, was one of them. Unfortunately, while serving on the Western Front, he caught tuberculosis and died while hospitalized in Adelaide in 1919.
Japanese Nurse at a Japanese Red Cross hospital in Paris during the First World War
Let's not turn this into a complete sausage fest. "Remember the ladies," said Abigail Adams and we shall as we take a look into the participation of Japanese women in the First World War. Starting in 1914, Japanese nurses from the Japanese Red Cross came to Europe as part of Relief Missions. Three different Red Cross groups were sent from Japan to Great Britain, France, and Russia. Working together with medical personnel from the countries they were in, Japanese nurses and doctors were of great importance due to the large amount of casualties from overseas campaigns that needed care. The treatment that the Japanese Red Cross staff gave to their patients were highly appreciated by the patients and their families. Japanese nurses also looked after German prisoners of wars who had fallen into Japanese hands after the battle of Tsingtao 1914.
Notes:
^1 Sacrifices, sex, race: Vietnamese experiences in the First World War by Kimloan Hill in Race, Empire and First World War Writing, ed. Santanu Das (Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 57.
^2 France's legacy to Demba Mboup? A Senegalese Griot (and his descendants) remember his military service during the First World War by Joe Lunn in ibid, p. 113.
