Hello all
Last night at dinner some one asked me to provide some info about the
secret CPR trains used to move Chinese labourers across Canada during
World War I. I couldn't, but I think I know some folks who maybe could!
Apparently the CPR moved about 84,000 Chinese labourers from Manchuria
to the Western front in France to relieve "our boys" of grunt work like
digging trenches and hauling ammunition. They were brought over in CP
ships to quarantine at William Head near Victoria, then by CP steamers
to Vancouver, where they boarded sealed trains of colonist cars, two
armed guards per car. They were only let out for air in remote areas
where no one could see them and escape attempts would be futile (and
probably fatal). They were put on CP ships on the east coast and
transported to France. After the war the whole process was executed in
reverse, with a fine to the CPR of $1000 per head for any Chinese
worker not returned to China. Everyone concerned was sworn to secrecy
about the whole operation, which involved dozens of trains.
Well that's the dinner-time story, anyways. Does anyone on the list
know anything about this, or where it might have been written up in a
publication?
Doug
Victoria, BC
