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Caption: Private, 2nd Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, circa 1917

The 2nd Construction Battalion was the first military unit of the Dominion of Canada to recruit Canadians of African origin. Racism made it impossible for them to join other units. The Construction Battalion was raised in July 1916, mainly from Nova Scotia volunteers. It served in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for a year, and was then sent to France, where it served behind the lines building roads and railroads. The 2nd Construction Battalion followed in the footsteps of earlier pre-Confederation units such as Captain Runchey's Company of Colored Men (1812-1815), the Colored Infantry Company (1838-1850), and the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps (1860-1866). Reconstruction by Ron Volstad. (Canadian Department of National Defence)