Ref: DR20344
- £175.00
China. (Chinese Labour Force in France World War One). 1918. Envelope addressed to Paris cancelled by 'Lyon a Marseilles' ambulant date stamp '1st Feb 1918' with bold double circle 'Travailleurs Coloniaux/ Groupement Chinois/ St. Chamas/ (Bouches - du - Rhone)' in violet.
One of the darker aspects of World War One was the plight of 12,000 Chinese workers who were recruited by the British Army from the North of China in 1916 to serve on the Battle Front in France as labourers, trench diggers, munitions carriers, mine disarmers and corpse bearers under often inhumane conditions. A large number were also struck down by the devastating Spanish flue epidemic of 1918.
