Mendi loss highlights story of labour corps

ALMOST 650 men, mostly from the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC), lost their lives in February 1917 following their ship the S S Mendi’s collision in fog as they travelled to serve as labourers on the World War 1 Western Front, in one of the largest single losses of life during the conflict.

The loss of the S S Mendi occupies a special place in South African military history. Prevented from being trained as fighting troops by their own government, the men of the SANLC hoped that their contribution to the war effort would lead to greater civil rights and economic opportunities in the new white-ruled nation of South African after the war.

These hopes proved unfounded, and the S S Mendi became a focus of black resistance before and during the apartheid era in South Africa.

The wreck of the S S Mendi is recognised as one of England’s most important World War 1 heritage assets and the wreck site is listed under the Protection of Military Remains Act.

New archaeological investigation has provided real and direct information about the wreck for the first time.

The loss of the Mendi is used to highlight the story of the SANLC and other labour corps, as well as the wider treatment of British imperial subjects in wartime.

The authors of the new book We die like Brothers are John Gribble, an experienced diver who has explored the S S Mendi site and runs his own marine archaeology consultancy, and Graham Scott , an archaeologist for Wessex Archaeology, which according to Wikipedia is a registered charity which aims to promote the advancement of education in the subjects of culture, arts, heritage and science. — DDR