Empire, the Chinese Diaspora, World War One and Me

CWGC staff member Chun Lee embarks on a personal journey through World War I history that takes him to the West Indies, South America, the Middle East, and China.

The Chinese Diaspora and World War One

An encounter in Jerusalem

Image: An intriguing headstone in Jerusalem War Cemetery (Chun Lee)

As part of my work at the Commission, I was in Jerusalem War Cemetery when I came across this headstone belonging to Albert Victor Austin Chan.

How did this man with a Chinese-sounding surname end up buried in Jerusalem while serving with the British West Indies Regiment? Looking on the CWGC website, I discovered his given name was Albert; so what is his story? 

My parents and siblings arrived in Britain from Hong Kong in the late 60s (I assume under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962.  My family are very reluctant to talk about their life in Hong Kong maybe some memories are best forgotten) I was born in the UK after they arrived.  

My family are Hakka speakers, which my aunt tells me was the dominant dialect in their part of the New Territories at the time.  People in Hong Kong now almost exclusively speak Cantonese and Mandarin. I have plenty of memories as a child of people in Hong Kong laughing at my terrible Cantonese, and plenty of memories as an adult of people being baffled by my Mandarin. 

Researching Albert

With the help of my colleague, CWGC Historian Lynelle Howson, I’ve managed to piece together a little of his life that has also helped me understand some of the challenges we face when trying to tell the stories of those we commemorate. 

How might Albert have been somewhere where a British West Indies Regiment would recruit? How did someone ethnically Chinese come to be in the West Indies at the time and be caught up in the First World War?

Through his entry in our records, we know Albert and his parents – Austin and Sarah Chan – lived in British Guiana. But we do not know if he or his parents were born there. 

Chinese people are known to have been in British Guiana from 1853. Perhaps an ancestor of Albert was one of around fourteen thousand people brought from the British colony of Hong Kong to British Guiana between 1853 and 1879 to work as indentured labour on sugar plantations. Or were they captured and sold as coolies to South America? 

I guess there are other reasons why someone moves – voluntarily or through force – to another country.

Conflict is one.  

Were Albert’s ancestors displaced because of the Punti–Hakka Clan Wars (1855 and 1867)? This conflict in southeast China between Cantonese and Hakka clans claimed up to a million lives and displaced many more.

The British West Indies Regiment

So, assuming his forbears did go from China to British Guiana at some point between 1853 and World War I, what about his regiment?

Quoting the ‘Moving Here’ website, Long, Long Trail notes: 

“Following the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 many West Indians left the colonies to enlist in the army in the UK and were recruited into British regiments. However, the War Office was concerned with the number of black soldiers in the army and tried to prevent any people from the West Indies enlisting . . . Eventually, after much discussion . . . [including] the intervention of King George V, approval to raise a West Indian contingent was given on 19 May 1915. On 26 October 1915 the British West Indies Regiment was established.”

A BBC article adds: 

“Although the British officials were not keen on having blacks serve on the Western Front, the extent of the West Indian agitation, and devastating losses suffered by the Allies, eventually forced the British government to approve the formation of West Indian contingents and their service overseas. . . With a few minor exceptions, it was agreed that the West Indians would be recruited on the same terms and conditions as British recruits.”

The British West Indies Regiment fought in some of the toughest battles in the Middle East during World War I. They served in campaigns in Egypt and what was then called Palestine, as well as in West and East Africa and in Europe on the Western Front.   

They were an important contributor in Palestine, including the successful deployment of the British cavalry to the region, and helping protect supply lines from the Ottoman army.  It also saw action in the Battle of Gaza, where its efforts helped secure victory for the Allies.

Albert’s fate

Image: Albert Victor Austin Chan

Sergeant Albert Victor Austin Chan was 26 when he died.  In 1918 he took part in fighting in the Jordan Valley and surrounding hills (in Palestine, as it was known then) in an operation also involving the New Zealand Mounted Brigade.  In an operation to clear out enemy positions in the foothills to prevent German and Ottoman troops from attacking the right flank of another division, he was killed when his unit came under heavy shell fire.

Who was Albert Chan? Into the archives

Why do we not know more about Albert the person? That we know the names of his parents means the War Graves Commission were once in correspondence with his next of kin, but any documents once exchanged have not survived. Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated example from the 1920s and 30s. 

In the early decades of the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC), approaches to archiving were very different to today and files were ‘weeded’ of documents considered no longer necessary for the ongoing work of the Commission. 

In addition, during the Second World War, a national shortage of paper meant organisations were encouraged to pulp unnecessary paperwork to make into new paper. Our archives team and historians have to be creative in looking for ways around these ‘holes’ in our archives. 

One way they do this is by consulting national and local archives and museums across the world. 

This is easier for some parts of the world. In Albert’s case, while there might be physical documentation about parts of his life and the lives of his parents in archives in Guyana, the documents aren’t yet digitised or part of online catalogues of collections. This makes finding out more about him a challenge.

What commemoration means to me

It strikes me that commemoration includes people interested in the experience of their relatives, ensuring they are never forgotten; this is very much part of the mission of the CWGC.  

Events such as ANZAC Day commemorates fallen fellow countrymen.  

We know about the Pals Battalions, with men joining from the same town, employer, or profession.  

My interest, in this case, centres on a surname that is different to my parents. Even if his ancestors are from China, they may have come from the same part of China as my ancestors and may have spoken the same dialect.  

My final question is, was he ethnically Chinese? The quality of the one photograph purporting to be Albert Chan is poor and, of course, you can’t always tell where someone is from just by looking at them! You might struggle to tell that, from a photo of me, I’m from Yorkshire.  

A survey of my ethnically Chinese friends says he is; what do you think?

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves archives to research history personal to you

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Archive collects manages and preserves materials documenting the history of the CWGC, the individuals we commemorate, the cemeteries and memorials we maintain, and to make such records accessible to the public.

Visit the archive in person at our Maidenhead head office or head online to discover our digitised documents and collections.

What will your search uncover?