Written by During the first world war in 1914, African Nova Scotians responded patriotically. The men of the community wanted to volunteer to serve overseas yet most were rejected. Those who wanted to serve were told there was only one way, they had to form an entire segregated battalion. Black men from Nova Scotia, the rest of Canada, the United States, and the British West Indies formed the No. 2 Construction Battalion, C.E.F. with the largest numbers coming from Nova Scotia. In March 1917 they went overseas to support the front lines in Europe. They assisted in forestry, dug trenches, built railroads, repaired roads, and laid barbed wire. The battalion disbanded in 1920.
Nova Scotia Highlanders Regimental Museum 