Vicar leads push to honour Chinese WW1 labourers

The Reverend Mark Nam's interest in the Chinese Labour Corps was stirred by the Meridian Society's talk

A British-Chinese vicar is leading an effort to get the contribution of 140,000 Chinese labourers who helped the Allies in World War One formally remembered at St Paul's Cathedral.

The Reverend Mark Nam, of St John the Evangelist in Woodley, Berkshire, first learned about the Chinese Labour Corps in an online talk during the Covid pandemic and needs £15,000 for the memorial.

He said it was now his "passion… so that my children's children see there were people like us, of Chinese heritage, who stood shoulder to shoulder with British troops at their hour of need".

The men were recruited from the Chinese province of Shandong to do manual work behind the frontlines from 1916.

Tens of thousands of the Chinese men helped the Allies' war effort from 1916

Mr Nam attended the online talk by the Meridian Society, which promotes Chinese culture with the aim of fostering better understanding between people of Chinese origin and those from other ethnic backgrounds, both in the UK and worldwide.

"As I started listening, oh my gosh, something was rising up in me," he said.

"I just didn't know about [the men]. By the end, I felt moved to action.

"A lot of people in this group are quite elderly. Hearing one gentleman say 'I hope I can see something established before I die' really touched me."

The memorial would be placed near the tomb of Lord Nelson at St Paul's Cathedral

Having publicised the project online, he was approached by the cathedral and Mr Nam said an earmarked place for the memorial is an impressive spot.

"I thought it might be down a corridor, by the toilets or something," he said.

"It's within almost touching distance of Lord Nelson's tomb. It's great we have got the place.

"I suppose that is the easy bit. The hard bit is that I have to pay for it.

"I'm a parish priest, a vicar. I don't have money sloshing around in my cassock."

He is raising funds online to pay for the memorial, which he said would mark the men's contributions appropriately.

"I'm British-Chinese and Britain is my home and I want to see something on our shores," he added.

"France and Belgium have had memorials for several years and I would love to see Britain catch up and do this properly."