Abdel al Mohamedien, 73 Coy. ELC

[telaw]

It's very nice to see that the fallen comrade remembered today is:

Labourer ABDEL AL MOHAMEDIEN, 1606 73 Coy, Egyptian Labour Corps, who died on 06.09.17. Meerut Military Cemetery, France

Was Abdel among the 23 ELC members gunned down on that day by men under the command of Lt Col M Coutts, following directions by Colonel E Wace?

[michaeldr]

Remembered today on the GWF

Labourer 1606 Abdel al Mohamedien

73 Coy. Egytian Labour Corps

Died 6th September 1917

Buried in grave ref: II. B. 25, Meerut Military Cemetery, St. Martin-les-Boulogne, Pas de Calais, France

St.Martin-Boulogne is a commune in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais adjoining the north-east side of the town of Boulogne. The Meerut Stationary Hospital was established at Boulogne from October 1914, when the Indian Corps arrived in France, to November 1915, when they left; the Cemetery is named after the hospital. The majority of the Egyptian labourers buried here were killed in the air raid over Boulogne on the night of 4-5 September 1917.

Details from the CWGC [search under Abdel, nationality United Kingdom]

[michaeldr]

We may never know whether Abdel al Mohamedien was killed during the air raid or the terrible aftermath which it provoked. For details on the latter see

'Labourer’s Revolt'

By Julian Putkowski

“The air raids, which provoked the withdrawal of labour at Dunkirk, also affected Nos. 73 and 78 companies, ELC employed Boulogne. Following heavy bombing on 4 and 5 September, 1300 Egyptians went on strike, asserting that they had served out the duration of their six-month contracts. Demanding to be sent back to Egypt, they also declared that had been upset by the air raid and were disenchanted by the cold, wet weather.

Following earlier practice, the Assistant Director of Labour summoned the Egyptian Adviser, Lt.Col. Malcolm Coutts to negotiate with the strikers. Coutts, formerly the Director of Stores, Prisons and Police in the Sudan, reported that the men adamantly refused to modify their sole demand. They had included in their calculation the time taken to travel and return to their home villages.

Coutts disagreed, asserting that their six-month contracts included only to the time they spent in France.

Colonel E.C. Wace, the Deputy Director of Labour dealt brusquely with Coutts, insisting that the dispute was not a matter for negotiation but a disciplinary issue to be settled by force if the strike continued.

Coutts relayed the ultimatum to the men on 6 September and the camp was surrounded on three sides by a detachment of the Garrison battalion. When the defiant strikers broke out of their camp, they were gunned down. The final casualty toll was twenty-three dead and twenty-four wounded. Thereafter, the Egyptians resumed work.

The use of force at Boulogne and the accompanying death toll produced the bloodiest outcome of any mutiny that occurred in the BEF during the war. The order to employ force was issued by Wace……”

For the full article go to here

[michaeldr]

“The majority of the Egyptian labourers buried here were killed in the air raid over Boulogne on the night of 4-5 September 1917.”

[my emphasis]

This is a direct quote from the CWGC web page for this cemetery and I wonder upon what basis they make this statement? The cemetery contains 339 burials of which 337 are identified. I have been through their alphabetical list of the 337 identified casualties and I regret that I cannot find one single ELC man whose date of death is either 4th or 5th September 1917. There are however, 19 named individuals of the ELC whose date of death is, like Abdel al Mohamedien, 6th September 1917, which also happens to be the date of the shooting.

[michaeldr]

The following members of the Egyptian Labour Corps also died on 6th September 1917

and are buried with Abdel al Mohamedien in Meerut Military Cemetery

Abdel Mawgood Salama 2613

Abdel Salem Abdalla Hussien 1747

Abdel Sid Said Sudani 2799

Ahmed Soliman Abdella 1051

Aly Abdel Rahim 1607

Armed Aly Hamza 2792

Hamman Shehata Ahmed 1571

Hassan Sheikhon Ismail 1784

Hjssein Gad el Karim 2827

Ibrahim Mohamed el Morsi 4473

Mohamed Ahmed Ali 3435

Mohamed Aly Yussef 2813

Mohamed Mahmud Khalil 1114

Mursi Hassan Aly 1487

Sayed Mohamed Senary 12439

Sultan Abdul Kadar 1576

Tarya Awad el Sayed 2214

Zedan Osman Hefedi 1563