SOURCE A The story of the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC), and the sinking of the

SS Mendi troopship.

Black people equally played a very important role in the defence of this country dating back to the
First World War.
On January 16, 1917 the SS Mendi troopship sailed from Cape Town to France carrying a group of
805 black soldiers, 5 white officers and 17 non-commissioned officers to help fight for Britain on
the Western Front. On the morning of 21 February 1917, another ship rammed the SS Mendi,
which sank in 20 minutes. There are many stories about the men's bravery as the ship went down.
One of them is that of the Reverend Isaac Dyobha, who cried words of encouragement to the dying
men, which also included 33 crewmembers. The men sang and stamped the death dance together
as the SS Mendi sank.
"Be quiet and calm, my countrymen, for what is taking place is exactly what you came to do. You
are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa,
say you are my brothers. Zulus, Swazis, Pondos, Basothos and all others, let us die like warriors. We
are the sons of Africa. Raise your war cries my brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais
back in the kraals, our voices are left with our bodies..."
The men from the SANLC were mostly from the rural areas of the Pondo Kingdom in the Eastern
Cape, South Africa. They were not to be used as a fighting force and were forbidden to bear
arms. Instead they were to be utilised as labourers digging trenches and performing other
manual labour as well as forming stretcher bearer parties.

SOURCE B A German cartoon titled ‘English Women’s Troops’ taken from

World War I in Cartoons.

Caption:
“We are lost dear ladies
– there is a mouse!”

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 SOURCE C An extract from a speech made by the German Kaiser, November 1911.

Now we know where our enemy stands. Like a flash of lightning in the night, these events have
shown the German people where the enemy is. The German people now knows its enemy when
it seeks its place in the sun, when it seeks the place allotted to it by destiny. When the time comes
we are prepared for sacrifices, both of blood and of resources.

SOURCE D A cross-section of a trench in The Frightful First World War by Terry Deary,
Martin Brown.

[Taken from http://www.worldwar1.com/tripwire/smtw0906.htm]

Source E A painting of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand