Remembering the secret Black military unit that had to fight to serve Canada
Blair Dixon looks frail: a tall, thin, slightly stooped 86-year-old, his fingers gnarled by rheumatoid arthritis. But when he speaks, even with a quiver in his voice, you hear the overwhelming pride he feels for his dad, George Dixon, and his contribution to Canada’s war effort.
In an interview with CTV’s W5, Blair recalled when his father marched down the street in Saint John, N.B. on Remembrance Day in 1941. “He marched with pride .. proud to be a Canadian,” and having served his country.
In an interview with CTV’s W5, Blair Dixon recalled when his father, George Dixon, marched down the street in Saint John, N.B. on Remembrance Day in 1941. “He marched with pride .. proud to be a Canadian,” and having served his country.
But life wasn’t always kind to the Dixon family. Blair’s grandparents were the descendants of slaves who fled Louisiana for Nova Scotia in the late nineteenth century, to escape racism and hatred, only to experience prejudice in Canada.
George was raised in what was then called Africville, outside Halifax. The segregated community has since been demolished.
At age 21, in 1916, at the height of the First World War, George tried to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces. While there was no official policy discriminating against Black men, many were simply turned away.
As war raged in Europe, and Canadian soldiers died, the military was desperate for more boots on the ground. Lobbying by mainly Black social activists led to the creation of the Number 2 Construction Battalion, or the Black Battalion, and some 600 men were shipped overseas.
Even with a regiment of their own, the soldiers encountered racism, as labourers engaged in back breaking construction work, in support of their white counterparts, who in turn abused them, denied them services and medical treatment.
Members of the all-Black No. 2 Construction Battalion are shown in this historic photo. (Submitted by the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia)
Blair says his father never spoke of the bad times. “He didn't say anything..It's hard to believe…but It's literally nothing.”
For George Dixon, it came down to service, something he instilled in Blair, who after growing up poor in Saint John, as one of 11 children, went on to spend 15 years in Canada’s military, along with five of his brothers.
Blair also experienced hate in the military, but says he was able to walk the other side of it because, as his father taught him, “Be proud to be Canadian and be proud of who you are; Black and healthy. “
The Black Battalion is one of Canada’s best kept military secrets, the contribution of the regiment largely unknown and unmarked by history.
In July 2022, after pressure from the Black community, the Canadian government apologized for the wrong Black soldiers experienced in the military, in the early 1900s.
“For the blatant anti-Black hate and systemic racism that denied these men dignity in life and in death, we are sorry, “ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a sombre ceremony in Truro, N.S.
While Blair Dixon says he can’t speak for his father, he doesn’t think George would understand or appreciate the apology, because, “My father had a tough life…It was tough when I was young. But I grew out of that. Papa didn't have a chance to grow out of that.”
Blair does get emotional when he recalls his father shining his shoes and laying his uniform on the bed, getting ready to march with other soldiers in Remembrance Day parades in Canada.
He hopes his dad’s story will inspire Canadians to think of the men of the Number 2 Construction Battalion on this November 11, as Canadians mark Remembrance Day; a time also to hold the government accountable to a promise to purge hatred and discrimination from today’s military and make true to the phrase, etched on the gravestones of those who served.
“Lest We Forget”.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.
Local Spotlight
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.