CLC Centenary – Major Purdon’s Phrasebook

2017 is the centenary of the deployment in Europe of the Chinese Labour Corps (see my previous blog posts on the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Bryan Fairfax as Commander of the CLC and the opening of the recruiting office for the CLC at Weihaiwei). Following Fairfax’s appointment it was announced that Major R.I. Purdon was appointed his second-in-command. Purdon eventually succeeded Fairfax in 1918 as Commander of the CLC and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. Purdon produced a phrase book for those working with the CLC – the chief attributes of which are that it takes on board the various dialects spoken and also the importance of hierarchical relationships both within the CLC and among the men themselves.

Here then is the cover of the book….

image courtesy of Roy Delbyck