Honour Before Glory is an award-winning docudrama film about the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s one and only all-Black battalion that was formed during the First World War. The film was produced and directed by award-winning Canadian filmmaker, Anthony Sherwood. During their service in France, this all-Black battalion had to endure cruel racism while serving in the Canadian Army.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion was comprised of soldiers from across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. The battalion was formed in 1916 at a time when the USA had not entered the war yet. African-American men heard of this all-Black battalion being formed in Canada and decided to enlist. There were 162 African-American men who joined the No. 2 Construction Battalion with the Canadian Army and these American men came from almost every state in the USA.
The film Honour Before Glory is based on the war diary of Reverend William Andrew White, who was the Chaplain for this unique battalion and the only Black Chaplain in the entire British Armed Forces during WWI. William White was born in Virginia and came to Canada in 1900. Anthony Sherwood is the great-nephew of Reverend William Andrew White.