page_title: Egyptian Labour Corps
section_title: Recruitment
hierarchical_section_title: Egyptian Labour Corps / Recruitment
caption_attribution_description: English: Egyptian Labour Corps being paid at Romani in September 1916
context_page_description: The Egyptian Labour Corps was a group of Egyptian labourers who worked for the British Army in Egypt during the First World War's Sinai and Palestine Campaign.
context_section_description: This was carried out by native agents who visited villages in their sub-district under the direction of a district recruiting officer who was assisted by a medical officer. These two officers inspected and examined all recruits and the agent was paid P.T. 5 for each recruit who passed. Each successful recruit could choose between Camel Transport, Horse Transport, Labour, Remount and Veterinary corps and services. The recruits enlisted for six months and were given an advance of English £3/-/- to provide for dependents. At the Recruiting Depot the recruit was issued with blankets and an overcoat and at the corps or service depot he was disinfected, given clothes and equipment. In the Egyptian Labour Corps the pay was 5 P.T. per day while the other corps and services paid 6 P.T. per day plus clothing and rations.
  These men were most often from extremely poor villagers and the daily inducement of 7 piastres (1 shilling and 6 pence) and rations was very attractive to them. When money and food were not enough, military authority under the terms of the Protectorate and Martial Law was imposed over all Egyptian officials and civilians. Then, for a consideration, the Muidir, Lord Lieutenant or Omdah, mayors of Egyptian towns, organised press gangs and the necessary native armed guards to keep the forced labour at work.
  It is also probable that members of the Egyptian Labour Corps were 'sealed' like members of the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps by a seal being attached to their wrists. Initially the periods of service appear to have started as quite short term but became very long term as their importance was recognised and the difficulty of finding more recruits increased. By the first half of 1918 riots, blamed on bad recruitment methods employed to find more workers for the Egyptian Labour Corps, began to occur.
  Sir Reginald Wingate acknowledged on 8 May, the importance to General Edmund Allenby of keeping the Egyptian Labour Corps and the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps at full strength. At first Wingate contemplated "some form of compulsory service" but such a step would not be supported by the Sultan of Egypt and cause deep resentment throughout the country. A meeting at the Residency, in Cairo, decided that requisitioning labour from the villages through the Mudirs, Mamours and Omdas might prove effective. The meeting felt this corvée system would be supported by the Sultan and his Ministers and could be introduced without causing discontent among the general population.
caption: Egyptian Labour Corps engaged on road making, railway construction and laying water pipeline being paid at Romani in September 1916
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