And the Lord said:
There will be a school in Trentham.
And there will be no Elected Mayor.
The Unknown Soldiers
08 Nov 2009
Although many Remembrance events will have taken place over the weekend, the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month will be marked by many with two minutes’ silence during which we will remember the Fallen from the two World Wars and innumerable conflicts since, and those still on-going.
But some are better remembered than others. Most of us are too young to personally remember the Second World War, and the last combatants of the First World War passed away this summer. Many of our fathers and grandfathers weren’t called up because they were needed in the pits, steelworks or on the railways, and those who did go to war back then often didn’t talk about it. So often the picture in our mind’s eye comes from films or television.
We all know this can give a distorted view. With so many films made in the US, no-one can doubt the role the Americans had, and there have been notorious cases of them stealing other people’s thunder, as in U571 where American forces get hold of the German Enigma machine several years before, in reality, they were involved in the war at all!
Hollywood doesn’t give all American heroes their fair share of the limelight, though. When Flags of our Fathers was released, there was serious criticism that while the film's battle scenes showed scores of young soldiers in combat, none of them were African-American. Yet almost 900 African-American troops took part in the battle of Iwo Jima.
Mind you, how many non-white troops from Britain and the Commonwealth made it onto film? I’m fairly sure there was a Sikh mosquito pilot in 633 Squadron but I honestly can’t recall any allied soldier, sailor or airman who wasn’t white in any of the British “war movies” I’ve seen (film buffs, feel free to take this up as a challenge and correct me if I’m wrong!).
This is a pretty serious oversight, as about 5 million African, Asian and Caribbean troops served in the British and Commonwealth forces in the two World Wars. There is now a memorial to them – the Memorial Gates - at the top of Constitution Hill in London, near Hyde Park Corner.
As well as the gates themselves, shown here, there is an elegant pavilion with the names of those who won a VC or George Cross inscribed inside the dome:
It was opened by the Queen in 2002, some might say a little belatedly.
During the First World War Soldiers from the Indian sub-continent fought in all the major wartime theatres. Two infantry and two cavalry divisions had arrived on the Western Front in 1914 and eventually 140,000 men saw service there. Indian troops fought in Palestine and Mesopotamia (Iraq) and alongside British and ANZAC troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They also formed a large proportion of the Allied forces occupying former enemy territory in East Africa, the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. In total 1.27 million Indians served as combatants and labourers – “India” at that time included modern Pakistan and Bangladesh.
During the war around 15,000 West Indians also enlisted, including 10,000 from Jamaica. Although a few served in regular British Army units, most men from the Caribbean served in the West India Regiment and the British West Indies Regiment (raised in October 1915), serving in France, Italy, Africa and the Middle East. Towards the end of the war, two battalions saw combat in Palestine and Jordan against the Turks.
By November 1918 the ‘British Army’ in East Africa was mainly composed of African soldiers. The units involved were the West African Frontier Force drawn from Nigeria, the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Sierra Leone, and the King’s African Rifles, recruited from Kenya, Uganda and Nyasaland (Malawi). At least 180,000 Africans served in the Carrier Corps in East Africa and provided logistic support to troops at the front. Over 60,000 of them came from South Africa. Black South Africans were restricted to a logistical role because the South African government feared arming them. Around 25,000 South Africans were also recruited to the South African Native Labour Contingent that served on the Western Front in 1916-17.
There’s an interesting local connection to this, as one of the many African troops was John Roberts, reputed to be the first black man to settle in Stoke-on-Trent, whose sons Kenneth and Leslie both fought in the Second World War. Leslie survived D-Day and lived locally until his death in 2001, but Kenneth was killed at Arnhem.
During the Second World War (1939-45), over three million Empire troops served with distinction throughout the North and East African campaigns, in the Mediterranean, Western Europe and the Far East, including the two-million strong Indian Army, the largest volunteer army in history. In South East Asia Command, 58% of Lord Louis Mountbatten’s personnel were Indian (and 25% were African) by 1945. Twenty-eight VC’s were won by soldiers of the British Indian Army, from all the States in India, including the Nepalese Ghurkha battalions.
The Africans proved to be notable jungle fighters. Particularly compared with Europeans, they were more resistant to tropical diseases and heat, and their sickness rates were among the lowest in Burma. Over 350,000 African troops fought in East Africa, defeating the Italians in Somaliland and Abyssinia.
The West Indies provided more recruits for the RAF than any other part of the Colonial Empire when recruitment was opened later in the war.
Over 15,000 colonial subjects served at sea with the Merchant Navy, and about 5,000 of the 30,000 merchant seamen who lost their lives during the war came from Imperial territories – Hong Kong, Malaya, India (Goa and Bengal), West Africa, and the West Indies. Less than four years ago, this memorial beside the Mersey in Liverpool was dedicated to one group of them.
There are other faces we never see. About five years ago I visited several of the WWI Commonwealth War Graves sites near Ypres, and was surprised to note row after row of the neat white marble stones inscribed with Chinese characters. Until I saw these graves, I didn’t know the Chinese Labour Corps even existed.
Each also had a few words in English; one read “A good reputation endures forever”.
Let’s ensure it does. We will remember them...
It is sad that some of those gallant Afr
It is sad that some of those gallant African fighters had only been given rusty medals and then completely forgotten by Britain. A good number of our people, who were conscripted when they were very young men, are living today and all they have as legacy of their gallantry is the story they tell about the near-death incidents they experienced. Apart from that, they are completely forgotten soldiers while their counterparts in Britain continue to receive pensions and other benefits. Remembrance Day commemorates nothing but the neglect of brave African soldiers who left their homes and relatives to help their colonial masters fight a war not their own and for which they would gain no benefit.
No-one is suggesting that the sacrifice
No-one is suggesting that the sacrifice made by foreign troops shouldn't be recognised Tony,
but where's the recognition for the homegrown troops? Afterall, this is the Remembrance Service in Britain, I don't consider it too much to include the British!
All we ever hear from you bloody PC libe
All we ever hear from you bloody PC liberal tossers is how foreigners have done this for the country,
immigrants have done that for the country, it's now even at the point where we can't simply acknowledge the death of British troops without turning it into some kind of global cryfest for the far left.
A bit crass? Are you reading something
A bit crass?
Are you reading something different from me? This is Rememberance Service, a day on which those who gave their lives in service to this country are remembered.
That's all those who gave their lives, not just the bloody foreigners.
I might have known this PC liberal diatribe came from Plain Jane, and where you might think my comment is a bit crass, I find this constant pandering to anything foreign, appalingly distasteful on such a day.
We should remember those foreigners that lost their lives fighting in WW2, but not to the exclusion of by far the largest group, our own people!
Well, according to this crap, the
Well,
according to this crap, the British didn't win the war against the nazis,
it was the Africans, asians, and the Chinese!
The worst example of PC bullsh*t I've ever seen on this site, and I have to tell you that your
attempt at re-writing history in favour of the BME community is the most insulting thing to the memories of the indigenous soldiers who gave their lives in defence of this country.
The vast majority of deaths were white British. I'm just glad my dad isn't here to see what you stinking lefties are doing to the memory of WW2.
Oh for f***s sake. An article illustrati
Oh for f***s sake. An article illustrating the contribution to this country's defence by our Commonwealth and Dominion allies and subjects and Craig goes off on one saying it's being anti-white and ignoring our own contribution. It wasn't. Grow up Craig.
An article about the fallen and Craig ha
An article about the fallen and Craig has to play the race card as usual. Potty Barnes, or whoever you are, don't let the guy get under your skin. I'm sure alot of his posts on this site can be quoted come election time.
After all, it was his mouth that got him
After all, it was his mouth that got him "to leave" the BNP. It can always be used against him and exploited.
I would have put money on Craig Pond fin
I would have put money on Craig Pond finding reasons to take offence at this article.
The article says no such thing. But Britain did not fight or win either World War alone.
This simply states the role of the non-white Commonwealth troops who are frequently left out of popular history. This was no secret during either of the World Wars. Researching my own grandfather's First World War exploits revealed - from contemporary sources such as the company "war diairies", not some "PC" revision later - that his company supported Sikh cavalry in the autumn of 1914, and had substantial numbers of Indian Labour Corps attached to them in 1918. On both occasions, the actions concerned took place in NE France.
In what context, Craig? Wikipedia (easiest source quickly available and probably most up to date) put British WW2 military deaths at 382,700, which certainly is more than the 87,000 for India. I did not claim otherwise.
But it still means that for each four British soldiers, sailors or airmen who died, so did one Indian.
It also gives American military casualties at 416,800, but between 8,800,000 and 10,700,000 for the Soviet Union, (and the vast majority of these were from after Russia became our ally). But I'm a "leftie", so of course that's why I mention the Russians. Nothing to do with the facts.
If you can only be proud of Britain by denying the fact that we had - and needed - many allies, that's insecurity not history.
I'd like to Thank Plane Jane for this ar
I'd like to Thank Plane Jane for this article on what is always a very important and emotional day.
Important because we must never ever forget the sacrifices that the men and women, regardless of creed or colour, made in all the conflicts around the world. Many many made the ultimate sacrifice of all - their lives. They did this so that we can enjoy the lives that we have today. Free from dictatorship and the right of free speech.
Emotional because for every life that was destroyed a bunch of others had theirs destroyed too, I mean of course the families they left behind. Let us not forget also, the impact that injuries of the body and mind that devastated lives as well.
My dad who recently passed away fought in Korea and witnessed many of his mates lose their lives. He fought on the front-line and no doubt took lives of the opposition soldiers. The effect on him stayed with him all his life and he rarely talked about what he had seen. Remembrance day was important to him and he never missed a service in Stoke or the service broadcast on the BBC. I can still remember vividly the nights when I was just a young boy and my brother and me would be awoken by the sound of shouting and we would rush into my parents room to see my dad holding my mum against the wall because he had dreamt that she was a Korean sniper. He would laugh it off the next day but I guess that he would be diagnosed with some post traumatic stress syndrome these days.
It is important that we remember those who have lost their lives and served in conflicts of the past and the present. Remembrance day must stay as a vital day in our calender.
Plane Jane is right to point out that it was a commonwealth sacrifice way back in the day and it is a NATO sacrifice in the present day conflicts. Not to give that recognition is an insult to all those who lost lives and served us in the fight for our freedom.
Craig, Don't you think that is a bit cra
Craig, Don't you think that is a bit crass? The author is not denigrating the efforts of the British Empire to win the World Wars but rather highlighting some of the significant contributions by Soldiers from other parts of the Realm. Don't be such a chav. Cheers, Brad
Craig and Pooter. The only people denig
Craig and Pooter. The only people denigrating anyones memory in this post are yourselves. All who fought and died should be remembered. ALL.
I think certain peope have missed the po
I think certain peope have missed the point the article was making. It wasn't trying to denigrate or ignore the sacrifices made by our own soldiers (including one of my grandfathers), it was trying to point out the British forces in both World Wars weren't solely made up of British troops. Pooter, you need a reality check with your last comment.
Thanks to those of you who have commente
Thanks to those of you who have commented posively on this item. It seems I was not alone in feeling that this was a story needing to be told, and that this time of year was an appropriate time to tell it.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/not-forgotten/4od#3009371
The battle of Britain honours, reads lik
The battle of Britain honours, reads like a roll call of the United Nations.
The BNP propaganda leaflet had a battle of Britain, Polish pilot at the ready in his Spitfire.
Without the input from our foreign friends, we would have lost the battle, lost the war and been invaded by Craig's friends.
In my mind ALL nations defeated Hitler a
In my mind ALL nations defeated Hitler and other forces such as Japan in the second world war. Yes the armed forces of this country was intrgrel to that war and indeed to many others , but so were the US, France and the resistance in that and other countrys, Russia, India, Canada, Australia, as well as ALL other commonwealth counterys, it is the lost lives of all wars that I remember. With conflict still going on, we must never forget these brave people.
Well said to both Warren and Craig Pond
Well said to both Warren and Craig Pond - as for the rest of the snivelling toadys trying to use Remembrance day as an opportunity to peddle the myth that Britian would be better off transformed into a multicultural hell hole, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Thank goodness that come the election you're going to be history yourselves - then perhaps without your Marxist stirring the various ethic groups can settles down to live side by side peacefully.
"Hollywood doesn’t give all Ameri
"Hollywood doesn’t give all American heroes their fair share of the limelight, though."
A couple of films that do, highlighting the horrific everyday prejudice that Black American servicemen faced in the 1940s: "The Tuskegee Airmen" (1997) and "Hart's War" (2002). Interestingly for the time, there is also "Wings for This Man" (1945), a propaganda short about the Tuskegee Airmen, narrated by Ronald Reagan, produced by the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Forces. Even so, still very few.
So where's the mention of the white Brit
So where's the mention of the white British lads that did most of the dying??
This was nothing but more of this PC liberal crap being forced on us by those of you peddling excuses for a multicultural society.
For the most part, the Africans fought in Africa defending themselves and their neighbours against the Germans there, they did their bit toward the war effort and everyones thankful, but the vast majority of the fighting and dying to save Britain was done by the British!
Sick and fed up of you liberal minded morons turning everything into a pro immigration, pro multicultural rally cry. For Christs sake give it a rest.
What an utter disgrace that this can be
What an utter disgrace that this can be turned into a racist issue by Craig.
Dead man and women have given their life whatever their colour.
Craig you show your utter ignorance of the facts that many men and women that were not born in this country and of all colours died.
What about the Canadians, Polish, Pakistani, West Indian, Australian, French, Belgian, Russian, American etc.
I have not mentioned the Jewish people in their millions who died or are you one who denies that ever happened like your former Leader Nick Griffin and your local former leader Cllr. Batkin.
You have denigrated the sacrifice all people who died including the 'British' by trying to turn this into a Race and Colour issue.
I heartily agree and do just that. I'll also add that I regard remembrance day as a day of remembrance for those we fought against too, just cannon fodder with another language.
YOU give it a rest. Just once Craig. sa
YOU give it a rest. Just once Craig. say something positive. you strike me as being intelligent but it seems like you come on here for a wind up, to have a go at everyone and everything. At least try to say something encouraging without everything having to pertaining to colour creed or nationality. You'd feel better, I'm sure.
I said in an earlier post that we should
I said in an earlier post that we should remember all those that lost their lives, not just the bloody foreign ones! There's no mention of the British lads that fought and died. Just once, take that bloody chip off your shoulder and recognise there's more to life than just what the immigrants do.
Dont YOU coe the innocent either. How
Dont YOU coe the innocent either. How anyone can use the phrases "Multicultural hell hole" and "various ethic groups can settles down to live side by side peacefully." in the same post beggars belief. Please pooter form your own opinions. State them and stick to them. Acting like CP's Lackey makes you look even more ridiculous than the bilge laden comments you come out with.
Oh Roger, insults from a man who's about
Oh Roger, insults from a man who's about as straight as a pigs tail is praise indeed!
If you'd read what I wrote, you'd see that I complained at the leaving out of the group that did the most dying, and that would be the British.
I didn't turn this into a race and/or colour issue, that was done by the stupid lefty that wrote this crap, and the last person I need lessons from is someone like you!
Nowhere in my posts do I attack the Jewish people, yet this is what you insinuate. Nowhere in my posts do I say that we should only remember the British, but you again insinuate that this is the case.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones Roger,and even if people don't like what I say, at least they know I'm telling the truth, you can't even say that.
It was insulting and patronising. Did the writer honestly think I or anyone else didn't know and acknowledge that until this article pointed it out?
Excuse me. I'm nobody's lackey - being a Lackey doesn't come easy to us which was why the war was fought you see.
If you've got some disagreement with me then state it but I'm more inclined to reply in moderate tones if that's how I received it. Why all the bile? Surely you're a defender of free speech?
For pity's sake. Pooter and CP's commen
For pity's sake. Pooter and CP's comments are simply outrageous - designed to goad - and they should hang their heads in shame. At the very least read the article properly chaps - that's if you can manage to uncross your eyes and stop your mouths foaming for five minutes. But then what do we expect from people who, based on their comments on this site, share closer ideological bonds with Nazi Germany than with the UK?
Frankly, you're both showing yourselves to be the basket-cases that we all (and the majority of the electorate) know you are...
Well if that's the case, what the hell a
Well if that's the case, what the hell are you conversing with us for then??
Why is it we see so many posts that bear a strong resemblance to each other?
Could it be that the lefties writing on this blog have more than one persona?
Having spoken to some of them, PnP is like schitzophrenic central.
Homos sounds like Barnes, and we all know he's got a split personality....
How the hell can you deny these things??
How the hell can you deny these things??
Britain is a multicultural hellhole.
You want to have these islands jampacked with third world dross, at least give the natives a chance to vote for it!
Everyones telling us what we're having when we should be choosing for ourselves what we want.
I don't need or use lackeys Tideswellman, anytime I've something to say, I'll say it, but I'd rather have Pooters comments than your bigoted, racist ones.
But I'm not standing for election. I jus
But I'm not standing for election. I just objected to the patronising tone of the article.
Don't know about yourself but I actually did know of the contribution others made and if they're not getting help in recognition of their sacrifice then it's a disgrace. Just to answer another accusation someone else made, I do believe that war is a failure and call me a Nazi if you will but I also regard a German life equal to ours.
Was that the point of it? If so I retract all I said before, and I agree, some things I said were OTT to say the least and I apologise. It was just that the way I read it it was yet another non political event hi-jacked to peddle a particularly dangerous creed prevalent in this country that is so dangerous to us all.
Sorry but that's how I read it. perhaps seeing things that weren't there. I suspect the writer is rather young.
Ps; I note that no mention was made of the fact that while hot air is being banded about here the bodies of teenagers are being flown back, now on almost a daily basis, thanks to a war of conquest waged by the Labour warmongers.
Talk about Lackeys!
Somethings sould be kept out of politics
Somethings sould be kept out of politics, this is one such thing, Remembrance day is a day to remember brave men and women who gave there lives in conflict, not to gain polltical Brownie points.
Post new comment