Post World War Two:  England and Black Servicemen

After people like Enoch Powell had toured the Caribbean and specifically invited black people to help rebuild Britain, highly skilled and qualified West Indians were told to 'F off' back where they came from. They were refused jobs, refused bank loans, refused a decent place to live and refused recognition that they had even fought. To this day images of black servicemen, easily available from the Imperial War Museum are overlooked my media sources. Numerous incidents of discrimination from British ex-service associations led to the establishment of what was originally the West Indian Ex Servicemen's Association.

RAF veteran Sam King in his book Climbing up the Rough Side of the Mountain states that he organised with other black people to run a 'partner' and buy properties in north, south and east London.He would then rent them to other West Indians so they could avoid discrimination and exploitation from racist locals.  

Jamaican Baron Baker also ex RAF was the leader of black resistance to white gang attacks in  Notting Hill in August 1958. From his HQ at 9 Blenheim Crescent  in response to large white mobs shouting 'Lets kill the ni**ers! Lets lynch the ni**ers!'  he used his military skills to lead a group of men who petrol-bombed the assailants and chased them away. Later on convoys of black men from Brixton. many of them ex-servicemen, daily patrolled the area to protect the community. These racist attacks on black people were later described as the Notting Hill 'Riots'

St Lucian George Warner who joined the RAF in the 60's found that his promotion was blocked. He could not understand why white men with five 'O' levels were getting promoted whereas he, with seven 'O' levels and three 'A' levels, was not getting anywhere. After standing on a desk and complaining about racism,  he was forced to clean the toilets with a toothbrush as punishment. A senior officer took him aside and told him that application forms for black servicemen had a mark in the corner to indicate that the applicant was black and would therefore not be considered for promotion.

His cousin Linus Warner with ten o'levels suffered the same treatment but in addition, he was exposed to nuclear radiation tests in Christmas island in the Pacific. Veterans of these experiments are now suing the Ministry of Defence for compensation for their illnesses

Kenyan Land and Freedom Army Fighters. Many had fought for the British but were disgusted with the treatment they suffered

Post World War Two: Black Soldiers in Africa 

Kenyan troops served with distinction in Burma. Once the war was over Kenyans saw their land given to white soldiers from England while they were forced into slums like Kibera, currently the biggest in East Africa.

Kenyans were not allowed to vote. Some of them joined the Land and Freedom Army to fight for political and social equality. This group was renamed the Mau Mau by the British and labelled as 'terrorists'. The British Army then established concentration camps where defiant Kenyans were locked up and beaten or starved to death.

In 2004 after years of legal arguments with the British Army/Ministry of Defence, Kenyan people were compensated with an out-of court settlement of £ 500, 000.00 for death and amputations caused by unexploded bombs left by the British Army. The army used parts of Kenya as a training ground. The MOD had  paid out 4.5 million pounds in 2002 to other Kenyans disabled by their bombs but refused to accept any responsibility read more 

In 2006 a military inquiry into the alleged rape of over 2000 Kenyan women by British soldiers with cases dating back to 1955 came to the conclusion that there was no case to answer. In effect, all of the women were lying.Read Guardian 14 November 2006

World War Two: Black American Soldiers

By way of comparison black American troops were lynched in uniform in England and America during  World War Two by racist whites. Black Americans served in segregated units, are told they are inferior yet given the toughest jobs and most dangerous missions. One example is the all-black 761 'Black Panther' Tank Battalion. When white troops could not  take an objective they would bypass it and call up the 761. The 761 took on Germanys finest Panzer troops and repeatedly beat them. Unlike other units the 761 was not given rest and recreation but repeatedly used and suffered higher casualty rates than white troops. Despite performing heroic acts and being recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honour in 1945 black troops are  not awarded the medals until 1997 See PBS transcript of 1997 Clinton Speech Black troops put forward for medals in World War 1(1914-1918) did not get them until the Presidency of George Bush.

The best fighter squadron in World War 2 was, without doubt. the all-Black Tuskegee Airmen. Given the task of escorting US bombers, they had an exemplary record .This compared to previous all-white fighter pilots who failed to protect the bombers. After the war the black pilots  found that press reports of their bravery and success were blocked by the US war department, that they couldn't get jobs with airlines and still could not vote

In March 2007 Tory MP Patrick Mercer  was forced to quit his frontbench role over comments he made about black soldiers 

Mr Mercer, an ex-colonel, had to resign after he said he had met "a lot" of "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers who used racism as a "cover". He said he accepted his comments might have "hurt" soldiers who served with him and "embarrassed" his party.

In the newspaper interview that sparked the row, Mr Mercer appeared to suggest being called a "black bastard" was a normal part of Army life.

In March 2007 Marlon Clancy of the British Commonwealth Soldiers Union goes on GMTV to state that while in barracks he was chased by fellow soldiers dressed in Klu Klux Kan outfits who wanted to burn him.Watch video He revealed that Commonwealth troops were called racist names and accused of being lazy and inefficient

On the 13th March 2007 the Independent ran a front page which detailed how Lewen and Damien Bowman, of Jamaican parentage, had both joined the Army and served in Iraq but the Home Office wanted to deport their mother as she wasn't born here.

In the  5th April 2008 edition the Guardian newspaper carried an article titled

'MOD may halt surge in Commonwealth recruits to Army' 

Due to the  aggressive recruiting, numbers of black soldiers had increased from 360 in 1998 to 6,600 in 2008. Senior ranks made comments that the Army should reflect British 'norms and values' and that the numbers of Commonwealth troops should be capped at 10 %

In April 2008 the New Nation carried a front page about St Lucian Rogers Jean Baptiste who, having served in the army for the required time was denied a passport by the Home Office. This was  because he had not lived in Britain long enough. The fact that the British army had sent him to a British base in  Germany where he was working for the British government on British soil was irrelevant.Read more

In 2008 Major Rabia Siddiqui a Muslim woman who had played a crucial role in the rescue of two undercover soldiers held in a Basra police station in Iraq,  received an undisclosed sum in compensation for abusive treatment due to her race, gender and faith read more  

Black History Walks delivers interactive lectures on the black presence in World War 1 and 2 www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk