Soldiers of colour on remembrance day
What is Remembrance Day?
Remembrance Day commemorates the end of hostilities during WWI on November 11, 1918. This is a tradition started by King George V to remember the soldiers who died during the conflict.
Since then, Commonwealth countries, as well as others, have continued to observe November 11 at 11 AM with a moment of silence to remember those who served and died at war.
However, the narrative and images of Remembrance Day (and both world wars) tend to focus on the white, European experience. We forget that these were world wars that people of colour also fought. This Remembrance Day — and those that follow — let's remember their contributions and tell a more complex and complete story of the world wars.
“Before I knew how much the Indians had contributed, growing up I thought it was very much a white war...We weren’t taught about the Indians in school.”
WWI & soldiers of colour
"The role played by the four million non-white non-Europeans who fought and laboured on the western front [in WWI] – and in other theatres of the war in Africa, the Middle East and Asia – has been airbrushed from popular memory."
— David Olusoga, The Guardian
Colonialism played an important role in WWI — European powers drew from their colonies to recruit soldiers and workers. For example, Britain called upon Indian, African and Caribbean troops to fight, while France built their armies from their own colonies — Senegal, North Africa, Vietnam, and Madagascar.
Even Germany weaponized religion to try to gain support from the Ottoman Empire and the leaders of other Muslim countries to get involved in a war against Britain, France and Russia.
What we don't remember
It's not only that we forget soldiers of colour, but also that their experiences during and after the wars were conditioned by the fact that they weren't white. For example, most of the soldiers who were given high rank and awarded during the world wars were white soldiers from Western countries.
Not only that but also:
The French believed that West African soldiers "could better withstand the shock of battle and experienced physical pain less acutely. This justified deploying them as shock troops... As a result, West African soldiers on the western front between 1917 and 1918 were two-and-a-half times more likely to be killed in action than white French infantrymen."
After the war, Black British soldiers and labourers who worked in factories, despite their contributions, were attacked by white mobs.
“Britain didn’t fight the Second World War,
the British Empire did.”
40% of the military personnel who fought for the British Empire during WWII were from non-Western Commonwealth countries.
Highlighting contributions of soldiers of colour
Indian Soldiers
3.8 million Indian soldiers served in WWI and WWII.
31 Indian soldiers received the Victoria Cross while
6,300 received Gallantry decorations.
Caribbean Soldiers
16,000 soldiers enlisted and formed the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR) in 1915. The BWIR included soldiers from Jamaica to the Bahamas, and by the end of WWI were rewarded 81 medals.
Caribbean Soldiers
Over one million African soldiers fought in WWII. During WWII, 80,000 labourers built ships using uranium, steel and platinum.
Next steps
This Remembrance Day — and those that follow — let's remember the contributions of soldiers of colour and tell a more complex and complete story of the world wars.
Take time to explore projects and archives that tell the stories of soldiers of colour, like:
Library of Birmingham's Stories of Omission
Exploring the West Indian contribution to the First World War by Gateways to the First World War
The research of Dr Irfan Malik and David Olusoga
When you're watching coverage or reading Remembrance Day news, ask yourself:
Whose stories are being told? Pay close attention to the ethnicity or nationality of soldiers they emphasize.
When Indigenous, Black, Japanese or other BIPOC soldiers are discussed, are they tokenizing their contributions and involvement?
