Black British Soldiers

Discussion in 'General' started by gunbunnyB/3/75FA, Jan 3, 2012.

  1. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

  2. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

    Buried in Thame, Oxon. Not too far from me, will go and see if I can locate his grave very soon. R.I.P. He had an interesting life indeed.
     
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  3. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    No name but British black gunner Catania, Sicily 1943
    upload_2022-5-19_23-13-30.png
    upload_2022-5-19_23-13-56.png
    upload_2022-5-19_23-14-33.png
    upload_2022-5-19_23-15-16.png
     
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  4. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    Nigerian RAFVR airmen
    upload_2022-6-2_16-31-11.png

    IWM CH 17476

    THE ROYAL AIR FORCE IN BRITAIN 1940-1945
     
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  5. Uncle Target

    Uncle Target Mist over Dartmoor

    So much concern regarding race nowadays. I don't think that it was such a big issue in WW2 certainly not in the Field.
    My father worked on the Railway with several work mates from far away places, mainly the West Indies or West Africa.
    I came across this mention of Bombardier Nurse on page 126 of Ubique by A.M. Cheetham. The story of the 2nd Field Regt RA in WW2.
    "Bombardier Nurse was a large West Indian and very cheerful character". (copy attached).
     

    Attached Files:

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  6. Very late to this, but the legend that was Trooper Cecil 'Darkie' Bolton was born in Liverpool, but his father may have been from Trinidad. IIRC, his father was a merchant seamen, and his mother was Liverpool-Irish I think(?) so no prizes for guessing what happened there.
    Darkie was probably the best Bren gunner in 1st AB Recce, and was known for not ever being parted with it. He was also known for giving the Germans the bird at every opportunity before diving for cover :D He was awarded the Bronze Cross by the Dutch for his actions at Arnhem, and had also served with 1st AB Recce in Italy/North Africa.
    I used to be involved with the 1st AB Recce Association back in the 90's and he was still fondly remembered by those veterans of 1st AB Recce that were still around then.
     
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  7. Quarterfinal

    Quarterfinal Well-Known Member

    More detail of this chap is at:
    Trooper Cecil Charles Bolton
    including an image. Quite a character - I can see why he was part of Maj Gough’s team sent to try and find Roy Urquart - and such a sad anecdote of his death. Someone may be able to expand on his time as a prisoner of war.
     
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  8. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

  9. SteveDee

    SteveDee Well-Known Member

    My dad's regiment was boosted by African soldiers at a time when many men were moved to other duties.
    Here is an extract from my website (https://sergeant-ack-ack.blogspot.com/p/on-to-italy.html):-


    [​IMG]
    Basuto soldiers, some of Africa’s finest fighting men, arrive in southern Italy (Nov 1943)

    The Basuto

    The Regiments numbers were boosted by southern African soldiers posted to the 59th Regiment during June 1944. Around 20,000 men left Basutoland (now known as Lesotho) to fight in World War 2. These troops were known as the Basutos, people from the Bantu ethnic group.

    From the Regiments Drama Report;

    On 2 Jun 238 African ORs were posted to the regt to replace British gun numbers. All were trained in AA gunnery duties with 120 HAA Regt in Cyprus. On average, each Battery now had 215 British ORs (BORs) and 75 African ORs (AORs).


    From Lieutenant T. W. Miller-Jones;


    I must pay tribute to the Basuto, it must have been most difficult for them to fit in. It was not long before they wanted to wear the Essex Cap Badge, thus showing they felt part of the Regiment, and their loyalty to the Crown was outstanding, they were fighting for their King.
     
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  10. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

  11. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Thanks, I didn't read the article at the time, but I did after looking at your photos, and I am very glad I did. What a life!
     
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  12. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

    Just out of interest, in the last photograph of the Church, a few yards along to the right, from the steps, is the grave of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gee's. He also gave a lot of support to the RAF. Bomber Command in particular.
     
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