Why were black British soldiers of the First World War deliberately erased from history?
In short: This episode of IWM Stories examines the vital contributions of black soldiers during the First World War and the calculated efforts to obscure their service to preserve the British Empire.
During the First World War, many people from across the British Empire volunteered to serve. However, black recruits faced systemic discrimination and were denied the same opportunities as their white counterparts. Specifically, black units were prohibited from combat on the Western Front due to fears that colonial soldiers fighting against white Europeans would threaten the stability of British colonial rule.
While black units served in Africa and the Middle East, their participation was restricted to theaters where their opponents were also non-white. Despite their essential role in the Allied victory, their service was intentionally omitted from the historical record after the war. Alan Wakefield explores the identities and experiences of these men, including figures like William Robinson Clarke, to uncover why their legacy was suppressed.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The First World War soldiers who were deliberately forgotten
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