Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War

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It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. An article entitled 'The Nursing of our Dark Soldiers,' from The Graphic, June 1918, was written by an anonymous nurse who had spent a year at the base hospital for Indian and African troops in Dar-es-salaam (capital of modern-day Tanzania). When Britain entered the First World War on August 4th, 1914 no one could have been more loyal to his king and country than the Guyanese merchant seaman Lionel Turpin. After the war he joined the British Legion and became a tireless campaigner for the rights of ex-servicemen. From 1921, Artificial poppies started to be sold as a means of raising money for the Earl Haig Fund which supported ex-servicemen and families of those who did not come home.

Via our American contributors we have sets of photographs documenting African American soldiers including the famed 369th Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as the Harlem Hellfighters, so named by the Germans due to their reputation for never losing a man, a trench or foot of ground to the enemy. It’s what gives us momentum, makes us turn those pages faster and faster, stay up reading two hours after we should have been in bed. Risien Russell; Lionel Turpin ‘a lad in a soldier’s coat’; Scotland’s Black Tommy and the remarkable David Clemetson, born in 1893 to a plantation owner, educated at Haig’s alma mater Clifton College followed by Trinity College, Oxford killed 21 September 1918 as well as Herbert Morris, the 17 year old shot for desertion who had volunteered when he was still only 16.We also aim to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who served their countries on all sides, across all theatres and fronts, on land, at sea and in the air and at home, during the Great War. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall).

Other resources which have been a tremendous help to me are 1919: Britain’s Year of Revolution (Pen and Sword, 2017), by Simon Webb, which covers the British race riots of that year, and Ray Costello’s Black Tommies: British Soldiers of African Descent in the First World War (Liverpool University Press, 2016). By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. This year, however, a new flower appeared on some lapels, either in place of or alongside the traditional red poppy. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories. By 1918 it is estimated that Britain’s black population had trebled to 30,000, as many black servicemen who had fought for Britain decided to make it their home.After meeting Stephen’s Aunty Esther, we hear the story of Walter Tull, who led soldiers in some of history’s bloodiest battles and died in the fighting just weeks before the conflict would end. Marcus continued to serve in the Merchant Navy after the war until he died, in 1927, at the age of 43. Charles Wood-Hill, wrote in his memoir that “they were unsuitably clothed—no warm underclothing, no overcoats and sick accommodation totally unsuitable. As well as the men from the West Indies who joined up to serve, many Africans were also part of the Allied effort, many in the King's African Rifles where companies formed from indigenous African ranks were pivotal in fighting against the Germans in East Africa.