Several books have been written about black soldiers in the British Army during World War One, ‘Black Tommies’ by Ray Costello and ‘Black Poppies’ by Stephen Bourne spring immediately to mind, no doubt there have been others. But you can’t help feeling that those books only showed the tip of an iceberg. John Ellis has now turned his attention to the period of the First World War and is uncovering the stories of many more black soldiers.
This picture and headline (‘Coloured men’s response to the new appeal for recruits’) in the ‘Daily Mirror’ of 1st June 1915, caught John’s eye:
John writes: “World War One saw thousands of ‘men of colour’ serving in the regiments and corps of the British Army, the Royal Navy and the forces of the Empire. Many of the men were drawn from Britain’s Black population. The men in the photo above volunteered for service in a Territorial regiment of the Royal Artillery in the North of England in 1915.
Two of the men were named by the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, as Ben David and Henry Basker, both Jamaicans.(2) It is not possible to identify either Ben or Henry in the photo, or the names of the other ‘Gunners’. However, a little more is known about Henry Basker.
He was born in Jamaica in 1888 and enlisted in May 1915, when it was noted that he was a seaman by occupation and had a ‘West Indian’ complexion, was 5 ft 5 inches tall, had a chest measurement of 37 inches and good vision.(3) Henry signed up for four years ‘provided His Majesty should so long require your services’ and he swore ‘I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King George the Fifth.’
His service in the Royal Artillery was brief and he was discharged in Durham in October 1915 after 164 days, ‘his services being no longer required.’ We don’t know why he was discharged, he may well have gone on to serve his country in other ways as he was obviously keen to volunteer. He clearly had a close connection to the North East prior to enlisting because his intended place of residence on discharge was Thrift Street, South Shields, Tynemouth, where his mother, Lucy, lived.”
John and I have both tried to trace ‘Lucy Basker’, so far without success, there is no sign of her in the 1911 census for instance. The presence of black men in South Shields is no surprise, it was a thriving port with a well established black community and it was where Lionel Turpin was living when he enlisted http://historycalroots.com/lionel-fitzherbert-turpin/ . But the presence of Henry’s mother is much more unexpected, if Henry was born in Jamaica in 1888 what was it that brought Lucy to South Shields? We may never know.
The full page from which that item is taken reveals the impact the war was having:
The heading ‘Found on the battlefield – do you recognise anyone?’ is heartrending. Especially poignant is the photo at the top left of the page – it has a bullet hole through it. You can’t help but wonder how the young woman in the picture would have felt if she saw it.
This is just a taster, there are more revelations to come from John!
1)Daily Mirror, 1st June 1915. findmypast.co.uk
2)Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 26th July 1915. findmypast.co.uk
3)For Henry Basker see: UK, British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920. TNA WO364/172. ancestry.co.uk