Our knowledge of the rich tapestry of ‘men of colour’ who served in the British Army during World War One gets a little bit richer today with three, yes three, new articles by John Ellis about the service of men who were hitherto lost to history.
Pictures of men who served below the rank of officer between 1914 and 1918 are rare as hen’s teeth, we are lucky that the story of one of them featured in newspapers of the time.
The three are certainly a varied group:
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- a Jamaican who served in the French Foreign Legion in the trenches in France and was wounded before coming to England and joining the Coldstream Guards. Read James Slim’s story here: http://historycalroots.com/james-slim-a-jamaican-in-the-french-foreign-legion-and-the-coldstream-guards-1914-1915/;
- an Indian, a Muslim, born in Calcutta (as it then was), who made his way to Glasgow and enlisted even though he was under age. You can find out more about Abdul Latif here: /http://historycalroots.com/abdul-latif-a-boy-soldier-in-the-highland-light-infantry-during-the-first-world-war/; and
- a man from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who suffered a shrapnel wound to the head and fell on hard times when he returned to Ceylon after the War. The story of Julian Gogerly is here: http://historycalroots.com/julian-gogerly-a-sri-lankan-in-the-northumberland-fusiliers-during-the-great-war/.
Their stories include a court martial, two who were wounded and someone who was discharged as ‘unfit to serve’ because he was suffering from malnutrition.
And finally, the story of Walter Moore has a brief postscript following a contact from his great grand daughter: http://historycalroots.com/the-soldier-walter-albert-moore/
A rich tapestry indeed!