Black Britain & Black BritonsBlack HistoryBlack Soldiers

Black Soldiers in WW1

Its often asked:
Were there any black soldiers in ww1?  and although WW1 is often portrayed as a solely European War, fought exclusively by Europeans. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Despite this, the mainstream media makes little effort to acknowledge the contributions of Non-Europeans in WW1.  There were lots of Black and Asian soldiers in WW1.

How Black Soldiers Became Involved in WW1

Colonial Troops
Black & Asian Soldiers in WW1

Before to WW1 began, Britain & France had colonies in the Caribbean, Africa & Asia, as well as many other places around the world.  Germany also had colonies in Africa.  Turkey was involved in WW1 and the Turkish troops contained an African and a Muslim contingent.

How many Black British Soldiers were there in WW1?
It’s hard to quantify exactly how many Black British Soldiers were serving in The British Army in WW1 because it depends on how you classify British.  Soldiers from the British Colonies such as the Caribbean and parts of Africa were under British Command.

The British Caribbean Soldiers

After centuries of slavery people in the British Caribbean were relishing their freedom. Though many took pride in their loyalty to the “Mother Country”.

When WW1 began. West Indians donated large sums of money to aid the war effort.  Caribbeans also volunteered to fight for Britain, joining The British West India Regiment.

British West Indies Regiment
British West India Regiment

There were nine contingents of West Indian soldiers to arrive in Britain in the autumn of 1915. By the end of the war, more than 15,000 men from the West Indies had seen active service.

The British West Indies Regiment was formally established in November 1915 and 11 battalions served in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  In September 1916 the 3rd and 4th Battalions were ordered to France from Egypt to act as labour units, carrying ammunition and building roads and gun emplacements.

The BWIR and had experienced military service in England, Italy, Egypt, India, France, Belgium, Palestine, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and East Africa suffering 1,325 casualties including 185 killed in action.

African Soldiers In The French Army

Like Britain, France was a major colonial power. France gathered troops from all over “Francophone Africa”, (French colonies in Africa).  France also had Colonies in South-East Asia. Some of the most decorated African soldiers serving in the French Army were the Tirailleurs Senegalais.

Africans in the French Army WW1
Africans in the French Army WW1

The German troops nicknamed the Tirailleurs Senegalais ‘Black devils’.  they earned this nickname when fighting like demons, they had forced the Kaiser’s elite troops to retreat before them.

Tirailleurs Senegalais attack the German lines.
Tirailleurs Senegalais attack the German lines.
Die Farbiger - The coloured One
“Die Farbiger”, originally uploaded by drakegoodman. On Flickr

An African French soldier (Troupes de Marine), most likely Senegalese, is singled out to have his photograph taken with a Uhlan NCO and military official. Many of the Senegalese and other colonial troops were in the Troupes de Marine and were reported to have fought with incredible valour and great sacrifice.

African American Troops in WW1

America was a racially segregated society yet African Americans still served in the U.S armed forces.
When the United States declared war against Germany in April 1917, The U.S War Department realised that they desperately needed more men to ensure victory. The decision was made to allow African Americans to sign up. In some states, African Americans were forced to sign up and even fraudulently arrested as draft dodgers.

By the end of World War I, African Americans served in Cavalry, Infantry, Signal, medical, engineer, and artillery units, as well as serving as Chaplains, surveyors, truck drivers, chemists, and intelligence officers.

African Americans also served in French units

The 369th Infantry – “THE HARLEM HELL FIGHTERS”,  became one of the most decorated units in WW1 W. Their unit was under the command of the French Military. Eugene Bullard was a highly decorated African-American Pilot in the French Flying corps. He was one of only two black combat pilots in the first world war.

African Americans in WW1
African Americans in WW1

Black Soldiers in The British Army in WW1

Although little is known of Black Britons in the British army. We do have some evidence to show that Black Britons served in WW1 in the Army and Navy.

Walter Tull - British Army
Walter Tull

Former Tottenham Hotspur player Walter Tull, (Above) is the most celebrated black British soldier who achieved the rank of Lieutenant.

These photos show several black and mixed-race soldiers serving in the British Army in WW1.

BWI - Mesopotamia Black British soldier ww1 - poses with pals

Black British soldier ww1 - poses with pals
Black British soldier ww1 - poses with pals
Black British soldier ww1 - poses with pals

Stephen Bourne’s book – ‘Black Poppies‘ provides valuable insight into the lives of black soldiers in the British forces.

A detailed look at the life of Arthur Roberts a Black Brit who served in the 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, during WW1, can be found in the book, ‘As Good As Any Man‘,

Asian Troops in WW1

Asians in the British Army
Asian Soldiers in the British Army WW1

As well as Africans and Caribbean soldiers, there were also Asian soldiers fighting in WW1. India sent over 1 million men to aid the war effort. At that time, India included Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. Soldiers were from many ethnic backgrounds such as Pathans, Sikhs, Muslims & Hindus all served. The photo here shows Gurkhas from Nepal.

Africans in The German Army in WW1

Little is known about how many of Germany’s Pre WW1 war black population served in the armed forces. Some Afro-German men did serve in WW1.

Black Germans in WW1
Black German Soldier in WW1


agroup1qaa1 agroup2qaa1 black soldiers in ww1 black-german-sambo-Postcard 1903
farbiger Garde Trommler kl

Remember that WW1 was not just fought in Europe. There were theatres of war in Africa and Asia, as well as at Sea.

In East Africa, The Germans used Askari troops called “Schutztruppe“. They fought bravely and were never defeated even after Armistice.

 

black soldiers in ww1 Deutsch-Ostafrika, Longido, Reittiere für Askari

Askari -Schutztruppe
African Schutztruppe Serving in East African Campaign WW1

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See  photos of Black and Asian soldiers in WW1

Video – African Soldiers in the First World War

 

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21 thoughts on “Black Soldiers in WW1

  • Doreen Patterson

    Can I reccomend the book,Jamaican Volunteers in the First World War by Richard Smith.

    And for all readers to vist the Imperial War Museum as there is a small permanent exhibition for black volunteers in the first and second world wars.

  • Anne M. Jennings

    Fascinating, Phil! Thank you for this timely essay.

  • Sara

    Very informative. World War I and II changed the world so much. This new look at the faces in World War I provide a fresh perspective.

  • JohnSmirnov

    You made a mistake guys. That “Black German Soldier in WW1” with pickelhelm didn’t serve in WW1 in any way, he ain’t even a soldier at all actually. That guy’s name is Gustav Sabac el Cher and he was a music master of 1st Prussian Grenadiers, but what’s more important is that this photo of him was taken in 1908, while he himself retired from army in 1909, so he didn’t served in WW1 in any way. That black guy with long white hat is a musician also (but he did serve in WW1 unlike Gustav though).

    https://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/africans%20in%20german%20uniform.htm

    • Meteorsaber

      Correction, he is a soldier, not just an infantryman or artilleryman.

  • Fitzgerald Burke

    Thanks for the link Phil, if life spares, I hope to see you again !

  • George

    Any idea what proportion of soldiers were black during WW1?

  • Junior Sterling

    Please contact me regarding this black history information.
    I would like to invite / involve you in a black history event in white city October 7th – November 18th.

  • Victoria Williams

    What had really happened to the Black Service Men’ women and wives during WWI? I would be grateful if someone could tell me or us about their names and their roles, please.

  • Trolius Maximus

    Informative. However, these records do, perhaps ironically, serve to disprove the “non white WW1 soldier” myth; in as much as in, the vast majority of those who served were indeed European “white” (perhaps with the exception of subcontinental Indians).

    For example, the controversy fomented by the WW1 themed, first-person shoot video game, 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 (2016), with its depiction on non white soldiers in near parity to whites (while omitting France and Russian participation entirely!), is clearly borne out to be skewed far more towards the ‘agenda’ end of the game design spectrum, than towards reality.

    Having said that, (𝘪𝘪) all races can and should be depicted, if a given product’s intention is to endear given audiences, (𝘪𝘪𝘪) WW1 is not an extensively covered theatre, especially outside of the strategy game genre, thus many will be ignorant of the goings-on of the time, and (𝘪𝘪), it’s a 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲!

    So, in summation, historical accuracy is always preferable (for the obvious educational offshoots), but diversity should be the immediate second port of call. ‘Colour washing’, on the other hand, should always be eschewed ― whatever the hue ― as it only elicits and fuels prejudice from all affected sides.

  • Missing Indochinese which was the Annam, Tonkin and Cambodia in the Asian Troops. Japanese Canadians also fought in the war (Not the Empire of Japan that taken care of German Tsingtao).

  • Ramone

    It is interesting that, during WWI, the Germans applied the appellation “Black Devils” to the all-Black 370th US infantry. I first came across that knowledge during the 60’s.

    Fascinating article. Well researched.

  • In the following publication dated November 28, 2015, Henry Smith says that the Germans applied the appellation “Black Devils” to Senegalese Soldiers, Moroccan soldiers and Black Americans in the 370th US Infantry.

    While Smith cites no authority this raises the interesting possibility that the Germans applied that identification to all three groups, which appeared to work in tandem with one another.

    See in this regard: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black-devils-henry-smith

  • Peter bakker

    Please inform me of the location and any other details about the photograph ‘Black & Asian Soldiers in WW1’ at the start of this post.
    The soldier on the far right appears to be an Australian in the 5VMR (Boer War) and I know of only one man of Aboriginal descent who served in this unit. The image looks uncannily like him!

  • Armenia

    I have a hard time believing this. Germans were extremely racist–just read books from that time and you will confirm my comment. I don’t mean to be rude, but I think the pictures of Black soldiers in Germany are doctored.

    • Hi Armenia, thanks for your comment. The pictures are not doctored. Remember that Germany had a large Empire containing several countries in East Africa. So it was more than possible that Africans would have travelled to Germany, as ambassadors or simply as workers. If you were living in a country as a colonial subject, it’s not too hard to imagine you signing up as a soldier if you had a social scene and friends in the country.

  • Barry Foster

    I would take issue with “lots of black and Asian soldiers in WW1″as the term ‘lots’ can mean different things according to your poll size. I think it’s best to talk percentages to get a good idea. There aren’t ‘lots’ of black people in the UK even now, as they make up a mere 3% of the UK population. If you had a room full of 30 people that were representative of the UK, the single black person there (as that would be proportionally representative) wouldn’t be ‘lots’. 5 million men served Britain during WW1, so 15,000 blacks is just 0.3%. So, in essence, although some black soldiers did indeed serve in WW1, it wasn’t many at all, and a tiny percentage of the general UK population at just 0.04%.

    Our ‘problem’ is rightfully attributing the percentage of black people to any area – be that TV, film, history, etc. As we all know, there is an agenda by so many to massively skew the actuality – for some very strange reasons. People want to make out that there are far more black people in the UK than there actually is. Oddly, this isn’t an agenda carried out by blacks, but by whites.

    • I don’t disagree with your point made about percentage or agendas Barry. All pertinent points.

      Perhaps lot’s may not be the perfect word, but if someone asked me in the street to give an example I could provide enough to bore them to tears. Meaning too much for a person to consider in one sitting.

      Yes, the amount was small, but so was the blackpopulation at that time. *Having been larger in the 18th Century. Still, they were there and they were present. We have no agenda here, other than to make sure the stories get out there for people to consider.

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