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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: CultureHealingCommunities on Sunday 30 June 24 15:23 BST (UK)
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Hello, I am trying to do research about Black troops during the WW2 in Britain, more specifically, in Yorkshire (all areas), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sunderland, Gateshead, North/South Tyne, Northumberland and County Durham.
I am focused now on those that came to join the war effort, from the Caribbean/Africa/India.
I have been through the records that are available, and after reading some, my question was: they were recruited, some came to Britain to join, because they were not being able to do so in their area. After this bit (sorry about the expression) ... where did they go? they should have had training, but where? did they enrol, went to the cabinet, put on a uniform and went abroad? Is there any military area in the above places that would have been a training place? National Archives keeps displaying the tittles and sections, but there isn't an accurate description about areas of the country, and I cannot afford paying £8.50 to have checks in the boxes to know what they hold.
Is there anyone here that can help me fill the gaps? Or anyone that is a descendant of the Caribbean, African or Indian, that knows where they were after joining the military?
Much obliged for any info.
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The ansewer is probably much more complicated than you think.
The countries of the Commonwealth all responded to the war effort in different ways. The larger nations such as India, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand all sent their own indigenous armies to fight where ever they were required, so for instance, the enormous contribution of the Canadians in the D Day landings are a prime example. Most of India's contribution was focused in the far East, but they were also an important component of the Eighth Army in North Africa, and separately in Palestine. They had been trained in India and few if any came to the UK, and if they did they came as part of their own units for specialist training. An example of this is Indian Armoured troops some of whom may well have come to the UK while they were being trained on how to repair the newer tanks as they came into service.
Within Africa, the British colonies which had their own defence forces at the outbreak of the war were small in size and largely white. They became responsible for their own local defence, and as a result recruitment was stepped up, but I have no idea what proportion of the new recruits would have been black. They were trained and employed locally. Much the same picture applies in the Caribbean.
Undoubtedly there would have been individuals who made their way to Britain, or were perhaps already studying here, to join up. This was especially true of the RAF, so for instance someone from, say, Jamaica, with some prewar flying experience would have been welcomed by the RAF. In such cases the individuals would have been integrated into the British units they joined and trained alongside their white counterparts. There were no segregation or all black units like the American forces.
I think the best way to arrive at the detail you require is to look at each Commonwealth nation you are interested in, and trace their contribution to the war effort, from a domestic point of view. I would suggest you start with India, since that is the best documented, because the size of the Indian Army alone reached 2,250,000 men by around 1944, not to mention having a sizeable Navy. The Canadian, Australian and New Zealand forces were very largely white. As far as I am aware the South African forces were also mainly white, but the forces which were retained for home defence of South Africa and its neighbours may have had a proportion of black troops.
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Hi Andy, thank you very much for such complete explanation.
If we get funds, we will continue exploring, for now, we will have just to keep it in loco, which means that we are asking left and right for information and support.
we are a very small social enterprise doing a project about the WW2 with the Heritage Lottery Fund's support, and we had high hopes that this forum could bring some memories and stories that are being lost every single minute.
any information about the WW2 African-American GIs or Caribbean/African/Indian troops in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Yorkshire, North and South Tyne and Northumbria (Northumberland and County Durham), would be very welcome.