A unique account of the millions of colonial troops who fought in World War I, and why they were later air-brushed out of history
This account quotes extensively from soldiers’ diaries and other eyewitness sources, bringing to life the searing experiences of non-white troops. This book unveils shocking truths such as: the first soldier of the British Army to fire a shot in World War I was a black African; by the end of 1914 one third of the British sector of the
Western Front was held by Indian soldiers; by 1917 the Western Front was the most multi-national, multi-racial, multi-faith place that had ever existed—a strange
portent of Europe’s future; and Germany created a special camp with a mosque and halal food in an attempt to persuade Muslim P.O.W.s to defect.
This account quotes extensively from soldiers’ diaries and other eyewitness sources, bringing to life the searing experiences of non-white troops. This book unveils shocking truths such as: the first soldier of the British Army to fire a shot in World War I was a black African; by the end of 1914 one third of the British sector of the
Western Front was held by Indian soldiers; by 1917 the Western Front was the most multi-national, multi-racial, multi-faith place that had ever existed—a strange
portent of Europe’s future; and Germany created a special camp with a mosque and halal food in an attempt to persuade Muslim P.O.W.s to defect.