49 men were sentenced to between 3-5 years’ imprisonment with hard labour; the alleged ringleader’s death sentence was commuted to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Do we have names for these 49 men?
Angela Allison, Coventry UK
----- Original Message -----
From: msherwood <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, 27 May 2013 06:32:33 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: WWI
Just in case you missed this – or did not know this history
Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian> , Friday 24 May 2013
So David Cameron plans to spend £55m commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the beginning of the first world war. I trust he will commemorate the West
Indies Regiment. On 6 December 1918, 180 sergeants forwarded a petition to
the secretary of state complaining about the levels of pay, which were much
lower than for white troops, and the failure to increase their separation
allowance, as well as discriminations in promotion. On the same day, the men
of the 9th Battalion revolted as they had been forced to work as labourers,
including cleaning the latrines of the Italian Labour Corps. So shall we
also be commemorating British racism during the war?
Marika Sherwood
Sr research fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London
|