Black History Month
The Commonwealth contribution to British military service
by Victoria Henshaw
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To highlight the contribution made by Commonwealth nations to British military service from the First World War to today.
Preparation and materials
You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Black History Month) and the means to display them.
Note: ensure that the person operating the PowerPoint slides has read the notes that accompany Slide 4. When the students choose an individual from the options on Slide 4, the PowerPoint operator should click the relevant image to go to the associated slide. Then, to return to the main map each time, they should use the keyboard to press 4, and then press ENTER.
Assembly
- Have Slide 1 showing as the students enter.
Ask the students to consider what the film posters on the slide have in common.
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that these films are all about war (1917 and All Quiet on the Western Front are set during the First World War; Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk are set during the Second World War), but they only show white individuals. - Show Slide 2.
Many of us may recognize this famous British actor: it’s Idris Elba. Recently, he found out that his grandfather had taken part in D-Day during the Second World War.
This inspired him to create a documentary called Erased: WWII Heroes of Colour. It aired earlier this year and is available to watch on National Geographic.
In an interview, Idris said, ‘There’s this particular story that hasn’t been told, which is the idea that the war was populated with people of colour and you just really never saw that, ever . . . the camera was shifted away from them almost deliberately.’ - Show Slide 3.
On this world map, the areas that are current Commonwealth countries are shown in dark-blue, territories and dependencies are shown in light-blue, and former countries and dominions that are now republics are shown in red.
At the time of the First and Second World Wars, all of these countries were part of what was called the British Empire. - Show Slide 4.
Here, we can see eight people from Commonwealth countries who have contributed to British military service between the First World War and today.
Ask for a volunteer to choose one of these individuals. When the PowerPoint operator has navigated to that individual and back to Slide 4, ask another volunteer to choose another individual. Repeat this process until the students have learned about all of the individuals. - Slide 5 shows Regimental Sergeant Major Alhaji Grunshi, a Ghanaian who fought in the First World War. He was a career soldier in the Gold Coast Regiment of the West African Frontier Force, serving from 1908 to 1924.
Grunshi fired the first shot of the First World War on 7 August 1914, four days before firing began on the Western Front. He was awarded the Military Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1919. - Slide 6 shows Sergeant William Robinson Clark, known as ‘Robbie’, a Jamaican who fought in the First World War. He joined the Royal Flying Corps as an air mechanic, but subsequently underwent pilot training, gaining his ‘wings’ on 26 April 1917. A month later, he became the first Black pilot to fly for Britain.
His job was to fly the plane while his observer took photos of enemy preparations. On one mission in July 1917, his plane was attacked by five German planes. Clark was shot through the spine, but managed to land his plane safely. He took five months to recover from his wounds. - Slide 7 shows Subedar (Officer) Mir Dast, who fought in the First World War. He came from British India (present-day Pakistan) and was a soldier in the Indian Army. Shortly after the First World War broke out, Dast was sent to fight alongside the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.
On 26 April 1915, he held his ground with a small group of survivors against a gas attack, despite suffering its after-effects and being wounded. After being ordered to withdraw, he led some men to safety before venturing out into no man’s land to rescue eight men who might otherwise have died of their wounds. For these acts of courage, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry, which was presented to him by King George V himself. - Slide 8 shows Princess Omo-Oba Adenrele Ademola, the daughter of a Nigerian king, who came to England to train as a nurse. After qualifying in 1941, she worked in several London hospitals during the Blitz - a German bombing campaign against the UK - and throughout the war.
- Slide 9 shows Corporal Lilian Bader, who was born in Liverpool to a Barbadian father and white mother. In 1941, Bader joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and became one of the first women to qualify as an instrument repairer. She remained in the WAAF until February 1944, when she became pregnant with her first son.
- Slide 10 shows Padre Wi Huata, a Māori Anglican priest who volunteered as a chaplain in 1943, joining the 28th New Zealand (Māori) Battalion. During his service in Italy, he led Anglican services in both English and Māori, helped the wounded during battle and buried the dead. He also organized entertainment for his soldiers and was famous for his singing. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1945.
- Slide 11 shows Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba, a Fijian who joined the British Army in 1961 and passed rigorous selection tests to join the elite Special Air Service (SAS).
He was mentioned in dispatches, a form of recognizing bravery in battle, for his actions during the Battle of Mirbat in the Cold War. Labalaba’s unit was hopelessly outnumbered, but he ran to a 25-pounder artillery gun that is usually operated by four to six men (the same type of gun shown on the slide) and began to operate it single-handedly. He kept going for two and a half hours against at least 250 fighters, even after being wounded. He continued to fight until he was killed by a shot to the neck. - Slide 12 shows Warrant Officer Class 2 Johnson Beharry, who is from the Caribbean island of Grenada. He joined the British Army in 2001, and was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2005 for his actions during the Iraq War. On two occasions within a six-week period, the armoured vehicle that he was driving was ambushed. Despite suffering intense fire and serious injuries, he managed to keep driving and extract his wounded comrades.
In 2014, Beharry set up the JBVC Foundation, a charity to counter gangs in London. - Show Slide 13.
Ask the students what these individuals have in common, and what makes them different.
Pause to allow time for discussion.
Explore how, despite being from different countries and different religions, all of these people made sacrifices - including losing their lives or losing people close to them - to help others.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 14.
There are several passages in the Bible that talk about how we are made in God’s image. For example, Psalm 139.14 says, ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.’ Being made in God’s image means that we are all equal, no matter how we look or what we believe.
However, we see inequality all around us: people living in war-torn countries or in peaceful ones, people who have more money than others, people who are treated differently because of the colour of their skin or their religion. Today, we have heard about some people who ignored their differences in religion, wealth and background to fight to serve others.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on how they worked together despite their differences, and how they were different from most of the people they fought alongside.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Show Slide 15.
We can help others, despite our differences. When he was on earth, Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12.31). This means treating others as we would like to be treated: with kindness, love and respect. Kindness can be verbal - like giving a compliment - or an action - like holding the door open or sharing.
Let’s take a moment to think of a time when someone treated us with kindness.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Let’s think about how that made us feel.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Now let’s think about how we can spread that feeling to others by being kind to them.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Dear God,
Help us to remember the examples of service that we have learned about today.
Help us to use the example that these individuals set to be kind today.
Help us to treat others as we would like to be treated.
Help us to be aware of one another, especially when we see unkind behaviour happening.
Amen.
Song/music
‘We shall overcome’ by Mahalia Jackson, available at: https://youtu.be/2W02hDYBcqU (2.44 minutes long)
