John ‘Johnny’ Smythe (1915-1996)
He was selected to train as a navigator, due to his high scores on mathematics tests. Assigned as…
100 Years of Service and Sacrifice
First World War Service and Sacrifice; Gershom Browne, (1898-2000)
Born in British Guiana (now Guyana), Gershom lived in rural Bagotsville, he was officially too young to enlist…
WATCH: African Community Service and Sacrifice
Folarin Kuku joined the Army in 2005 and attended Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards. In…
British and Commonwealth Community Films
These films explore the service and sacrifice of different communities from Britain and the Commonwealth from the First…
WATCH: Caribbean Community Service and Sacrifice
“I was born in Woolwich, east London, to West Indian parents who had migrated to Britain in the…
Billy Strachan (1921- 1998)
Born in Jamaica as William Arthur Watkin Strachan, Billy left school in December 1939 with a desire to…
Patrick Nelson (1916-1963)
His mother was Gertrude Nelson. Patrick first came to Britain in 1937 after training as a hotel valet…
Gilbert Clarke
Born in Jamaica, Gilbert, his brother and sister lost their father when Gilbert was three. A bright pupil…
James Samuel Risien Russell (1863-1939 )
Born in Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana), Russell’s father, William Russell, was a wealthy sugar plantation owner and…
Private Bai
Private Bai of the Gold Coast Regiment was the first confirmed Commonwealth casualty under fire in the First World War….
Pte Emmanuel Obeng, Royal Logistics Corps, 2019 – present
Emmanuel describes being in the Army as being ‘part of a bigger family where you can familiarise yourself…
Tiarna-Ann Pearce, London Fire Brigade, 2020 – Present
Nicole wanted to be a paramedic from a very young age. She explains ‘I believe this stemmed from…
Eddie Martin Noble (1917-2007)
Born in Jamaica, Noble was brought up primarily by his grandparents. He removed from a predominantly European Jamaican…
Colonel Karl Harris
When Karl Harris first thought about an army career, aged 16, he assumed he’d be a soldier, just…
WO2 Norman ‘Snowy’ Harris (RQMS) Rtd., Royal Artillery, British Army, 1965 – 1987
Since early childhood, Norman had wanted to be a soldier and to travel. His parents were academics and…
Karen Bonner
“I wanted to be a nurse as long as I could remember. I never considered another career and…
Rhoda Akaka, Student paramedic
Rhoda is a student paramedic. She was born in London after her parents moved from Nigeria to the…
Princess Tsehai (1919-1942)
From age eight Tsehai attended schools in England and Switzerland and would travel with her royal relatives to…
Dudley Thompson (1917-2012)
Born in Panama, Dudley’s father was a teacher who had come to the country for work purposes, and…
George A. Roberts (1891-1970)
He became one of the first black men to join the British Army when he was enlisted as…
