Race in the British Military
Race in the British Military
Britain is undoubtedly a country with a very democratic form of government and public institutions. The British parliament is often rightly regarded as the “Mother of Parliaments” because the successful struggle against arbitrary government goes back to the Magna Carta in 1215 A.D. The current Chilcot Commission and its investigation
of ex-Premier Tony Blair’s deceitful role in the illegal war against Iraq in secret collusion with the US President George Bush is evidence of a transparency in political life which is unimaginable in America or many other countries. Yet racism, which dilutes democracy and leads to many human rights violations, is endemic in the British psyche. Its long history as the once largest imperial power created the illusion of White racial superiority, a myth assiduously cultivated by imperialists to justify their predation. Even when the empire is now long lost and others who were subjugated have risen in economic power, the disease of racism remains as a lurking inheritance from the past to surface when least expected and is evident sometimes in its dealings with non-European countries.
Winston Churchill, “the greatest Englishman of modern times”, always expressed himself frankly and eloquently. He was an unapologetic racist.
“I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the
black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.”
Extract from his submissions to the Peel Commission in the UK in 1937.
Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), founder of the British South and East African empire, Prime Minister of the then Cape Colony (South Africa), after whom Rhodesia was named, the major owner of De Beers diamond corporation, who initiated the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships by his 7th will (it was originally not intended for coloured people in the Commonwealth but was interpreted differently for political correctness by the modern management of the project), expressed himself thus in his first will.
“I contend that we are the first race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race…. It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possesses.”
Confession of Faith, First Will of Cecil Rhodes in 1877
But he also acknowledged the economics and politics of imperialism for Britain where
the industrial revolution had produced a vast exploited and restless working class.
“In order to save the 40 million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, we colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods produced by them in the factories and mines…”
White Man, Boss Man
Men (or women) who join the military are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country
and this is the last place where you would expect racism. While racism was egregious in the US armed forces in World War 2, America overcame this prejudice and senior military commands have been awarded to coloured service personnel since the Vietnam War. The situation in Britain was different from that of the USA. Britain maintained its large empire through the use of colonial troops and among them the largest body consisted of Indian troops. Over 1.2 million Indian soldiers served Britain during World War 1 and 2.5 million in World War 2. They fought with distinction in many theatres in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia. In World War One 47,750 Indian soldiers died, 12 won Victoria crosses. In World War Two 87,000 Indian soldiers died and 30 won Victoria crosses. Without Indian soldiers, the British military would have been inconsequential. Yet throughout this period Indian troops were given lower facilities than British or other White Commonwealth troops: inferior living conditions, lower pay scales and even inferior weapons.
White British and Commonwealth troops were kept in separate Army units from the Indians. Indian Army units were officered by British officers who held the King’s commission. The smaller number of Indian officers held the Viceroy’s commission. A few upper-class Indians held the King’s commission but did not command any British troops. Many of these were short service commissions for three years. Indians could aspire to
non-commissioned ranks in their units but were given distinctive Indian designations: Havildar-Major, Havildar, Naik, Lance Naik, Sepoy, etc.
One consequence of this was the willingness of Indian troops in Malaysia and Singapore
who had been taken prisoner by the Japanese to join the Indian National Army of
Subhas Chandra Bose to fight the British together with the Japanese. A more significant event was the mutiny of sailors of the Royal Indian Navy in February 1946 against poor living conditions and mistreatment. It involved 20,000 Indian sailors on 78 ships. This mutiny went some way to persuade the British that it could not hope to continue to rule India as they could not be certain of the loyalty of its large Indian military at this stage.
Another mutiny against racism in the British military was that of a section of Ceylonese soldiers in the small Cocos Island garrison in May 1942 who rebelled against their two British officers[1]. The small contingent of Ceylonese soldiers came from middle-class families in Ceylon and resented the way they were treated by the British personnel. The mutiny failed and three of the mutineers were executed, the only execution of Commonwealth troops for mutiny during World War 2. Ceylonese soldiers taken prisoner in Malaysia and Singapore in World War 2 also joined Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army, forming the Lanka Regiment.
Racism tolerated by government
So it is interesting to see British government reactions to retaining Indian servicemen after India gained independence. On 03 June 1947 the British Cabinet discussed this issue[2]
when Indian independence would require a restructuring of the British Indian Army where Indians vastly outnumbered British. Britain was also hoping to keep the newly independent non-White nations within the British Commonwealth to maintain a semblance of the lost empire.
“The Secretary of Sate for War said that, if non-Europeans were admitted to the ranks of the British Army, they were bound to be eligible in due course for consideration for advancement to commissioned rank. British soldiers would not take kindly to service under coloured officers and discipline would be undermined. He urged that the compromise proposed by the First Lord of the Admiralty should be accepted. (ie. separation of facilities for Europeans and non-Europeans) ………
The general feeling of the Cabinet was that it would be difficult to justify the retention
of an admitted ban on the entry of non-Europeans into the Royal Navy and the British Army.”
Earlier in the discussion the Secretary of State for the Colonies had already pointed out the contradictions between public policy and actual practice.
“The Secretary of State said that he did not wish to minimise the practical difficulties which would be created by the admission of coloured persons to the Royal Navy and the
Army. But a major principle of issue was involved, since the existence of this colour bar was contrary to the accepted principles of our Commonwealth policy, was resented as a sign of racial superiority, and was incompatible with our policy of associating people of the dependent Empire in its defence both in war and peace”
The Cabinet finally decided that the ban on the entry of non-Europeans to the British military should be lifted (they agreed there was no need to give this wide publicity) as it was unlikely there would be a flood of applications from non-European British citizens. It was stated by the Minister of Defence that “the possibilities of trouble could be further reduced by careful selection in accordance with the principles already adopted by the Royal Air Force.”
British-Indians currently serving in Britain
There are often news reports in the UK of racial abuse of Indians and other ethnic minorities currently serving in the British Army by their colleagues and officers, even though they now constitute 12% of British regular military forces[3]. Some of these have been settled through the courts and these receive publicity. Others go unreported as officialdom does not want to hear of racial abuse. There was publicity when it was recently reported that a British royal, Prince Harry, in the forces referred to a colleague of Asian origin as “Paki”. The treatment of retired Gurkha soldiers who were denied the right to live in the UK after retirement also received publicity due to a campaign by some outraged citizens to whom the Gurkha is a romantic figure.
A country where there is racial discrimination within its military cannot afford to be a champion of human rights elsewhere in the world.
Thepanis Alwis
Baddegama, Sri Lanka
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