Ethnics in WW2

[ollie]

Can some people help me please, i was wondering what and were the Blacks or other Ethnics served in all army in WW2 and WW1 if they did. I know that African regiments served with the british army, but what happened with the US army and was racism a big issue during the wars?

Chears

[eucalyptus]

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/aframerwar/index.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/nativeamerican01/wwii.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-2.htm
so on and so on

[Bandeirante]

Brazilian Army has been using Blacks successfully since the 17th Century. We have a "mixed race" population and army, Brazilians fighting together for many centuries in all the wars that the country participated.

More than 25.000 Brazilians, 1° Divisão, fought in the Second World War in Northern Italy.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/prisioneiros_neg.gif

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/feb1.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/pracinhas4.gif

A Brazilian Hero of German origin
Sargento Max Wolff Filho
Those pictures were taken minutes before he was killed in action
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/wolff5.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/Wolf_FEB.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/wolff3.jpg

One Country, Many Races but One Nation
Brazil and Brazilians

[Los]

http://army.mil/cmh-pg/documents/WWII/minst.htm

[Los]

Can some people help me please, i was wondering what and were the Blacks or other Ethnics served in all army in WW2 and WW1 if they did. I know that African regiments served with the british army, but what happened with the US army and was racism a big issue during the wars?

Chears

If the link(s) don't work, Google your question.

[DeltaWhisky58]

Can some people help me please, i was wondering what and were the Blacks or other Ethnics served in all army in WW2 and WW1 if they did. I know that African regiments served with the british army, but what happened with the US army and was racism a big issue during the wars?

Chears

I think you could have been a bit more diplomatic in your approach to this question - to refer to "Blacks" and "Ethnics" is hardly the polite way to approach this subject. In the case of The British Armed Forces, presumably you are referring to units from The Empire and Dominions.

As far as I know, troops came from Africa, India, Nepal, The West Indies, and other British Empire countries to fight in WW2, many of these were from what would now be termed as non-European ethnic groups.

[ollie]

I think you could have been a bit more diplomatic in your approach to this question - to refer to "Blacks" and "Ethnics" is hardly the polite way to approach this subject.

I dont see how people can be diplomatic any more with all these words flying around, people call us whites so why not call them blacks. im not being racist or any thing, far from it im interested in their background.
I cannot see why this type of subject is getting so bad, for example people in the UK are now complaining about the english flying the st. georges flag because it causes offences, i mean common.

[ElHombre]

short version: the US was a segregated society for most of the 20th sentury and the armed forces reflected this. blacks were formed into their own separate units and, in most cases, were assigned support duties. those units that did fight gathered some of the best combat records, however. the navy relegated most of its blacks to cooking duties.

the record of black units in ww2 was one of the biggest factors in president truman's order to desegregate the armed forces shortly after the end of the war.

[Angelino]

Native Americans in the US Military (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-1.htm) <--- Official history courtesy the US Navy.
African Americans in the US Navy (http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq57-3.htm)

[TriggerHappy]

http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc43/th_79555_fnde25jl2.jpg (http://img44.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc43&image=79555_fnde25jl2.jpg)http://img134.imagevenue.com/loc148/th_79569_fnde25jl3.jpg (http://img134.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc148&image=79569_fnde25jl3.jpg)

[a_very_ex_STAB]

One thing worth noting in relation to this is that the 'British' Indian Army in WW2 was the largest all volunteer army in history.

Unfortunately their achievements were rather downplayed (not least by the Indians themselves who got their independence shortly after WW2 and who probably wanted to gloss over their history of fighting for the British)

[Marmot1]

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/aframerwar/167.jpg

An officer returns the salute as he passes cadet fighter pilots lined up during review at Tuskegee Field, Alabama. Tuskegee Airmen flew 1,500 missions over Europe and never lost any of the bomber pilots they were assigned to protect

[Angelino]

One thing worth noting in relation to this is that the 'British' Indian Army in WW2 was the largest all volunteer army in history.

Unfortunately their achievements were rather downplayed (not least by the Indians themselves who got their independence shortly after WW2 and who probably wanted to gloss over their history of fighting for the British)

Yes. Very little known fact is that at the beginning of WW II, the British Indian army was only 200,000 strong. By the end, they were 2.5 million strong, all of them volunteers and they fought in all the theaters (Europe, Africa and East Asia) and managed to win 30 Victoria Crosses.

[Bombtrack]

In regards to the First World War, The African American troops fought under the French, because the Americans believed that the French had 'more experience commanding black soldiers'

[HOLLiS]

short version: the US was a segregated society for most of the 20th sentury and the armed forces reflected this. blacks were formed into their own separate units and, in most cases, were assigned support duties. those units that did fight gathered some of the best combat records, however. the navy relegated most of its blacks to cooking duties.

the record of black units in ww2 was one of the biggest factors in president truman's order to desegregate the armed forces shortly after the end of the war.

My dad was in the China Fleet before the war. The cook on his ship was black. My dad said as far as the crew was concerned, he was just another sailor. To bad intregration did not come sooner.

[big_les]

There were black RAF fighter pilots in WW2; not sure about USAAF/USN.

[Red]

My grandfather(African) fought for the UK in Burma during WWII.But they have now been largely forgotten.

[Bombtrack]

My grandfather(African) fought for the UK in Burma during WWII.But they have now been largely forgotten.
The Burma campaign itself is pretty forgotten in my country, I saw on the news a while ago they were tearing down the Burma memorial to build a condo or something like that and no one was stepping in to stop it

[Mastermind]

It was a tragic but true circumstance of WWII in the USA that "Other Than White" soldiers were not respected as much as white soldiers. The US forces were totally segregated...remember which party controlled politics before, during and after WWII in the USA...it was the Democrats. The Southern Democrats were the most segregated and hateful toward "other than white" soldiers. The Tuskeegee Airmen were the first all "other than white" units to demonstrate the folly of this idiotic segregation policy. The brave men of the Tuskeegee squadrons were so successful in protecting the bomber fleets they escorted, it was a rare mission that left the ground that the bomber pilots and crews did not feel greatly relieved to see thier distinctive P-51s flying alongside.

Also, the Red Ball Express, the fantastic supply line of truckers that kept the Allied armies moving through Europe was almost totally manned by "other than white" drivers, stevedores, materials handlers and logisitcs personnel...and their efforts was more than astounding. The Trans Canadian highway to Alaska was built almost entirely by "other than white" soldiers and accomplished the mission under the harshests of conditions with pitiful equipment, living quarters, food and pay...yet they ever balked or waivered in service to their country. The miraculous job of loading munitions for the navy was done almost entirely by "other than white" personnel...and several were branded unjustly as mutineers over the terrible explosion of some ship loads of munitions in spite of the fact it was "other than white" sailors who tried without success to warn white officers of the dangers building with the improper handling of explosives. It was later proven these men were tried unjustly to cover up for incompetence of some of the white officers involved.

The accomplishments of "other than white" service persons in the USA armed services is far too extensive to list here. It was a great honor for me to have served with them. MM

[Gatling]

.double dribble sorry

[Gatling]

Africans were already fighting in for France as far back as 1830's with the Zouaves and the spahis who were primarly comprised of North African troops and were massively engaged in the European theatre of WW1 with troops coming from West , East, North Africa , Madagascar and all over the French Empire. You can find a load of links on google .

[big_les]

"non-white" RAF WW2 servicemen (including aircrew):

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/CH_002430.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/D_015031.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/D_009503.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/CH_011978.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/CH_010739.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/D_005576.jpg

http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/images/Photographs/Image/CH_012263.jpg