‘THEY ARE THE forgotten army’

John’s grandfather, Rwoth John Omach Mandir II, pictured centre

Our new show, Never Look Back, is a historical fiction centred around the real-life 11th East Africa Division.
During Black History Month, and ahead of Remembrance Day, our founder John Rwothomack has written a column for The Yorkshire Post about the ‘forgotten army’ the production pays tribute to.

“One of my most vivid childhood memories is watching the Remembrance Day services and commemorations taking place in Sheffield each November”, wrote John.  

“Even at the age of 11, the same fact always struck me. 

“My Ugandan grandfather, like some 600,000 other African soldiers, had stood shoulder to shoulder with British forces during World War Two.
But of their efforts, I saw no representation. 

“|Not only was a legacy for the contribution of African soldiers missing, but so was that of other global majority soldiers. 

“During the war, the British Empire and Dominions raised millions of men for military service.

“Over two and a half million men from India alone served in the British Indian Army, producing the largest volunteer army in history.

“Every single soldier played their part. African soldiers played an especially crucial, but long-underrecognised, role in the Allied victory in Burma.
Yet when films are made of these victories, the contribution of Commonwealth troops is underrepresented. 

“In my school history lessons, nothing was said of the huge contribution made by so many, to fight for this nation’s future. 

“There is still too little visible evidence of the participation of these soldiers. They are the forgotten Army.”