Black Poppies

Historian Stephen Bourne explores the lives of black servicemen and Britain's black community during the First World War.

Engaging and informative, this illustrated talk will feature stories of individual soldiers including Arthur Roberts, known as 'Scotland's Black Tommy'; David Clemetson, the Army officer who rose through the ranks after refusing to lie about his race; and Trinidad's George Roberts, a sergeant in the Middlesex Regiment who campaigned after the war for better treatment of ex-servicemen. 

It will also include the previously unpublished wartime letters of Jamaican siblings Norman, Douglas and Vera Manley. 

Stephen Bourne received the Southwark Arts Forum Award for Literature for 'Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War'. In 2017, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from London South Bank University for his contribution to diversity.

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