Wargaming Girl

You may remember that back in September 2019 I wrote a series of posts for the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden. One of those posts was about black soldiers who fought at Arnhem. In that post I detailed the three that I had been able to confirm - Trooper Bolton of the Recce Squadron, Private Roberts of the Pathfinders and Corporal West of 156th Battalion. I was sure there were probably others.

I'm currently reading Ian Ballantyne's "Arnhem: Ten Days In The Cauldon". In the chapter about Wednesday 20th September he mentions another black soldier from the Pathfinders (21st Independent Parachute Company) - Sergeant Joe Smith. It was one who I had thought (from photos) possibly could be, but nothing I had read made any mention of his race (the black-and-white photos didn't help - in some he appears as light skinned as everyone else, in others he looks heavily tanned) . Following the reference in the book, I found the original article where Joe's son had left a comment. 

Sergeant Joseph (Joe) Norris Smith

Joe Smith was born in London in 1918. His father, Norris Smith, was an African American actor-singer who had come over to Britain with a production of "In Dahomey" in 1903 and then decided to settle.

After leaving school, Joe worked as a laboratory assistant. He joined the Territorial Army in 1938 in Salford as a member of the 39th Searchlight Battalion RE (later the 39th Searchlight Regiment RA). He transferred to the Glider Pilot Regiment (it's not clear if he completed his training as a glider pilot) before being selected in 1942 by Major Lander (the original CO) for the 21st Independent Parachute Company, where he was one of the first batch to complete parachute training at Ringway. He also trained as an assault pioneer and drill instructor. Prior to Arnhem, he served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Sicily

Joe was one of the small party attached to 1st Parachute Brigade for Operation Husky, tasked with parachuting in about 90 minutes before the main glider landing to mark out two landing zones for the brigade's glider-borne equipment. He and Corporal Brown were assigned a drop zone just north of the Primasole Bridge. Some time after landing, Joe realised that his pistol and grenades had gone astray during the jump, so he acquired an abandoned Italian "Truppo Speciale" carbine.

"At 0800 hrs Corporal Brown glanced across the bridge and out of the morning mist came Sergeant Smith, as calmly as if out for a country walk."

Italy (Taranto)

Although not parachuting in, the Company did take part in the operations around Taranto. On arrival the new CO, Major "Boy" Wilson (actually the oldest officer and oldest parachutist in 1st Airborne Division) sent them out to scavenge some transport. Joe managed to take away a motorcycle "while what seemed like half the Italian Navy" looked on.

In San Severo, the Company bedded down for the night in the Town Hall. As they were leaving in the morning there was a complaint that the toilet had been damaged; Joe obtained pen and paper and wrote a note saying that General Montgomery would reimburse them for the cost.

At some point during the move from Foggia to Apricena, Joe took over from Sergeant Binick of 1 Platoon who had been evacuated to hospital with hepatitis.

Arnhem

By the time of Operation Market Garden, Joe was platoon sergeant of 3 Platoon. He was great friends with Sergeant Kenneth "Val" Allerton (the platoon sergeant of 2 Platoon). and the only person in the company who knew Val's true identity (Gerald Lamarque; he'd adopted the Allerton name after jumping ship in Ireland in 1940 so that he could join up for the war. Allerton/Lamarque was later imprisoned for murdering his ex-wide's boss who had been sexually pestering her; while in prison he wrote "The Cauldron" under the pen-name "Zeno", a fictionalised account of Arnhem). 

"Leading The Way To Arnhem" includes several anecdotes relating to Joe at Arnhem, many of which involve bottles of whisky or brandy.

After Arnhem, Joe was one of several NCOs given field commissions and sent for officer training. The sources differ at this point. Paradata suggests that he remained with the company until its disbandment in 1946, then transferred to the Lancashire Fusiliers and later to the Royal Army Pay Corps. His son says he served as an officer with the Parachute Regiment and the SAS. The short bio in "Leading The Way To Arnhem" (I will note that my copy cost less than half the price it is currently going for!) says he was posted to 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. I suspect that the information on Paradata is wrong as he doesn't appear in any Pathfinders photos from Norway and Palestine.

In 1951 he was promoted to Captain and retired with the rank of Major in 1962. After leaving the Army he became a teacher, retiring from that profession in 1982. He was a founder member of the 21st Independent Parachute Company Club.

In amongst all of my recent Arnhem reading, I came across the first example I have noticed (I may have read it before, but forgotten) about there being a small number of black and mixed-race soldiers with 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. The individual mentioned was Trooper Charles Cecil Bolton of 12 section, D Troop, 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. This intrigued me, so I decided to hit Google and see if I could find out anything about the others.

There wasn't much. I found one thread on WW2 Talk which did give the names of four others. Two of those names I have been able to confirm. For the other two, however, it seems that the contributor might have got their names the wrong way round, which led me on a frustrating search until I discovered the name reversal. It also seems that they probably weren't black or mixed-race.

I believe that he had latched onto them having the nickname "Darkie" and assumed that they were black. The nickname "Darkie" was also given to many white soldiers - 21st independent Parachute Company had a Gordon "Darkie" Finglas and 10 Para had Harry "Darkie" Houghton, both of whom were white. It was also true that not all black soldiers were nicknamed "Darkie", an example being Roland "Nocker" West (see below).


Whilst there was undoubtedly some racism in the British armed forces during WW2, there is no evidence that it was present in the units where these men served; they all appear to have been held in high respect by their comrades and superiors.



Trooper Charles Cecil "Darkie" Bolton

Trooper Bolton was a Liverpudlian of Trinidadian descent. He served with 1st Recce in North Africa, Italy and at Arnhem. He was known to the other ranks as "Darkie", to the officers as "Massa".

Whilst in North Africa, his troop took part in a joint exercise with US forces and were to eat at the US base afterwards. On entering the mess, the US cook sergeant pointed at him and said "He eats on the other side". This upset his comrades who remonstrated quite aggressively with the cook to no effect. Captain Grubb, the troop commander, intervened and told the cook that either Bolton ate with them or they wouldn't eat there. When the cook wouldn't allow that, the Troop departed, telling the Yanks where they could stick their food.

After the Italian campaign, when the Squadron returned to England, Trooper Bolton undertook parachute training, gaining his wings. He was part of the Squadron's parachute contingent for Market Garden.

There was one incident earlier in 1944 which is worth mentioning. Bolton was in a work party under Lt Dougie Galbraith comprising members of A and D Troops helping to set up a new military camp near Cirencester. His 21st birthday was coming up and he asked the officer for leave to go to London as his mum was throwing a party for him. Lt Galbraith refused*; however his routine was to turn up late in the morning to supervise the work and to disappear shortly after lunch. Bolton wasn't to be deterred and asked his mates to cover for him, then set off for London that afternoon. The next day his mates did cover for him, leading Lt Galbraith on a ghost-chase around the camp. Bolton returned very early the following morning with a birthday cake, having had a great time in London with his family and friends. While the work party was having a late morning tea break, Lt Galbraith approached Bolton and apologised for not being able to give him leave; Bolton replied "That's OK sir - would you like a slice of my mum's birthday cake?".

* The reason for refusing the leave was that the MPs were out in force in the major towns and cities rounding up deserters. Bolton apparently had several near misses, but avoided the MPs.

When Major Gough was summoned by General Urquhart on the first day of Market Garden, Bolton and Trooper Bert Welham (also from 12 Section, D Troop) were taken along as additional protection (Bolton was a Bren gunner). After failing to find Urquhart, Gough decided to join the 1st Para Brigade HQ elements and head to the Arnhem road bridge, making the two recce jeep parties the only members of the Squadron to reach their original target. Bolton made a big impression on the bridge defenders as he was a crack shot with the Bren and responsible for a large number of German casualties - Gough recalls him saying after one kill "Dere goes 'nother one of dose bastards". Others recall him flipping a V sign at Germans before dropping them. He was among the bridge defenders taken prisoner on Wednesday 20th September. He was recommended by Gough for the Military Medal, but instead was awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross.

At the end of the war he returned to 1st Recce and when it was being disbanded transferred to 21 Independent Parachute Company (the Pathfinders) and served with them in Palestine.


Private Kenneth "Darkie" Roberts

Roberts was with 1 Platoon of 21st Independent Parachute Company (the Pathfinders), so would have been one of the very first paras to hit the ground on 17th September. He was from Stoke-on-Trent; his father was from Sierra Leone and settled in England after serving with the army in WW1.
Interestingly, like Trooper Bolton, Roberts was a Bren gunner. He was a middleweight boxing champion and noted for his sporting prowess.

On the night of Monday 25th/Tuesday 26th September, he was part of the evacuation across the Rhine. there are a number of different versions of what happened to him that night.

One story suggests that he made it across the river in one of the boats, but discovered that a wounded mate had been left behind so got back in another boat, crossed to the north of the river, found his friend and got him in a boat but was then mortally wounded on the crossing back south. This story seems to be a myth as it is contradicted by the accounts of other members of other Pathfinders, all of which say that he chose to swim across the river, but the details differ.

In one account, it is suggested that he attempted the swim before the first assault boats arrived. That is unlikely as the Pathfinders would have arrived at the north bank after the first boats made their crossing

The other accounts all suggest that the swim was around the time of (or just after) the last boats arrived on the north bank, as it was beginning to get light. The accounts differ somewhat at this point, but they all note that he was a strong swimmer.

One account suggests that he got taken away by the strong current (the river was somewhat in flood after heavy rainfall) and drowned. Two accounts suggest that he drowned after being hit by German machine gun fire. The final account I've found seems the most likely - he made it across to the south bank of the river, but was hit by machine gun fire as he made his way up the beach.

He is recorded as having been taken to the temporary hospital which had been set up in the Jonkerbosch Boarding School near Nijmegen, where he died of his wounds. That accords with him having made it across the river. The roll of honour has his date of death listed as 29/09/1944 and his grave is at the Jonkerbos War Cemetery. He was 23 years old.


Corporal Roland James "Nocker" West

West was born and raised in India to black parents. He enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment and volunteered for airborne forces. It is likely that his parachute training was done in India
West served with 5 Platoon, A Company, 156th Parachute Regiment and was KIA on 20th September, aged 22. He has no known grave, but is listed on the Groesbeek memorial.



The two below are the ones where the forum contributor got the names the wrong way round.

Private David "Darkie" Williams?

Williams served in the MG Platoon, Support Company of the 10th Parachute Battalion. I have found a reference to him being wounded during the landings on Ginkel Heath on Monday 18th September, but no details of how badly. He became a POW either when casualties were evacuated from the pocket during the brief truce on Monday 25th or the following day after the remnants of the division had been evacuated over the Rhine.

I have seen a photo of Williams - he wasn't black; could possibly have been mixed-race but was most probably white.


"Darky" Reynolds?

The only information I have for Reynolds is his surname and that he may have been KIA at Arnhem.

I can only find one "Reynolds" on the roll of honour - Corporal Alfred Reynolds of 1 Para who was KIA on the 18th or 19th. I've only found one photo of him - he could possibly be mixed-race, but most probably was white.

For other Reynolds who weren't KIA, I have found a reference to a "Darkie" Reynolds in 2 Para (I haven't found a photo of him or any more info) and a photo of someone (who *might* be mixed-race, but most probably white) in Stalag XVIIIA.

Edit: I've just come across the Johnny Frost episode of "This Is Your Life" on YouTube - Sergeant Alfred "Darkie" Reynolds of 2 Para was definitely white.

There is also a reference to a black "para" taken POW at Arnhem who helped other POWs escape but refused to do so himself as being black and well over 6 foot tall he would be easily recognised as an escaped POW. That could be Trooper Bolton as he was very tall.

There may have been other black soldiers at Arnhem, but these are the only ones I have (so far) found any information about.



Why have I written this post? Mostly because it intrigued me that their presence and contribution in the battle isn't generally noted in the many books about the battle. Also because it means that you can add some variety to the flesh tones of your British Airborne units - if anyone complains about you being a "PC SJW Liberal Idiot" you can simply tell them to read about these people for themselves; just don't paint too many (maybe 1 per platoon/company/battalion depending on what level your rules are aimed at) as that is just five names from a Division of over 10,000 men!