My Black Uncle

I was interested and touched by the stories of the black combatants.

My mother's sister Joan was married to Sgt. Jack Artis in 1944 (see picture). They were married for fifty plus years until his death in 1997 at the age of 82.

Uncle Jack was in the RASC and was at both Dunkirk and the Normandy Landings on D day.

His father had come over to Britain from America before the first World War. My uncles's great-grandparents had been slaves on the Missisippi.

Uncle Jack was easy to pick out in a crowd, not only was he black but he stood 6'7" tall, so you really couldn't miss him! He was also a brilliant pianist and had his own jazz trio after the war.

It was later in life that he recounted many of his war stories to us 'kids', these were not glamourisations of war but down to earth stories of what it was like. He told us that the worst racism he came accross was from white American GI's, and he had a hearty loathing for them in return - which is hardly surprising.

My aunt summed this up with a story of the family meeting up at the local pub when a leave allowed them to virtually all be together, that is all the uncles who were serving (two in the army, two in the navy and one in the RAF, plus the aunts and grandpa. Into the pub came some white GI's, apparently some snide remarks were not long forthcoming from the GI's all aimed at uncle Jack. The GI's, however, got more than they bargained for as the people in the pub (besides our family) all knew and liked Jack well. The GI's were turned upon and after a 'scuffle' were unceremoniously ejected from the pub and told not to return again in no uncertain terms.

He said "We were there to fight the Nazi's, who believed in white supremecy so God alone knows what that type [the GI's] thought they were fighting for"

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