Y6 pupils have been considering what it might have meant to fight for a mother country that refused to accept you as one of its own. Britain’s First World War poets changed the way we view military conflict and had a deep impact on the national psyche. Yet the stories of the 15,600 volunteers who signed up to the British West Indian Regiment remain largely unknown.
Pre-partition India also answered the call for help, with volunteers from far and wide; they made a huge sacrifice to give us the freedom we know today. The children have written some beautiful poetry, contrasting the lives they left behind – in countries full of heat, spices and colour – and the reality of trench warfare in Northern France.
