YESTERDAY, November 11, 2004, Bermuda, along with other Commonwealth countries, held its annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph on Front Street to remember those who fell on the battlefield during the two great world wars of the 20th century.

In keeping with a personal tradition I started in this some years ago, I will this year once again highlight the non-white participation in those conflicts ? the conspicuous acts of gallantry which involved Afro-American, Caribbean, African and Indian combatants.

It is unfortunate that, although fully documented in the national archives of their respective countries, the exploits of these soldiers, sailors and airmen of colour are not better known. And although Hollywood still makes any number of Second World War-themed movies each year, rarely do they focus on the battles in which non-white military personnel distinguished themselves.

But there have been a few exceptions to that general rule. I am thinking in particular of a number of recent films that dealt with the 1939-45 air war. These are the movies about the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black flying unit that helped to decimate Hitler's feared Luftwaffe in World War Two.

A veteran of the Tuskegee unit recently visited Bermuda, providing Bermudians with a first-hand account of those pioneering fliers' battles ? battles against racism within the ranks of what was then called the US Army Air Force as well as aerial battles against Hitler's airmen, many of them out-and-out Nazis who believed in the myth of the German "master race" and who could not believe that racially inferior American blacks were blasting them out of the skies over Europe on a regular basis.

And recently I saw another fact-based movie, one made some time ago, titled which told the story of Indian airmen who flew the British wooden wonder ? the twin-engine fighter bomber called the Mosquito, used mostly as a reconnaissance aircraft because of its speed. It also played the role of pathfinder, marking targets with flares for Britain's bomber fleets which flew night-time missions over Germany.

Such was the danger involved in their missions, the Indian pilots in this squadron encountered very heavy losses during the course of the war and were awarded a disproportionately high number of medals for gallantry. As I have stated, despite the literally millions of pages of primary research material available to scholars, novelists and film-makers in the form of official military records, the exploits of non-white participants in both the First and Second World Wars have not been widely popularised.

have been a small number of books on the subject, books I have assiduously attempted to collect over the years. One of the best which I have cited before is the book written by Christopher Somerville, which details the combat records of many non-white participants in World War Two.

In that book I read about black West Indians who flew British fighter planes and were crew members in British World War Two bombers like the Lancaster, establishing impressive reputations for bravery ? and annoying the white Rhodesians who had also volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force (the Rhodesians were famously far less tolerant of the West Indians than the white South African fliers in the RAF).

The African-American military experience is perhaps far better known than that of their non-white Commonwealth brethren. In all of America's wars, beginning with the War of Independence, when Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave shot by British troops on the streets of Boston who became the first American casualty in that conflict, blacks have played a role.

The history of Africans in America is well recorded and the experiences of African-American soldiers in both World War One and World War Two have been celebrated, largely thanks to the black press. Recently I read a volume dealing with an all African-American tank unit that became a spearhead for the famous American General George Patton, seeing bitter and bloody fighting in Europe during the latter stages of World War Two.

The book is called and is written by famed National Basketball Association six-time most valuable player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. No doubt best known for his basketball skills on the court, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written no fewer than four books dealing with the African-American experience in America. In the latest book, Kareem tells the story of the famed 761st tank battalion, nicknamed the "Black Panthers". He interviewed many members of that fighting group to put together the story of their exploits. But he received the biggest surprise when he found out that a close friend of his father, Leonard (Smitty) Smith, who had worked along with his dad as a Transit Police Officer, had been a member of the 761st but, like many war veterans, did not talk much about his experiences.

This is doubly true of African-American war veterans. You cannot talk about the experience of non-white people during World War Two without putting them within the racial context of those times. Blacks in the military not only faced the dangers of fighting in a war but had to put up with the racial indignities of that period. During World War Two African-Americans fought for their country in segregated units because of America's racial policies. The generally held belief among whites in the military was that blacks could not perform at the same level as their white counterparts. But time and again this pernicious myth was shot down given the distinguished combat records of the all-black units.

The 761st tank battalion, for instance, was part of General Patton's Third Army which fought its way across France and Germany and was part of the push to relieve the American units trapped by the massive German counter-offensive which history now calls the Battle of the Bulge.

Before the 761st left America for Europe, its soldiers had to face the same racism their fellow African-Americans had to confront on a daily basis ? a racism that was particularly harsh and pronounced in the Southern United States where most of the military training camps were located.

Although racism existed all over the United States, it was less conspicuous in the North ? and almost non-existent in some areas of the Northeast. So those African-Americans who came from the North were shocked to discover the level of racism they had to face in the South during their military training. Even white German prisoners of war were treated better than the African-American soldiers in those Southern towns. On being posted overseas, they found the racism did not let up. White American soldiers were often embroiled in fights with their African-American countrymen, as they attempted to keep them in their so-called place and in the same position they would be back home in America.

The white American soldiers were especially paranoid at the thought of African-American soldiers becoming friendly with white women in England, and later in Europe as the Allies liberated that continent from the Germans.

racial/sexual animosity resulted in many conflicts off the battlefield between soldiers who were supposed to be on the same side. Even General Patton, in the beginning, had his doubts about the performance of these black soldiers under his command, buying into the racism of his country which held that blacks were inferior and certainly could not operate his tanks.

But the times were desperate and the Germans had just launched their offensive through the Ardennes forest which had caught the advancing Allies by surprise. Patton had no alternative but to depend on the black troops under his command ? and his faith in their abilities skyrocketed after they demonstrated tremendous courage under fire during the Battle of the Bulge.

Before they went into combat, General Patton addressed his black tank unit and said: "Men, you are the first negro tankers to ever fight in the American army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my army.

"I don't care what colour you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sonsabitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and are expecting great things from you. Most of your race is looking forward to your success. Don't let them down and don't let me down."

General Patton was a paradox when it came to race, for while his outlook was shaped by the times in which he lived with its ubiquitous racism, his driver and closest confidante was an African-American who had been with him throughout his military career.

They regarded one another with mutual admiration and respect. And although Patton initially had his reservations about the all-black 761st tank unit, he was happily proved wrong when they demonstrated themselves to be first-class fighting men.

Following the Battle of the Bulge the 761st helped to spearhead Patton's final drive into Germany, helping to liberate some 30 towns and villages as well as several branch concentration camps. Their combat record earned them a Presidential Unit Citation for distinguished service, more than 250 Purple Hearts, 70 Bronze Stars, 11 Silver Stars and a Congressional Medal of Honour. They fought for 183 straight days on the battlefields of Europe during the closing months if World War Two.

final thoughts on the experiences of black war veterans are perfectly expressed in a passage Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote in : "The racism that shadowed them during the war and the prejudice they faced upon their return home are an indelible part of their story.

"Shining through most of all, however, are the lasting bonds that united them as soldiers and brothers, the bravery they exhibited on the battlefield, and the quiet dignity and patriotism that defined their lives."