Was a black British person able to serve in the British army alongside a white British during the 20th century?

Was a black British person able to serve in the British army alongside a white British during the 20th century?

The soldier in the centre of this picture of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion is Sergeant Sidney Cornell, born in Portsmouth, England. During training at RAF Ringway he earned a distinction, and his record states, “Best performer in his section, intelligent, willing, cool, and keen.”

Dropped into Normandy on D-Day to capture Caen and Orne, the Battalion was scattered, and Sgt Cornell showed great bravery and courage under fire for the next month and a half, being awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in February 1945. His DCM citation reads:

This soldier was one of the parachutists who landed behind the German lines in Normandy on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944. During the next five weeks, he was in almost continuous action of a most trying and difficult nature. Cornell was a company runner and has repeatedly carried messages through the most heavy and accurate enemy mortar and Machine Gun fire.

Four times wounded in action this soldier has never been evacuated and carries on with his job cheerfully and efficiently. Very many acts of gallantry have been performed by members of the battalion but for sustained courage, nothing surpasses Cornell's effort.

His courage and many wounds have made him a well-known and admired character throughout not only his own battalion but also the whole brigade. Space does not permit a record of all his feats as he distinguished himself in practically every action and fighting took place daily.

He is a truly magnificent parachutist, and I cannot recommend him too strongly for a decoration.

He also saw action in the Ardennes Forest, and during Operation Varsity, where he tragically lost his life while trying to capture a bridge in Neustadt when the Wermacht demolished it. He is buried in Becklingen Cemetery, Germany, with 2300 other Commonwealth troops.

So, yes, black Britons served alongside their white compatriots.

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