Black guy
Not being rascist but how the hell did he get a part in this?
Yes i understand there were black soldiers during some battles but INDIA?
Come on! Whats this about?
Inaccurate
Oh FFS...the only thing inaccurate is your knowledge of the British Army.
Please, go back and get an education before you embarrass us all!!!
cringingly....
Anatja
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Yeah there could easily been a black fella in the army, but he sure as hell wouldnt have a dodgy cockney accent. There was scene where that fat welsh bastard (couldnt understand a damm word he was saying most of the time) was on about "heathens", with that black fella sat right next to him! Would black soldiers be segregated?
Peril = moving around on horses alot, getting attacked by bandits every so often, referencing the good Sharpe series to try and give it some prestige = CRAP!!!!
OMG!
I give up.....
It was 1818 FFS, how many times must you be told before you get it into your thick heads?
You people are more thick than those stupid yanks.
Embarrassed of London
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Anatja i know my history mate
This episode has got it wrong historically
And to call us thick well dont get me started
I'm sorry dear, but I'm afraid you are incorrect. There WERE coloured (black) soldiers serving with the British Army in India in the early 1800s when this episode of 'Sharpe' is set. Of course, as you rightly point out, none of us were around in 1818, however, there are plenty of contemporary records written and illustrated by those who were. In the olden days when I was at school, we were taught History (among other things) - a subject which seemingly doesn't seem to be taught adequately any more, along with English, judging by the grammatically appalling messages placed on this website.
"'Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt"
Anatja, you say "how many times must you be told before you get it into your thick heads?" but you haven't actually said anything.
You shout at people for not knowing history, for embarrassing us all and you act with an ugly arrogance that you are extremely more learned than anyone else, yet I see no proof.
You are right there were black soldiers in the British army in the early 19th century but why don't you explain why instead of being so smug and obnoxious? You are completely unhelpful and seem to only be posting here so you can try and give the impression that you are more intelligent or better in some way than other people.
Anyway...
There were plenty of black people in the British army in the early 18th century and had been for nearly 100 years (you would have spotted the odd one for centuries earlier too). We had already colonised places in Africa and been a major contributor to the Slave trade (which we had abolished and made illegal at the time of this film), meaning that we were ruling countries in the West Indies that had been filled with black slaves and none slaves who would often be used to protect the Aristocracies properties in those areas. Many were drafted into the army, normally, as with Indians and Ghurkas, they were put in their own regiments. That said, The British army was not apartheid. Blacks who were born and bred in Britain were free to enter which ever regiment they wanted and many did.
I hope this website will be interesting to some of you. It discusses the history of black men and women in the British army. Great read!
http://www.blackpresence.co.uk/Drupal/node/40
P.s. Someone above suggested that the black soldier in this film would not speak with the daft cockney accent the actor used. Well, this is true but only because the actor is using a very recent South Eastern accent. People didn't even use that accent 50 years ago, never mind 200 years ago. That soldier most likely would have had a cockney (if he was from a working class London family) accent though and wouldn't have sounded any different than any other soldier from the same area.
Are you suicidal?
Don't talk to me.
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anatja, you're a complete dick. Don't come onto the boards and say you don't want to bestow your knowledge on people who don't want it and then accuse them of being ignorant, for not knowing what you know. It's just unnecessary.
Huzzie, thanks for your explanations.
Twelve times did the iron register of time beat on the sonorous bell metal
Blah blah blah two years later?
How old are you? 12?
Sod off will you stupid boy.
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I only got round to watching Sharpe's Peril yesterday. Black soldiers were common in the British army from around 1750 to the 1820's, when racial prejudice started creeping in. They were not segregated in those days. That bit I learnt at school studying the napoleonic wars.
Also, confirming the use of black soldiers is this guy's thesis:
http://www.napoleonic-literature.com/Articles/Black_Soldiers.htm
coming down a bit harsh on anatja but fair.
just on the accent thing, it is unclear that any of the accents in the film, other than the better-honed aristocratic ones, would be accurate to accents of the time... they might be, they might not, but the english spoken then was not much like the english spoken now.
It's a bit like saying Brian Chapman's accent, syntax & vocabulary are inaccurate in Holy Grail.
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