Remembrance Day: Canadian historian aims to honour the stories of Black veterans

As the country prepares to honour the sacrifice of Canadian troops on Remembrance Day, one historian aims to commemorate the thousands of Black veterans who have served in the country’s military since the First World War.

For historian Kathy Grant, documenting the history of Black troops is not only a professional duty, which she has carried out for nearly two decades, but a personal one.

• Canada This Month newsletter: Sign up to read the best our local outlets have to offer

“My dad was a Second World War veteran who volunteered to fight for Canada from the island of Barbados,” Grant told CTV News.

Grant’s father, Owen Rowe, was one of the several-thousand Black veterans who enlisted in Canada’s military.

When her father died of pancreatic cancer in 2005, she made a promise.

“Before he passed away he said, ‘Kathy I want you to continue the legacy of documenting and preserving the stories of our soldiers.’”

It is a request Grant has honoured to this day. Over the past 18 years she has researched and archived these stories, with many shared on a website called Black Canadian Veterans Stories.

The goal of this platform is to raise awareness towards the “contribution made by Black Canadians who have served in the Canadian Military during conflict and in peacetime,” the website says.

“For many years the stories of Black veterans were not shared in the mainstream media or textbooks. This site will be a small step in ensuring these important stories are shared with the accuracy and the respect these veterans deserve.”

Along with archiving the larger role of Black soldiers in the Canadian military, the digital platform features the personal histories of Black veterans, such as Daniel Braithwaite, who immigrated to Canada from Barbados with his family in 1921.

During the Second World War, Braithwaite volunteered for the Air Force but was told by military officials he would not be permitted to join based on the colour of his skin, the website explains.

“When he was later called up for the army, he refused, and spent several weeks in military detention.”

Eventually, Braithwaite agreed to join the army “on the condition that he would be transferred to the Air Force,” and in 1943, he jointed the 48th Highlanders regiment and served in both Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The online platform also features the story of May Eva Roy, one of three Black Canadian women who served overseas during the Second World War.

In 1939, Roy left her job as a presser in a laundry room to become a machine operator and fuse-assembler at the General Engineering Company munitions plant in Scarborough, Ont, according to Black Canadians Veterans Stories.

In 1944, Roy enlisted and joined the Canadian Women's Army Corp.

Grant, whose work has expanded to schools and museums throughout Canada, has made it her mission to tell stories like these, particularly in the context of honouring Black Canadian troops who sacrificed their lives.

Her research has extended to the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s first and only all black military unit, which was established during the First World War.

“More and more individuals are interested in hearing our story,” she said.

With files from CTV's Senior Anchor Omar Sachedina