Minority troops not honoured by UK due to racism

LONDON: More than 100,000 African and ethnic minority soldiers who died fighting for the British Empire in World War I were not properly commemorated due to "pervasive racism", according to a report released on Thursday.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) apologised after an investigation found that the fallen personnel "were not commemorated by name or possibly not commemorated at all," adding the number treated unfairly could be as high as 350,000 soldiers.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was due to address the report’s findings in parliament on Thursday. The report comes as Britain reckons with the legacy of its colonial past and links to slavery, against a backdrop of anti-racism and Black Lives Matter protests.