Army's first black colonel felt alone during his career – and calls for more diversity

The Army's first black colonel has revealed how each time he was promoted he became increasingly aware that there were no other high-ranking ethnic minority officers around him.

Andy Allen, who joined up in 1984, said when he reached the rank of colonel in 2010 he realised he was the most senior black officer the Army had ever had.

But despite his elation at his promotion, he told BFBS Forces News: "I must admit that I felt alone."

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Col (Ret'd) Allen, who served in the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, was speaking during a trip to Ypres to unveil a plaque to commemorate Commonwealth soldiers from the West Indies who died in the First World War.

Military veterans took part in an 18-hour pilgrimage to Belgium to unveil the plaque honouring the 15,600 West Indies soldiers who served.

Until now, no mention had been made of the service of thousands of soldiers from the British West Indies Regiment at St George's Memorial Church in Ypres – the land where so many fought and 1,500 members of the regiment lost their lives during the conflict.

Exploring heritage

Since leaving the Army in 2015, he said he wanted to find out why there were not more ethnic minorities wanting to join the service.

He believes that in some part understanding the heritage of the forces is crucial.

"One of the reasons I want to be part of this is my heritage," he explained.

"I spent 30 years in the British Army. And you know what? I never realised the heritage of that is there.

"At Ypres, we're told that soldiers came from the Caribbean to fight for the King, who didn't know even about Great Britain, but they were part of the British Empire and wanted to do their bit."

Col Allen added: "Can you imagine what that was like back then in 1917, to come to a strange country to fight?

"I mean, these are extraordinary people doing extraordinary things.

"What's missing from our history is the knowledge that we've had servicemen that had fought in the First World War and the Second World War and across the world."

Breaking the glass ceiling

Col Allen acknowledged that a much larger representation of ethnic minorities, both male and female, is present in today's Army.

"There is a heritage. There is a link, but that link needs to go out, needs to go out to the wider population. It needs to tell people that serving your country is something that you can do now," he said.

He applauded the Army's cultural shift, believing that what was needed to make more people from all nations join was to actually see the progress.

"We now have a black brigadier, Karl Harris, the first ever black brigadier. And he's now breaking the glass ceiling. He's now doing things."

He added: "If you can't see it, you can't believe it.

"And by seeing people like myself or Karl Harris, we have a generation of junior officers that can reach out and think 'you know what, I can be a colonel, I can be a brigadier'."