Henry Johnson: Hellfighter

A Black soldier from the American South makes headlines when he fights off an entire German party in World War One. But his fame comes at a price.

In History's Toughest Heroes, Ray Winstone tells ten true stories of adventurers, rebels and survivors who lived life on the edge.

Growing up in as a Black man in North Carolina, where racism was enshrined in law and lynchings were horrifyingly common, Henry Johnson didn't have much hope for a bright future. He moved to Albany New York and when America joined the Great War he found himself on the front line in France, with the all-Black 369th infantry regiment. These men would come to be known as the Harlem Hellfighters and after one fateful night, in the pitch black of no-mans-land, Henry Johnson would be hailed a national hero thanks to his ferocity and extreme courage in the face of an enemy attack.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Development Producer: Georgina Leslie
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Imogen Robertson
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts