Weren't the large majority of soldiers fighting against the Sikhs; ethnically Indian? Is it not through the sheer numbers of recruits (fighting by the order of their Maharajah's) that the British eventually overwhelmed a declining Sikh empire? It is amazing how such blatant Anglo-centric historical interpretation can be thrown about in the national press so loosely. I'm sure the British are no longer blind to the tactics used in the past by the ruling classes to "inspire" (with a well "spun" history and sophisticated PR) all those poor disenfranchised working class men of the dirty adn dark British cities and jobless rural towns of Britain. What a ridiculous article, full of lies and ignorance of the facts; this commentary belittles the intelligence of your average Brit.

Guillame Boyer, New York, USA

Before Nestle bought the Rowntree company. Did the Rowntree trust ever complain about sweet adverts not showing fat lazy kids with rotten teeth? Thought not.
Maybe they complained in world war 1 and 2 about the army glamorising warfare?
Maybe they want some publicity by talking rubbish I mean its not as if many people had heard of them before now.
I think the youth of today can see for themselves the coffins landing at Brize Norton and can decide for themselves if they have the courage to be a soldier.
The Joseph Rowntree trust would be speaking German if the youth of the 1940s hadn't stepped up to the mark.

J Smith, Flint, UK

Honor, courage, comradeship, and patriotism are indeed necessary virtues of the good soldier, but hardly the exclusive domain of the armed services. They are also essential qualities of the good citizen. I contend that the citizens of Britain (as one example of many) spawn a military representative of the nation, rather than a race enriched in certain moral virtues. By extension, I further contend that no soldier who finds a home in the service has been abandoned by society, but rather has found their place within it.

You’ve got it backwards, Mr. James: it is a nation that provides its military with luster, not the other way around.

M Rehrmann, Boston, MA

Jesse perhaps you have missed the age of gender equality we live in.

And to state it is harder being black I assume you've managed to conduct a study that shows that the colour of one's skin is the main variable that predicts a hard life and not other confounding factors?

To be honest after the content of the comment I imagine not.

Richard, London, England

Well over the years that I have been on this earth I learn one thing about some men, is that they want to be bottle fed, well in this world you get to work at the thing that you want, you are not girls so get that though your head, it even harder being black,so stop crying.

jesse285, Jacksonville, Fla