Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east superstar Emeli Sande tells of shock at family wartime revelations

Emeli Sande made astonishing discoveries about her family's history in My Grandparents' War to be shown on Channel 4.
Emeli Sande made astonishing discoveries about her family's history in My Grandparents' War to be shown on Channel 4.

North-east music superstar Emeli Sande has discovered one of her grandfathers fought to uphold the British Empire – while the other fought to overthrow it.

The astonishing and emotional revelation is made in the Channel 4 series My Grandparents’ War, in which Emeli discovers the faultlines that run across her family history and her British and African heritage.

Her English grandfather on her mother’s side, Bob Wood, fought in the Second World War, before being posted to Kenya with his wife, Betty, at the height of the Mau Mau insurgency against colonial rule which was brutally put down by British forces.

Meanwhile, her African grandfather on her dad’s side, Saka Sande, rose up against British rule and an apartheid system in what became Zambia.

Emeli Sande was left shocked and emotional by revelations uncovered in My Grandparents’ War, which she filmed for Channel 4.

“While Bob and Betty were tasked with upholding the British Empire, my grandfather Saka was caught up in the violence to overthrow it, as the independence movement swept across Africa,” said Emeli, in the programme which will be broadcast on Thursday September 29.

Emeli’s grandad Bob ordered to shoot family rather than be captured

And in a chilling moment during the programme, which airs on Thursday, Emeli discovers her grandfather Bob was ordered to shoot his own children if the Mau Mau rebels overran the Army base where they lived.

She received a letter from her aunt Jo who was a young girl when the family were in Kenya – before Emeli’s mother was born – in which she describes hearing noises in the night as the base was attacked, to find Bob sitting with a rifle pointed at the children.

Emeli said: “Wow… they had been trained to shoot their own family and told that was a better option than being captured. That must have been very difficult for my granddad, that’s going against every fatherly instinct.

Emeli Sande’s grandparents Bob and Betty Wood. After serving in the British Army throughout the Second World War, Emeli’s grandparents were thrown into another deadly conflict in Kenya in the 1950s.

“That’s terrifying really… if my grandad was pointing a gun at them, that means that they were very close to dying. My mum would never have been born, I would never have been born.”

Bob and Betty, who had met in a pub during the war in Shrewsbury, eventually moved home to England’s Lake District. Emeli’s own parents met as students in Sunderland in the 80s, before eventually settling in Alford, where Emeli was brought up.

Horror of apartheid system faced by Emeli’s grandfather Saka

During the programme, Emeli – who last week announced her engagement – makes a moving trip to Zambia, where her grandmother Emeli – she was named after her – still lives along with many other family members.

As she delved into her family’s past, Emeli was shocked to discover the conditions in which her grandfather Saka lived and worked in the copper mines of what was then Northern Rhodesia

Black people were subjected to segregated housing, shopping and communal areas in a system of apartheid. Saka worked long, gruelling hours, paid one-tenth of what European workers were given and he and his family of nine were crammed into a tiny, substandard house.

Emeli Sande with her 85-year-old grandmother in Zambia… Emeli is named after her grandmother and made an emotional journey to visit her.

Saka joined in the wave of protests, often violent, demanding and eventual gaining independence from the British.

“My grandfather knew that it wasn’t right what was happening to him and he wasn’t going to accept it,” said Emeli. “To know the injustice which many people have faced here, including my family, fills me with anger.”

“I never imagined my grandfather working in a situation where he felt inferior, so close to slave conditions, treated like a lesser human, purely based on skin colour. That’s really upsetting.”

Emeli Sande tells of facing racism during her childhood school days

Emeli said she had never suffered such extreme, state-sponsored racism, but had faced prejudice as the only mixed-race child in her class at school.

“When I was about four, there was a girl on my street. She said to me: ‘You must be adopted, because how can you have a black dad and a white mum?’ For a four-year-old to hear that you instantly feel different, unsure of who you are, what your identity is.

Emeli Sande talks openly about the prejudice she faced as a young schoolgirl as the only mixed-race child in her class.

“And I remember there was a girl in my school, I think we’re playing tag or something, and I caught her. She said: “Oh, my mum said, I shouldn’t let black people touch me’. There’s so many stories of growing up in school where that was the case.”

The singer, who was this weekend one of the headliners at Aberdeen’s prestigious True North music festival, said her deeply personal journey opened her eyes to how the Empire divided countries and communities.

She said: “I’ve always been proud to be both British and African. But I now feel deeply angered by how the British Empire treated Kenyans. And how it also placed my grandparents’ lives in danger.”

Emeli Sande talks of both the pride and anger she felt after the discoveries she made while filming My Grandparents’ War for Channel 4 which will be broadcast on Thursday September 29.

When to see Emeli Sande’s story in My Grandparents’ War

However, the show ends on a note of hope, as Emeli talks about her personal journey of discovery.

“I now understand how colonialism divided us, the racism it generated still exists today. But as my family has shown, there is a way to move forward together.”

Emeli’s story will be told in My Grandparents’ War – which also features Kit Harrington,  Keira Knightley – on Channel 4 on Thursday September 29.


You might also like…

Conversation