Episode
History's Toughest Heroes: Henry Johnson: Hellfighter
- Podcast
- History's Heroes
- Published
- Nov 18, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1715
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002m03z
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Summary
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