History's Toughest Heroes: Henry Johnson: Hellfighter

History's Heroes

BBC

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.8 • 704 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:06.5	The party is raging.
0:09.8	Drinks flowing, laughter echoing.
0:12.8	But this isn't your standard night out.
0:17.0	It's all happening inside prison.
0:20.2	Join me, Amber Hack, for a shocking case of forbidden love, hidden corruption and a million pound drug boss.
0:28.7	You don't think it can happen to you, but it does.
0:31.0	Gangster presents sex, drugs and cell block parties.
0:35.7	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:44.9	Crowds are cheering New York has packed the sidewalks along Fifth Avenue.
0:49.6	It was the 17th of February, 1919.
0:54.5	And everyone was celebrating from millionaires to messenger boys.
1:00.6	It seemed the whole city had come out of way flags and cheer to returning heroes.
1:08.2	Everybody's out on the street, lining the streets from kind of way downtown all the way uptown.
1:13.2	Some of the first troops back from war in Europe paraded along the avenue.
1:19.5	Welcome banners and the Stars and Strikes hung from mansions and department stores.
1:21.4	The crowd roared.
1:24.9	These warriors weren't just Americans.
1:27.5	They were New Yorkers.
1:31.2	And one of the most popular military bands in the army,
1:32.8	they led the way.
1:34.6	They're playing sort of like this really vigorous celebratory music.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.