Remembrance: A Call to Mind

In 2009, Ally Musthan joined the Honourable Artillery Company. He later joined F Company, 7th Battalion The Rifles, where he participated in countless training exercises in the UK and abroad before deploying on an operational tour in Afghanistan.

In 2018, Musthan won the Inspiration of the Year award by the British Ex-Forces in Business organisation for his exemplary transition from the military into the civilian workforce. In 2021, Musthan started Matglen International Consulting, a security risk management consultancy company. He has also gone on to start a community interest company, the Matglen Veterans Hub which will be the only dedicated space designed to offer support to currently serving personnel, veterans and their families in London, Monday through Friday.

His biggest achievement to date is his role as The City of London’s Divisional Secretary for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) where he supports vulnerable service personnel, veterans, and their families with a small team of amazing volunteers. Musthan has represented SSAFA at events at 10 Downing Street and The Guards' Chapel and has been a featured speaker at the SSAFA Christmas Carol Concert.

Musthan’s participation in this remembrance celebration will include sharing his personal experiences in a no-holds-barred, inclusive way. The reality of war has many different facets, and his story will be featured within these Remembrance Day proceedings.

Jay joined the Army as a junior soldier at the age of 16 in February 1987, then joined 2RGJ (Royal Green Jackets), becoming 1RGJ in 1992.

He was promoted to Lance Corporal in 1994 whilst serving in Cyprus on a two year posting with 1RGJ and promoted up the ranks in turn to Warrant Officer Class Two.

Jay served on operational tours to Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Iraq and numerous other countries including Kazakhstan, Estonia and Kenya as an advisor. 

Jay finally left the regular Army in December 2011, going on to serve a further ten years in the Army Reserves with 7 Rifles based in West Ham. His boots were hung up in 2020 for the final time.

Colin’s latest book, The Caribbean and the Second World War (published by Lawrence Wishart in 2024), describes the pivotal role of the Caribbean during the war – and the impact the war had within the region. 

He has written and lectured widely on the subject. His first book, West Indian Women at War (Lawrence Wishart 1991), was co-authored with the late Ben Bousquet and has been widely referenced in literature on the history of the West Indian wartime contribution. In 1988, he produced a widely acclaimed pamphlet entitled Forty Winters On (Lambeth Council, 1988) which was the first major publication on the history of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.

After graduating from Oxford University in 1985, Colin had a distinguished career in the public services. He was a member of the National Management Board of the NHS. He was also part of the management board for Transport for London and was an executive director of the Health and Safety Executive. 

His parents emigrated to Britain from Jamaica in the 1950s. He is married, with two adult sons, and lives in Catford in south east London.

Dr Kesewa John is a Lecturer in Black British History and Convenor of the MA Black British History at Goldsmiths, University of London.

A historian of liberation movements, intellectual history, and gender, Dr John's research and teaching explores transatlantic, multilingual linkages between Afro-Caribbean activists and the evolution and circulation of Black radical thought. Dr John is particularly interested in the intersections of histories of Black feminist and Black radical Caribbean activism.