Title:  Letters from Burma: Views of Black Zimbabwean Soldiers during the Second World War

Abstract:

Much has been written in recent years about the ambiguous position of Africans in colonial military service and the impact of the world wars on Africa.  However, to some extent lack of sources has often meant that the perspective of African soldiers at the time has been difficult to access.  Within the particular historiography of Zimbabwe, the considerable attention given to nationalist movements and liberation war has meant that very little has been written on African soldiers of the colonial period who are frequently portrayed as sell-outs to the African cause.  This paper examines the views of African soldiers from Zimbabwe who, as part of the British colonial army, fought against the Japanese during the Burma campaign of the Second World War.  It will examine why they volunteered for overseas military service, their perceptions of wartime experience including combat, what they thought of the settler dominated colonial society at home, concerns about wives and other family left behind, and anxiety about how they would survive after demobilization.  The main source for this paper will be letters written by the soldiers themselves to African newspapers in colonial Zimbabwe mostly in 1944 and 1945. These letters were often published in African languages and sometimes appear to have escaped censorship.   Other sources include letters and statements made by soldiers for a government newsletter that was circulated to their families during the war, some official letters written by soldiers to their superiors and other accounts of their experiences.  These documents demonstrate that black Zimbabwean soldiers in Burma were a complex mix of people who held some conservative, loyalist views but could also be highly critical of the exploitive colonial system.

Tim Stapleton

Professor and Chair
Department of History
Trent University
Peterborough, Ontario
K9J 7B8
CANADA
Phone: 705-748-1011 extension 7841
Email: tstapleton@trentu.ca

Research Associate
Department of History
University of Zimbabwe