World War II: Sixty Years and the Untold African Story
By
Francis Kizito (fkizito1@yahoo.com)
Few days from now the "world will gather to mark the 60th anniversary
of the end of World War 2. Leaders will come from far and wide to
give speeches dealing on the liberation of the world from tyranny.
The Allied forces (including UK, US, France, Russia, Poland,
Australia and some other countries in Europe) will pay homage to
soldiers who died in that Great War as well as remember other
services these liberators have rendered in setting free mankind. The
Axis forces (Germany and her friends) on the other hand, will be left
to lick the wounds of defeat. A leader or two will come on the world
stage to tender apologies for atrocities committed against a people
during that dark era of world history. There will be apologies for
the Jews (Hitler gassed about 6millions of them during that period,)
the "free women" (Korean women who were forced into prostitution by
the Japanese Army) and the "world" at large (since there was a
disruption of world peace in those six terrible years.) What will
definitely be lacking in this banquet of victors will be a full
presence of the actors in that circus of death. America will give her
account, Europe will also give her account, same as Asia and Down
Under but no of Africa there will be silence. Again the "Dark
continent" will be unsung on the pages of history and her
contributions in a war that was not hers to fight in the first place
will be ignored. It will be a thing of astonishment if any African
leader is invited to grace any occasion directly or indirectly
related to VE Day (Victory in Europe) which signaled the end of the
Second World War.
When Hitler rolled his tanks into Prague on the 15th of March 1939,
the African continent was under the control of the colonial
overlords. Except for a few countries (Ethiopia and Liberia) most of
the black man's world was under the control of some queen, king or
government who ruled it like a personal property and was responsible
for determining the fate of her people. The war was to affect Africa
in ways both positive and negative. This will not be the first time
the colonies will be called upon to get their masters out of their
misadventures, there were Africans in the First World War but their
roles were limited to being porters and serv ants (only white
soldiers of South Africa were allowed to fulfill combat roles.) In
WWII, African soldiers fought, killed, were killed and received
decorations for bravery, valor and other honorable conducts on the
field of battle. One might ask, "Where did these soldiers come from?"
How was the white man able to mobilize troops from among a people
whom centuries earlier he had called "apes" "savages" and
even "pagans"? The answers can be found with our traditional rulers.
The tribal chiefs gave permission for the recruitment and
conscription of able-bodied young men in their domain for military
service. This was also how the colonists mobilized the colonized in
WWI. A Bugandan (Uganda) chieftain was quoted to have made this
comment: "A war against Britain is a war against Buganda … I did all
I could to recruit men for the armies …I tried my best to get in
touch with the British armies for I did not want the enemy to get to
our city London." The basic difference between recruitments in the 2
wars was that conditions were better for the African soldier in WW2
than in WW1. He received a salary, better training in weapons and
survival, traveled to other continents and hence interacted with
other cultures who shared the same hatred for the colonial master
(hence the first growls for independence) and he learnt to assert
himself and develop a sense of self worth. In a nutshell, World War
2 "opened" his eyes to the world around him. The experiences of the
African soldiers will reflect in years to come as soldiers encouraged
their people to send their children to school and receive the white
man's education. Some of them went to school themselves and would
later be in the forefront of the struggle for independence from the
colonial masters.
With inaccessibility of the Asian market to Europe as a result of
Japanese blockades, the colonials turned to Africa for production of
vital raw materials. In his highly recommended textbook," Regional
Geography of Nigeria," N.P Iloeje describes his memories of world war
2 as planting of oil palm trees in order to contribute to the war
effort. (An attempt was made to market coal which did not actually
prove successful.) One wonders if there are any records of revenues
and volumes of trade that must have been generated during this period
in order to fully appreciate the contribution of Africa to the
2nd "World" war. There is a lot of trivia on WW2. Ranging from how
many gallons of fuel used to the number of flowers given to Allied
soldiers as tokens o f love and appreciation, it is difficult,
however, to find information that deals with serious matters such as
how many African soldiers died fighting in that war, how much of the
continent's resources was used to feed the war machine and what was
the justification? Africans were made to believe in unsubstantiated
stories like the cannibalistic nature of Germans, the bid by the Axis
forces to wipe out the entire black race and a promise of eternal
gratitude of the colonial lords. All sorts of stories and myths were
invented to give reasons why the ignorant African should go and fight
for his king and country. When one researches into the African
involvement in the world wars, it seems as though there is a big
conspiracy to sweep the African story under the rug. There are hardly
any materials to refer to. The only evidence my generation has of any
of such an adventure(or misadventure?) are oral traditions of aged
great grandfathers who re galed us with stories of their exploits in
the great "Burma" war( African soldiers saw most of their action in
the Pacific theatre fighting against the Japanese in Burma, India,
etc hence the name Burma war.) With an absence of materials to
preserve this crucial moment in black history, subsequent generations
will continue to wallow in absolute ignorance of the service our
fathers have rendered to humanity thus losing an important part of
ourselves on the ash heap of time. African historians should embrace
and encourage this aspect of African history as well as direct their
students towards the exploration of this vital field. They should
follow the examples of their African-American counterparts who have
archived and documented the services of the African Americans in the
United States Armed forces. Through their works the world is
introduced to famous legends like the Buffalo soldiers, the Tuskegee
airmen and the Golden Thirteen. The African-American civil war museum
as well as the Smithsonian museum for American history (both in
Washington DC) abounds with stories of African-American warriors who
gave their lives to ensure freedom for themselves and their country
even at times when the country had no belief in them. It is of utmost
importance that African history educators include in the education
curriculum this chapter of African history so that upcoming
generations can learn about it (we were taught of kingdoms and
empires of long ago but no mention was made of recent happenings
particularly in relation to the world wars.)
In a few days time the Allies will come together to commemorate the
end of World War 2. A few veterans will gather to receive applause
and recognition from a grateful world but their ranks will not be
complete. Not until the efforts of the Africans who lost their youth
in that theater of death and destruction is brought to light and
appreciated, history will continue to remain incomplete.