₦airaland Forum

nymphomaniac:
anyone with a link to her hit song seun rere? Cc naptu2

Toxydon147:
Nigeria remembers those who died in the WWI but never thought us about Biafran war or remember them.

naptu2:
Vice President Mike Pence laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown at the National Cemetery at Arlington to mark Veteran's Day yesterday (President Trump is abroad) and the Queen will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Central London in about an hour's time to mark Remembrance Sunday.


Video: Mike Pence lays a wreath and then Taps is played.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9VjRE_PbHs

naptu2:
Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph.

The guards are at attention. We hear the chimes of Big Ben, then the cannon salute, then 2 minutes of silence and then the cannon again. Then buglers from the Royal Marines play the Last Post.

The Queen lays her wreath (you can hear the cameras clicking), Prince Philip, then Prince Charles, then William, Edward and Prince Michael also lay their wreaths.

The parade commander orders the guards to stand easy as the Prime Minister goes up to lay his wreath. The band begins playing Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1 (by Johann Heinrich Walch) as leaders of other parties go up to lay their wreaths.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A56e-IhIW14

naptu2:
Prince Charles lays the wreath on behalf of the Queen (this is the first time that I've witnessed a Remembrance Sunday in which the Queen didn't personally lay her wreath).

The Queen is watching from a balcony above.

Africa's forgotten wartime heroes

Page last updated at 23:32 GMT, Friday, 14 August 2009 00:32 UK


British documentary makers Robin Forestier-Walker and Oliver Owen have been tracing Nigerians who fought against the Japanese in Burma during World War II.

On VJ Day, the anniversary of victory over Japan, they tell the veterans' story.

https://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46206000/jpg/_46206991_banana226.jpg
Private African Banana also served as a peacekeeper in Congo and Chad

Mohammed was just 16 when he was pressed into British military service in northern Nigeria against his will.

Now, almost 70 years on, the old war veteran claims he hid his true identity from the recruiting officer.

It was as Private African Banana that he went on to travel 6,300 miles (10,100km) to the jungles of Burma in the Royal West African Frontier Force.

And he has been known as African Banana ever since.

The contribution of West Africans was played down in official versions of the Allied war in Asia, and until now, few have had an opportunity to tell their tale.

In fact, only two in 10 of the soldiers who fought in Burma were white.

The role of Indians and Gurkhas is known. But when Allied commander General William Slim thanked his 14th army at the end of the campaign, he did not even mention the Africans.

Jungle warfare

Nigerians made up more than half of the total force of 90,000 West African soldiers deployed to South East Asia after 1943 as part of the British Army's 81st and 82nd (West Africa) Divisions.

Although the Burma campaign ended 64 years ago, many remain bitter that their contribution was never adequately recognised.

They were central to the push to clear Japanese forces out of the jungle and mountain ranges of Burma, from where they threatened British India.

This was achieved through a gruelling campaign of jungle marches, battles and ambushes, in which supplies were delivered entirely by air.

Usman Katsina remembers it well.

"Everything that was meant to be used - your food, your clothes, everything - was given to you and you were required to carry it, on your head and back. Some even died from exhaustion, from travelling long distances, with a heavy load," he says.

Some of those who earned the coveted Burma Star had already fought against Mussolini's forces in East Africa.

West Africans also joined special Chindit units under the command of General Orde Wingate.

The Chindits fought deep inside Japanese-held territory to disrupt lines of communication.

Their enemy was an extremely dangerous opponent. Japanese soldiers were trained well in the art of jungle warfare, where the first rule was concealment.

It was a skill the Nigerian troops had to learn too.

"The Japanese in the jungle were just like snakes - they hid before you could see them, it was very hard," recalls 97-year-old Hassan Sokoto.

'Lack of recognition'

Umaru Yola fought in the 4th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment. He described how he was hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel that left him with a hole in his skull.

"I didn't die, so God must have decided to give me a long life," he says.


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Many of the veterans feel they were failed by the British after the war

African recruits served as drivers, artillerymen, engineers, medics and clerks, as well as infantrymen and carriers.

Officer positions were reserved for white expatriates from Britain and other parts of the empire, with only one notable exception: Lieutenant Seth Anthony from the Gold Coast was the British Army's first African officer.

Despite the hierarchy, the war in Burma played some part in breaking down the race barriers of the era.

"Initially I saw the white man as someone better than me. But after the war, I considered him an equal," recalls former infantryman Dauda Kafanchan.

In post-war Nigeria, the colonial government gave some veterans land to begin new lives as farmers. The project was also a scheme to reduce their potential impact as a new political force.

"We wanted work. But what could we do? We were under colonial rule and we couldn't change anything," said veteran Dangombe, who found himself without prospects at the war's end.

Nigerian soldiers who chose to continue their military careers went on to form the core of independent Nigeria's national army, which retains the 81st and 82nd Divisions to this day.

Private Banana later served as a peacekeeper in the Congo and Chad. And he returned to the frontline alongside many of his former comrades in Nigeria's bloody 1967-1970 civil war.

But many of his former comrades feel the British abandoned their responsibilities to their former servicemen.

Although they were paid off for their service, some claim they were promised allowances which were never paid, despite their repeated efforts over the years.

And it is not only the money - some veterans are still bitter over what they see as a lack of recognition.

"We were supposed to get Long Service and British Empire Medals" says Dangombe.

"But up until now - nothing."

naptu2:
Nigerian troops in the two world wars and why the Nigerian High Commissioner will lay a wreath today.

Kamerun was colonised by Germany, so there were concerns with the outbreak of World War 1 that Nigeria could be attacked by Kamerun/Germany. Troops were mobilised for the defence of Nigeria and for action against Kamerun/Germany. The war on Nigeria's eastern front raged between 1914-1916. Nigerian troops captured Yaounde and Douala and were able to drive the Germans to Spanish Guinea (now Equatorial Guinea) where they were disarmed. The Royal Navy sent some warships to Nigeria to assist with the campaign.

Germany also colonised Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and parts of Kenya, so Nigerian troops were also deployed to East Africa to fight against the Germans. This phase of the war lasted from 1916-1918 and resulted in a victory for the allies (British Empire [Indians, East, West and South Africans], Belgian and Portuguese forces). At least 2,700 Nigerians died in this campaign.

Nigerians also famously fought in the 2nd World War. Nigerian troops were deployed in 1940 to participate in the defence of Kenya. They also fought in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Somalia and Sudan. They returned to Nigeria in 1941.

Back in Nigeria, they were deployed to the northern and western borders after France fell, to prevent a possible attack by the Vichy French (there were concerns that the Vichy French would try to invade Nigeria and this resulted in several false alarms in 1941 and 1942).

Their most famous battles in the war were in India and Burma between 1943 - 1945. Many famous Nigerian soldiers, such as Sergeant Hama Kim, Wellington Bassey and Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, fought in this phase of the war. They were engaged in intense and brutal fighting against the Japanese in awful conditions.


The BBC has produced several documentaries (on tv and radio) about the exploits of these Africans in South-East Asia. A British journalist, Barnaby Philips, produced a documentary for Al-Jazeera in 2012 called "Burma Boy" in which he tracked down a Nigerian soldier that fought in Burma during World War 2 and got him to tell his story. He also tracked down the children of the Burmese man who sheltered the Nigerian soldier when he got injured and the Japanese were looking for him. Barnaby Philips also wrote a book about Nigerian soldiers who fought in Burma. It's titled "Another Man's War".

Many Nigerian sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s had a character that was a former major who fought in the 2nd World War (usually in Burma, but also in the Carribeans), eg Sura Di Tailor, Second Chance and Village Headmaster.

Many Nigerian graves remain in cemeteries at the Dalet Chaung near Tamandu, the Rangoon Memorial and the Taukkyan War Cemetery in Burma.

Several barracks in Nigeria are named after places where Nigerian troops fought and died during the 2nd World War. These include Dodan (Ikoyi), An (Yaba), Myohaung (Yaba), Arakan (Apapa), Marda (Yaba) and Tamandu Barracks (Apapa) in Lagos; Letmauk Barracks in Ibadan; Dalet, Mogadishu, Colito and Kalapanzin Barracks in Kaduna; and the Chindit Barracks in Zaria.

Ceremonies will be held in certain military cemeteries in Nigeria today to honour soldiers who died in these wars.

That's why the Nigerian High Commissioner will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in London today.