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5 - War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2017

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Summary

‘Hot war raged on all over the world.’

‘O ye Mammy, do not worry,

Though I may be far away,

If I lose my life on the battlefield

Where the bombs and the bullets are flying.’

‘Where have you been?’ she asks him, trying to remove the KAR hat pin-folded on one side from his head.

‘Burma … India … Japan … lands far away, soldier fighting for the king.’

On a sunny morning in March 1944 a small detachment of West African and British soldiers of the 29th Casualty Clearing Station of the 6th West African Brigade stirred in their makeshift camp on the banks of the River Kaladan in Burma. As part of the 81st (West African) Division they had paddled their way down the river on flat open bamboo rafts, following the retreating Japanese forces. With nightfall they had tied up their rafts and slept between river and forest. With the light of morning a few Burmese from the village of Nyron came down to the river, attracted by the unusual sight of black men. Soldiers in various states of casual dress chatted, shaved and drank tea in preparation for the continued journey down the Kaladan. Isaac Fadoyebo, an 18-year-old Nigerian volunteer, stood drinking tea and talking to his countryman, the tall and imposing Sgt Duke, who was clad only in white vest and blue underpants. Suddenly

gunshots rang out from the opposite bank … we all ran for cover. A confused situation arose because we were badly positioned … we could not do much to evade the gunshots in view of the fact that we were on the slope of the river. The heavy fire continued intermittently for more than one hour … Each time the Japanese stopped firing, I made a number of abortive attempts to get away from the area. I did not know at the time that I had been wounded and I just kept on trying to move away. I was wondering as to what might have been responsible for my inability to lift myself off the ground and make a dash for shelter … My right leg developed aches and pains. So was the left side of my abdomen immediately below my ribs. I made an attempt to peep at my right leg and the left hand of my body and I saw a lot of blood.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fighting for Britain
African Soldiers in the Second World War
, pp. 141 - 178
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2010

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