Ghana Life: Old Soldiers Never Die

The British West Africa Regiment had a distinguished record in World War II, serving in Ethiopia and Burma. In Ethiopia in 1941, then an Italian colony of Abyssinia, they helped restore the kingdom to Emperor Haile Selassie, and in Burma, in the last years of the war, they were involved in some of the most bitter jungle fighting against the Japanese. The British colony of the Gold Coast, now Ghana, contributed many men to the West African Regiment and they returned after the war proudly wearing their military decorations. In the 1970s, many of them were still in uniform, serving in the police or as security guards for public and private organizations, and they all had one thing in common: the medal ribbons were still in place, proudly displayed on her left breast.

Returning in triumph after the war, they renamed their Accra headquarters Burma Camp. Over time, the names of fallen soldiers were inscribed on war memorials below the names of their parents who fell fighting for the British Empire in World War I. Scanning the vertical columns of names at the memorial in Kumasi revealed that the largest proportion of those recorded as making the supreme sacrifice were from northern Muslim tribes, reflecting the British colonial policy of recruiting northern Muslims for the army and police. Akan names are also seen, and more specifically, Ashanti, grandsons of mighty warriors who fought against the British in four, the so-called Ashanti Wars.

The Kumasi War Memorial is located across the street from Fort Kumasi, noted for its small size and low red walls. Despite its small size, it was the bastion that protected British administrators during what history records as the Fourth Ashanti War, and the Asante call the Yaa Asantewaa War after the Queen Mother who led the tribesmen to the rebellion in 1900. The small number of Europeans and a larger contingent of loyal native troops held out for several months at Fort Kumasi until a relief force forced its way north from Cape Coast.

Kumasi Fort became a military museum and in the 1970s its guides were still World War II veterans who proudly showed visitors photographs and relics of their exploits in Ethiopia and Burma and embellished their presentations with their own reminiscences. Surprisingly, Yaa Asantewaa’s war-related exhibits were still presented from the British perspective, having been left as they were prepared by colonial curators since Ghana gained independence in 1957. This suggested that the guardians of this heritage could not read, they had no interest in reading or no concern for the way their story was presented.

The issue almost certainly would not have concerned World War II veterans much. These were for a man proud of his colonial service and often praised British officers who shared his hardship and led them into battle. They respected the discipline and integrity of the system they had served and went out of their way to set an example by bringing these qualities to their new Ghana. Now that they have faded from the scene, it can be hoped that something of his legacy will remain to inspire the youth for generations to come.