Forgotten no more: The Black South Africans who died in WWI Africa

Cape Town, South Africa – On January 23, 1915, 2 boatmen named Dolly Jenniker and Zulu Madhliwa drowned successful the Orange River successful South Africa. They were ferrying supplies to Union of South Africa forces which had invaded German South West Africa (GSWA, present Namibia) arsenic portion of the Allied run against Germany successful World War I. When the Allies declared warfare connected Germany, some sides’ colonies had been automatically included: South Africa was portion of the British Commonwealth and Germany had colonies successful GSWA and German East Africa (now Tanzania).

The stream was flooded, and the heavy laden vas was nary lucifer for the rapids present fashionable among achromatic h2o rafters who instrumentality them connected for fun. Jenniker’s wife, Molly, who was waiting for him astatine their location successful Port Elizabeth, ne'er got to spot him again. And, backmost successful Amanzimtoti, adjacent Durban, Madhliwa’s father, Ngobongwana, lone learned of his son’s decease erstwhile helium received his son’s £3 of unpaid wages successful the mail.

Beyond these bare facts, small has been known for much than a period astir Jenniker and Madhliwa – oregon immoderate of the different 1,700 South Africans of colour who died successful World War I successful Africa.

But now, these men volition yet beryllium recognised by a caller memorial successful the Company’s Gardens – the rootlike gardens established by the Dutch East India Company erstwhile they acceptable up a victualling presumption astatine the Cape successful 1652 – successful the bosom of Cape Town.

The memorial, organised and funded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), volition beryllium unveiled connected Wednesday, January 22. It aims to close a 110-year-old incorrect by commemorating each of these World War I labour corps veterans with an African iroko hardwood station bearing his sanction and the day of his death.

The Cape Town memorial lone commemorates men who did not transportation arms and who mislaid their lives successful Africa – different South Africans who died successful World War I person already been commemorated elsewhere. The memorial is the archetypal signifier of a thrust to retrieve the estimated 100,000 Black Africans who mislaid their lives successful Africa connected the Allied broadside successful the Great War.

Another iroko station bears the sanction of Job Hlakula, an ox operator who died, arsenic acold arsenic researchers tin tell, connected his mode location from East Africa connected April 1, 1917. His great-grandson, Zweletu Hlakula, is arrogant that the family’s sacrifice is yet being recognised: “We each accidental we had a worker that passed connected our behalf who was warring for our freedom. We are precise arrogant of him … It’s a pridefulness that we’ve got successful our name, successful our household astir him … For him to beryllium remembered, for him to beryllium successful the past of our South Africa… that makes america precise humble to perceive his sanction connected the memorial.”

South African railway workers conception a span implicit the Orange River [Courtesy of Imperial War Museum Q52398]

No chromatic unturned

The CWGC was founded successful 1917 portion the bloodiest World War I battles were ongoing to “recognise the sacrifices made by radical from crossed the British empire”, says George Hay, the commission’s main historian. Its mandate was subsequently expanded to see World War II casualties.

With fractional a cardinal bodies it couldn’t relationship for (a operation of missing bodies and unidentified ones), the CWGC started gathering memorials to the missing, specified arsenic the much than 72,000 commemorated astatine Thiepval successful France and the astir 55,000 astatine Ypres successful Belgium. “The thought was to supply a abstraction to honour and mourn the radical who were denied a sedate by the fortunes of war,” explains Hay.

As Field Marshal Herbert Plumer, 1 of the main commanders connected the Western Front successful World War I, said successful 1927 astatine the unveiling of the Ypres Memorial: “He is not missing, helium is here.”

The CGWC’s founding documents “very intelligibly stated that it would commemorate everyone who died, without distinction”, says Hay. But this didn’t ever happen: “More than a 100 years aboriginal we are inactive righting wrongs, filling successful gaps,” helium adds.

Most of the estimated 11,500 South Africans – achromatic and Black – who mislaid their lives successful the Great War have been commemorated successful immoderate form. Due to the country’s racialised politics, lone achromatic South Africans were allowed to transportation arms during World War I, and those who died are remembered astatine graves and memorials some overseas and astatine home. The 1 objection to this “whites-only” regularisation was the Cape Corps, an “experimental” equipped portion of mixed-race, “coloured” men who served with favoritism successful some East Africa and the Middle East.

But thousands of Black non-combatants who supported their achromatic South African countrymen arsenic labourers and carriers were besides killed betwixt 1914 and 1918.

Individually named markers volition commemorate each of the casualties remembered astatine the caller Cape Town memorial [Courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission]

Not each of them were forgotten. The South African Native Labour Contingent (SANLC) labour corps assisting achromatic South African troops successful Europe during World War I is comparatively well-documented, and the 980 SANLC men who died are commemorated astatine memorials astir Europe.

The bulk of the SANLC’s casualties occurred connected a azygous day: 607 Black servicemen were killed erstwhile the SS Mendi – which was bringing men from Cape Town to France – went down successful the English Channel connected February 21, 1917. The men who died connected the Mendi person been commemorated astatine monuments successful South Africa, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands – not to notation successful assorted spot names, books and films and via a prestigious medal: The Mendi Decoration for Bravery which is awarded by the South African authorities to citizens who “performed an bonzer enactment of bravery that placed their lives successful large danger”.

Survivors recounted however the men who died connected the Mendi met their destiny with tremendous dignity, stamping their feet successful a “death dance”. Their pastor, the Reverend Isaac Dyobha, is said to person calmed his flock by raising his arms to the skies and loudly declaring, “Be quiescent and calm, my countrymen. What is happening present is what you came to bash … You are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the decease drill. I, a Xhosa, accidental you are my brothers … Swazis, Pondos, Basotho … truthful fto america dice similar brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your warfare cries, brothers, for though they made america permission our assegais successful the kraal [a notation to the information that Blacks were not allowed to carnivore arms], our voices are near with our bodies.”

But portion the sinking of the Mendi is celebrated successful South Africa, the Black enactment unit who mislaid their lives successful African theatres of warfare had been roundly forgotten – until now.

That changed with the accidental find of a bound postulation of handwritten casualty records successful a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Documentation Centre successful Pretoria successful 2017 by idiosyncratic moving connected the South African War Graves Project. “A period ago, idiosyncratic had taken the clip to grounds the sacrifices made by these 1,700 men,” says Hay. “But those records were ne'er shared with the Commission.” While not each antheral to beryllium commemorated by the caller memorial belonged to South Africa’s Black colonisation (there is astatine slightest 1 European connected the database – a antheral who was calved successful Cornwall, southeast England but who had moved to South Africa earlier 1900), the immense bulk – and each those drawn from these caller records – did.

“Why were these guys near out?” muses Hay. “We whitethorn ne'er cognize if it was accidental oregon deliberate.” Either way, it is not astonishing that the forgotten men died successful Africa and were dark-skinned. At the Versailles Peace Conference successful 1919, American delegate George Beer noted helium “had not seen the communicative of autochthonal victims successful immoderate authoritative publication”.

An iroko station for the memorial to the fallen servicemen is prepared. Each antheral who mislaid his beingness volition beryllium remembered with an individually named station [Courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission]

Africans who died successful Africa

Of the 1,772 men remembered by the caller Cape Town memorial, says Hay, astir apt less than 100 mislaid their lives owed to their engagement successful the comparatively hassle-free German South West Africa run of 1914 and 1915. The remainder are believed to person died successful the East Africa Campaign which, acknowledgment chiefly to the relentless guerilla tactics of German commandant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, dragged connected for 4 years and killed hundreds of thousands. More than 90 percent of the radical who died were Black – and astir of them died from malnutrition and disease, particularly malaria.

“Despite its outgo successful men and wealth [about $13bn successful today’s money] the run successful East Africa was, and is, often referred to arsenic a specified sideshow,” writes Edward Paice successful Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War successful Africa. While the East Africa run did person small bearing connected the wide outcomes of the war, it should not beryllium dismissed, argues Paice: “The warfare successful Africa enactment imperialism itself, and each the highfalutin speech of the European Powers’ ‘civilising mission’ connected trial.”

As the legendary civilian rights activistic WEB DuBois wrote successful a 1915 effort titled The African Roots of War: “In a precise existent consciousness Africa is simply a premier origin of this unspeakable overturning of civilisation which we person lived to spot [because] successful the Dark Continent are hidden the roots not simply of warfare contiguous but of the menace of wars tomorrow.”

DuBois continued: “Twenty centuries aft Christ, Black Africa, prostrate, raped, and shamed, lies astatine the feet of the conquering Philistines of Europe.”

White European soldiers outlined conscionable however challenging the conditions successful East Africa were for them. One young British officer, named arsenic Lewis, had watched successful fearfulness arsenic each antheral successful his portion was slaughtered successful the trenches of Europe. But, 16 months later, Lewis wrote to his parent from East Africa to say: “I would alternatively beryllium successful France than here.”

Colonel HL Pritchard, a British soldier, wrote of his experiences successful a “country 3 times the size of Germany, mostly covered by dense bush, with nary roads and lone 2 railways, and either sweltering nether a tropical prima oregon swept by torrential rainfall which makes the friable ungraded impassable to wheeled traffic”. He wrote of malaria and insects successful a terrain “where crocodiles and lions prehend unwary porters, giraffe destruct telegraph lines, elephants harm tracks, hippopotami onslaught boats, rhinoceroses complaint troops connected the march, and bees enactment full battalions to flight…”

If anything, Lewis and Pritchard – achromatic commissioned officers – had it easier than the Black carriers who facilitated the East African warfare effort. As 1 British official, Hector Livingston Duff who served successful the Nyasaland Field Force successful World War I, wrote successful 1925: “Can you wonderment that [the carriers] suffered, and suffered terribly? Of people they did. These poor, spiritless, ragged creatures had to hump their dense packs and travel immoderate of the astir progressive and hardy troops that ever took to the field, implicit fearfully hard country, done 1 of the astir prolonged and accelerated wars of question ever known.”

Clockwise from top: Carriers dragging a captured German howitzer done an country infested with Tsetse alert successful Northern Rhodesia Q17111; Landing stores astatine Port Amelia, Portuguese Nyasaland – from steamer to dhow to porter – during the German East African Campaign successful April 1918 Q15533; HMT Bechuana proceeds down the seashore to Port Amelia, Nyasaland with decks crowded with porters Q15531 [Courtesy of Imperial War Museum]

The ‘Aragon incident’

Disease was 1 of the main causes of decease for these workers. More than fractional of the men commemorated successful the Cape Town memorial died of malaria, portion others fell unfortunate to different diseases including dysentery, pneumonia and influenza. The bulk of the men died connected terra firma, but much than 100 died from illness and malnourishment connected committee the HMT Aragon successful March and April 1917, portion being repatriated from the East African beforehand to South Africa connected wellness grounds.

Published successful 1918, the Pike Report connected Medical and Sanitary Matters successful German East Africa is simply a exemplary of bland understatement. Even so, its relationship of the “Aragon incident” is chilling.

When the vessel near Kilwa Kisiwani, disconnected the seashore of present-day Tanzania, the Aragon was carrying 1,362 “natives”, each of whom were “unfit, afloat of malaria, and appeared to person nary resisting powerfulness near for relapses”, according to Surgeon General William Watson Pike. To marque matters worse, “the Aragon was detained successful Kisiwani harbour for astir 9-10 days and during that clip 74 deaths occurred.” By the clip it reached Durban, this fig had swelled to astatine slightest 129.

One of the men who died connected the vessel was Maeli Makhaleyane, an ox operator who enlisted with the South African Labour Corps astatine the diamond mining municipality of Kimberley connected November 21, 1916. His decease certificate notes that, aft 2 infirmary stays successful East Africa, helium was “repatriated per Aragon”. He boarded the vessel connected March 30 and died of malaria 16 days later.

In his report, Pike concluded that the elder aesculapian serviceman committed “an mistake of judgement successful sending these 1,362 men, knowing their past past arsenic helium did, to oversea without making capable aesculapian proviso to conscionable their requirements”. Pike added that the “general information of those connected the Aragon was overmuch beneath the average” for assorted reasons including being “saturated with malaria and dysentery” and being “very depressed by the [many] delays”.

Being buried astatine oversea successful a elemental ceremonial which saw each assemblage “committed to the deep” meant a distressing deficiency of closure for their loved ones. As Mbonsiwa Maliya, the grandson of Magwayi Maliwa who died connected April 15, 1917, says: “It has impacted america a lot, particularly me. I struggled trying to find retired what happened to him. His assemblage was not brought home.”

Now, the families of Aragon victims including Jack December (who came from Kimberley and worked arsenic a operator successful East Africa), Mack Mokgade (a railway idiosyncratic from Paulpietersburg) and Piet September (an ox-driver from Kimberley) tin wage their respects astatine their respective iroko posts successful Cape Town.

Usually, the CGWC builds memorials successful the theatres of warfare themselves. This time, the determination was made to people the men’s deaths successful their state of root – partially due to the fact that it wasn’t imaginable to place wherever each of the men fell, and besides “to ore the commemoration of a assemblage of men who had been excluded astatine the clip and efficaciously written retired of past since”, says Hay.

The Commission is presently moving connected a overmuch larger task to commemorate astatine slightest 89,000 Black East Africans who died for the Allied origin successful World War I. While nary ceremonial plans person been made yet, the committee says it is committed to honouring these radical – successful collaboration with the affected communities.

Even much Black Africans, including tens of thousands of women and children, are thought to person died connected the German side. There are nary known plans to commemorate these people, though Germany is – yet – starting to travel to presumption with the atrocities it committed successful East Africa.

A ocular practice of the caller Cape Town memorial by Dean Jay architects [Courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission]

For now, however, the Cape Town memorial volition beryllium celebrated. Located successful the aforesaid precinct arsenic South Africa’s National Museum, National Gallery and National Library – and a replica of the Delville Wood Memorial (the original, successful France, commemorates the 2,500 South Africans who died portion heroically defending their presumption successful a dense thicket known arsenic Delville Wood successful July 1916) – it volition springiness the 1,772 men’s descendants a spot to mourn them, portion besides highlighting their sacrifice to the millions of radical who walk done the gardens each year.

“This memorial, dedicated to the South African men of the Labour Corps who served successful World War I, is simply a reminder of a past that is often near retired of textbooks and nationalist discourse,” says South African writer Koleka Putuma, who co-wrote a poem to observe the memorial’s unveiling.

“These men – grandfathers, sons, brothers, and descendants of chiefs – were sent acold from location to combat successful a warfare that was not theirs. They near down families, villages, and traditions, and galore ne'er returned.”

Their names and stories person been obscured by time, adds Putuma, “but this memorial seeks to close that, to springiness dependable to their lives, and to retrieve them arsenic much than conscionable a footnote”.