Princess Anne honors legacy of black South African WWI heroes

Black South African servicemen who lost their lives in non-combat roles while serving on the Allied side during World War I, and whose final resting places remain unknown, have been honored with a memorial that lists 1,772 names.

These names are etched into African hardwood poles, standing tall as if they are reaching for the sun.

The exact burial sites of these men are a mystery.

However, after being overlooked for over a century, their names have been resurrected and are now part of historical records.

A granite inscription at the memorial in Cape Town reads: “Your legacies are preserved here.”

Due to their race, they were prohibited from bearing arms.

They served in the Cape Town Labor Corps, responsible for transporting food, ammunition, and other supplies, as well as constructing roads and bridges during the Great War.

Their service took place not in Europe, but in peripheral battles across Africa, where Allied forces engaged in conflicts in the former German colonies of German South West Africa (now Namibia) and German East Africa (now Tanzania).

These men made the same ultimate sacrifice as approximately 10 million others who perished while serving in the military during the 1914-1918 war.

In the aftermath of the war, they were largely unrecognized due to the racial policies of British colonialism and the subsequent apartheid regime in South Africa.

The memorial serves to correct this historical oversight, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the British organization responsible for maintaining war graves, which constructed the new memorial in Cape Town’s oldest public garden.

The memorial was inaugurated on Wednesday by Britain’s Princess Anne, the commission’s president.

“It is crucial to acknowledge that those we honor today have been overlooked for far too long,” she stated.

“They gave everything in the most difficult circumstances, and their bravery and commitment were vital to the Allied efforts. Their legacy deserves the enduring recognition that this memorial offers,” she concluded.

South Africa boasts numerous memorials honoring its white soldiers who fought and perished in both world wars, yet the contributions of Black servicemen remained largely overlooked for many years.

This significant part of history was at risk of being forgotten until a researcher uncovered documentation of their service within South African army records about a decade ago, according to David McDonald, the operational manager for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who led the South African initiative.

The research identified over 1,700 Black servicemen.

This discovery also connected the commission with the families of six fallen soldiers, most of whom hailed from remote areas of South Africa.

At a recent ceremony, four of these families were present.

They placed wreaths at the memorial’s base and had the opportunity to touch the individual poles that honor their lost relatives, each inscribed with their names.

“It filled us with pride and joy,” expressed Elliot Malunga Delihlazo, whose great-grandfather, Bhesengile, was among those commemorated.

Delihlazo shared that his family had only known that Bhesengile went to war and never returned.

“While it saddens us that we cannot locate his remains, we are relieved to finally know that he died in 1917,” Delihlazo reflected.

By Dominic Wabwireh