Batswana WW II veterans indeed operated arms

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Tuesday March 2, 2010 00:00

 

In the story, Thebe, who is from the village of Kumakwane asserted that Batswana soldiers used firearms during WW II and his assertions attracted a number of comments on (Mmegi) Facebook with a significant number of people pointing out their reservations about the story while on the other hand, a good number wrote in support.'Lie,' said the first detractor to respond to the online article.

'Ba ne ba apeile in the makeshift kitchens-They were cooks in the makeshift kitchen,' agreed another.'The truth is they were in different sections, there were cooks and those who carried firearms,' said one reader.'I am proud of those veterans-the legacy must live on,' said yet another person in support.

This writer has so far interviewed three WWII veterans namely Leepile Powane of Mmathubudukwane, Otaata Shashane of Palapye and Modisa Thebe of Kumakwane. Powane asserted African soldiers received proper military training and carried firearms. Asked if it was true that some of the veterans acted as ancillary personnel, the old Mokgatla said philosophically, 'In war, people need to eat, clean their things and move camp, so it is not strange for some individuals to do those chores.'

Powane said that he is one of those people who carried firearms adding that he killed a number of Axis troops in the war.

'I cannot say for sure how many foes I brought down because in war you do not have time to count bodies, but I can assure you that I killed some men in that war,' Old Powane told this writer.

The Mokgatla further derided the South African Boers whom he labeled the true moegoes (knuckleheads) because of their cowardice and poor showing during the war.

Thebe, whose story appeared in Mmegi, recently said that he gets irritated when people suggest that the Africans mainly did ancillary services during the war. He also claimed that they carried firearms during WW II though he doesn't remember the name of the particular gun he carried. He begrudgingly admitted that he brought many enemies down though he did not want to divulge the exact number.

Shashane also asserted that his Second Division (or Company) fought the Germans in Egypt and at some point the battle reached a stalemate with no side winning. He further told Mmegi that the scheming Germans then cut off supply routes of the Allies (to which Batswana belonged) and as a result, the weakened Second Division soldiers were defeated and captured by the Germans who eventually put them in a 'concentration camp' in France where they stayed until France fell to the Allies.

Writing elsewhere in Mmegi, Sandy Grant says of the around 10 000 Batswana troops that were involved in WW II:'So they went, 25 companies in all, to Egypt, Syria, Sicily, Italy, Palestine and this time around were brought out of their shadowy, non-existent role in the white man's war of 1899-1902, as claimed, when they were supposedly merely the hewers of wood and drawers of water. This time around, they did the lot, shifted supplies, made bridges, built camps, drains, roads, dug tunnels, guarded, provided smoke for defence, handled big guns, shot the backside of the enemy planes and were themselves bombed and machine gunned.'

Grant went on to say that 3, 000 Batswana troops took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 becoming for the first time a part of (General Benard Law) Montgomery's famous British Eight Army.

He further revealed that one RAR Bent has given a helpful record of the involvement of Batswana in this war and his summary of one situation in which those people found themselves can be taken as representative of so many others. According to Bent:

Interestingly, Grant has provided Mmegi with a picture of a Mongwato gunner who fought at Salerno and on the Volturno (both part of Italy).

The picture shows the man operating a big gun that looks like anti-aircraft artillery and hopefully this picture will convince many young Batswana that indeed Botswana carried and operated arms during WW II.

Another pointer that shows that Batswana soldiers did impress their colonial masters is the fact that there is a number of Batswana soldiers who managed to reach the highest military rank that could be accorded Africans, the rank of 'regimental sergeant major' and that includes Kgosi Kgari Sechele of the Bakwena, Kgosi Molefi Pilane of the Bakgatla, Molwa Sekgoma, a Mongwato royal, Rasebolai Kgamane, a Mongwato royal and Mookami Gaseitsiwe, a Mongwaketse royal.

To all the detractors, the big question is: Would all those men have been decorated for being mere cooks, cleaners, messengers etc?

It is quite regrettable that the efforts of Batswana soldiers as well as those of other Africans are not adequately recorded and this has led to some people, especially the youth having a lot of misconceptions about WW II veterans as evidenced by those who dismiss their stories of acts of bravery as fabrication.

While it is true that their efforts have not been adequately recorded like those of their Western counterparts, this does not mean that they were not gallant men of war.

Last year, Mike Thomson, writing for the BBC (Mmegi, 08 April 2009) made a rather startling revelation in the article titled, 'Paris liberation made 'white only'.

According to the article, papers unearthed by the BBC reveal that the British and American commanders ensured that the liberation of Paris on August 25, 1945 was seen as a 'whites only' victory, adding that  'the BBC's Document programme has seen evidence that black colonial soldiers-who made up around two-thirds of Free French Forces- were deliberately removed from the unit that led the Allied advance into the French capital. The article further says that by the time France fell, more than 17,000 of its colonial troops were dead.

One can safely conclude that indeed Batswana and other Africans fought and provided ancillary services during the war like their Western counterparts.