Ntwa Ya Hitler

The advent of this coming month will mark the eightieth anniversary of the September 1, 1939 German invasion of Poland, an event that set off the cataclysm of World War II. The global conflict that followed had an immense impact on virtually every jurisdiction, including the Bechuanaland Protectorate.

Our country’s wartime contribution is partially reflected in the number of men who served in armed forces. During the war a total of 10,027 men served in the Bechuanaland Protectorate Companies of the British Imperial Army’s “African Pioneer Corps” (APC). A further thousand or so Protectorate Batswana were enlisted in the “South African Native Military Corps”, while an unknown number also helped fill the ranks of the “Rhodesian African Rifles.”

Given that the territory’s population at the time numbered less than 300,000 (the population counts for the 1936 and 1946 census were, respectively, 265,756 and 296,310), this contribution represented about 15% of all able-bodied adult male Batswana. No part of the British Empire provided a greater proportion of fighting men.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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