This was heartfelt, I'm grateful for this video. You used some keywords that perfectly describe what this video meant for me; "lesser-known", "untold" and what I needed to know "spotlight" this part of history
History Fox...Thank you so much for this audio/video, as this is almost never touched or taught and most people in schools are not even exposed to that Africans actually fought in the Wars, and not just sitting around waiting for their fate and the fate of the world, and most were unfortunately forced fight for and to whomever was their colonizer. You are a great teacher of history, especially that is not covered or acknowledged by the West. Please do one where some in mainly northern Africa served in Hitlers Wehrmacht that were not German and European. Peace!
No matter how hard they tried to bury the positive contributions of Africans, other indigenous people and their supporters globally, we have great individuals like our History Fox here who ensures the history comes to light. You're doing such a great job, you should host a podcast if aren't already.
Thank you so much! You're so kind 🧡 It's important to show other perspectives of history, there was/is always so much Western/White-dominance in the narrative, that we forget that 3/4 of the planet are not covered by that, and that's unfair. Thank you :) No podcast so far, but maybe some more projects in the future, I'll let you know :)
My father served in the Kings African Rifles in Kenya, Somalia, South Africa and Madagascar. He was in the transport section and never saw combat. He told us some interesting stories about the war, one was that once they were ordered up and put on a ship in Mombasa. Nobody knew where they were being taken and after some days they arrived in Madagascar, a strange place for them. I looked this up and what I found was that the Japanese had amassed their forces in Singapore and were poised to carry out their invasion of Madagascar. But the defeat at Midway put their plans to nought. The late president of Uganda, Idi Amin also served in the Kings African Rifles, and later on became a General and Field Marshal (this was a self bestowed rank) in the Uganda Army. We served, all in the name of 'freedom'.
Thank you for your great comment! That's fascinating that your father was in the Kings African Rifles, I bet he has many stories to tell. They defeated the Vichy regime in Madagascar and stopped the advances of the Japanese. Without them the WWII could have taken a different turn.
Thank you for this video, it means a lot to have some light shed on our ancestors who we know fought and gave their lives but somehow their contribution is never mentioned.
am from Ghana my grandfather was with the 81st west African divisions ,fought in the kaladan valley during the Burma campaings,he recieved no compensention for his services to the British crown ,he was part of the 28th February Christianborg cross road march with his fellow vertrans but was lucky to survive the shootings in which some of his colleagues lost their lives,unfortunately he passed on in 1956 just a year before Ghana attained independence.all we have of him are his medals 2 of his uniforms and the insignia patch of the 81st west African Division.thank you for shedding light on the contributions and sacrifice of our fathers.
Thank you for your kind words and this amazing comment! Your grandfather was a great man, it was men like him that brought the ideas of liberation from the colonial powers to Africa. I wished he would have received a compensation for risking his life for the British crown. I wish you all the best!
Thanks sister! My GrandDad was a king African rifle. He fought in Burma! He was from British East Africa which is now Kenya. In my grandfather‘s village one man from each family was required to fight for the war. Many of these men had no idea what World War II was even about including my grandfather. But he went and he served, and fought for a country that hated him. He got his revenge somewhat though, he joined the resistance to fight the British about 10 years later. Rest in peace grandpa, I love you always.
Yes we will always remember him! It was actually quite common! Many of the Kenyan freedom fighters that fought for independence against Britain in the 1950s used the very same skills they learned while fighting FOR the British in WW2. The irony is unmatched lol.
The men of the King's African Rifles, the Royal West African Frontier Force, the Northern Rhodesia Regiment and the Rhodesian African Rifles, which were part of the 81st (West Africa) Division, the 82nd (West Africa) Division and the 11th (East Africa) Division were not forgotten by the British officers who led, fought and died with them. Aside from fighting in Ethiopia against the Italians and Madagascar against the Vichy French, Africans fought against the Japanese in Burma. The French used them extensively in the First World War and North Africans (Tunisians, etc) in the Italian campaign. There were white South African and Rhodesian soldiers and units in the North African campaign. The 6 (South African) Armoured Division fought in the Italian campaign from Monte Cassino to the end of the war. The people who forgot them and their sacrifice were the African politicians who came to power on independence, dismissing them as colonial relics.
Interesting, so you would say their contributions were rather not recognised by the African politicians? That is even double tragic, being ignored by the Europeans and being neglected by the Africans.
This channel is extremely underrated. I've watched a few your videos and this is definitely the most enlightening of all channels I've come across to help give perspective on certain aspects of African history. One of my friends who studies in Germany has told me that you should not mess with Germans when it comes to facts and receipts and that seems to hold up here 😂😂.
Thank you so much! Sorry that I took so long to reply. Maybe this "turning around the coin multiple times" as we say comes in handy when doing research :)
Many promises of independence were given to the colonized nations if they agreed to participate in the war, promises that were not kept unfortunately. Became a subscriber since your video about Ben Barka poped into my feed and honestly love your content, hope to see more about asia and south/central America too in the future.
Thank you so much for your kind words! That's exactly my plan, I also wanna shed some light on the Freedom Fights and Forgotten Figures of Asia and Latin and South America 💛
Thanks for this under told overview. In the early years, Eritrea and Ethiopia were being bombed every single day in some fashion. It makes me sad that this seems to be one of the only videos on sub-Saharan Africa's involvement in the war. Studying this aspect of the war by itself could easily be a PhD program, for chrissake. But the world hears nothing but Rommel, Monty, El-Alamein, and Tobruk.
So true, I'm sorry to hear, that this is the only video about this topic. As you say, it deserves much more attention! But sure, all they care for is Military tactics in the West Front, DDay and Stalingrad.
Thank you for your comment! I'm from Germany. I love to deep dive into history that is not covered by the eurocentric perspective. And Africa has a fascinating history, so many courageous and brave people. I think if we in the Western world would include that in our basic knowledge there would be less harmful prejudices.
This is a sadly overlooked subject but overstated here. At no point were African troops "crucial" or "critical", except arguably for both sides in East Africa in 1940, which was a very peripheral campaign anyway. There are detailed military histories of most of the British units in Africa - KAR, RWAFF, NRR, and RAR. The only one not well covered is the Sudan Defence Force, perhaps because Sudan was not a formal part of the British Empire. However, these do not capture the African other ranks' experience, because they were all written by British officers. Were there any African troops at Bir Hakeim? The French force had certainly come via French Central Africa, but it was composed of the French Foreign Legion. It certainly had no African units.
African soldiers were critical in the battles in the jungle of Burma, the British were not cut out for such a terrain, the Africans proved invaluable in that theatre. There have been books written about that.
@@ayyodele No. African troops were useful, not critical. The Burma Campaign was largely carried by the Indian Army, which in 1944-45 always had spare divisions on occupation duties in the Middle East or preparing in southern India for the invasion of Malaya. Most African troops were not native to the jungle. East African KAR manpower and much West African RWAFF manpower came from sahel or bush environments, not jungle environments. Like Indian and British troops, they had to learn to adapt to jungle warfare in theatre. I am all for publicising the role of African troops in WWII, but we should not exaggerate their significance to the war's outcome.
Not sure why you chose to highlight these men. Especially with the knowledge that they fought and died to protect colonialism. Most of them didn’t even return. It should be a cautionary tale.
This was heartfelt, I'm grateful for this video. You used some keywords that perfectly describe what this video meant for me; "lesser-known", "untold" and what I needed to know "spotlight" this part of history
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that 💛
The question not what happened years ago, it's how to not let it happen again.
History Fox...Thank you so much for this audio/video, as this is almost never touched or taught and most people in schools are not even exposed to that Africans actually fought in the Wars, and not just sitting around waiting for their fate and the fate of the world, and most were unfortunately forced fight for and to whomever was their colonizer. You are a great teacher of history, especially that is not covered or acknowledged by the West.
Please do one where some in mainly northern Africa served in Hitlers Wehrmacht that were not German and European. Peace!
Thank you so much 🧡 You always write so nice comments! I highly appreciate that :)
@@historyfox No...Thank You! Your passion and historical details are great I love to listen and see this.🙂😊
Well done Foxy for shedding light on this important historical chapter - just need to figure out where to watch ‘Tirailleurs’ the movie
Thank you 🧡 That's a good point, so far the movie can't be find on the streaming platforms but hopefully soon :)
A great video well researched and condensed into less than 12 minutes.
Thank you so much!
this is great analysis
Thank you!
Very well done video
Thanks :)
They're forgotten because people don't want to remember them really
Many of us remember them. I remember them. RIP Grandpa
In what terms ?
No matter how hard they tried to bury the positive contributions of Africans, other indigenous people and their supporters globally, we have great individuals like our History Fox here who ensures the history comes to light. You're doing such a great job, you should host a podcast if aren't already.
Thank you so much! You're so kind 🧡 It's important to show other perspectives of history, there was/is always so much Western/White-dominance in the narrative, that we forget that 3/4 of the planet are not covered by that, and that's unfair.
Thank you :) No podcast so far, but maybe some more projects in the future, I'll let you know :)
Is it not European history ?
I’m from Nigeria and my great-great grandfather fought in both WWI and WWII😢
What a brave man 🧡
My father served in the Kings African Rifles in Kenya, Somalia, South Africa and Madagascar. He was in the transport section and never saw combat. He told us some interesting stories about the war, one was that once they were ordered up and put on a ship in Mombasa. Nobody knew where they were being taken and after some days they arrived in Madagascar, a strange place for them. I looked this up and what I found was that the Japanese had amassed their forces in Singapore and were poised to carry out their invasion of Madagascar. But the defeat at Midway put their plans to nought. The late president of Uganda, Idi Amin also served in the Kings African Rifles, and later on became a General and Field Marshal (this was a self bestowed rank) in the Uganda Army. We served, all in the name of 'freedom'.
Thank you for your great comment! That's fascinating that your father was in the Kings African Rifles, I bet he has many stories to tell. They defeated the Vichy regime in Madagascar and stopped the advances of the Japanese. Without them the WWII could have taken a different turn.
Another great and important video and nice outfit.
Thank you so much 🧡 I got it in Abidjan :)
@@historyfox Beautiful. Fits you well. 😉
My grandfather was part of the Royal West African Frontier Force from Sierra Leone.
He died in 2002
Thanks for sharing! May your grandpa rest in peace 🧡
Very accurate history just so sad that they don't get recognition they deserve to have
But it is more in the Western issue
Thank you for this video, it means a lot to have some light shed on our ancestors who we know fought and gave their lives but somehow their contribution is never mentioned.
Thank you 🧡Agreed, they fought, suffered and died in wars that weren't theirs and they don't even get any recognition for that.
am from Ghana my grandfather was with the 81st west African divisions ,fought in the kaladan valley during the Burma campaings,he recieved no compensention for his services to the British crown ,he was part of the 28th February Christianborg cross road march with his fellow vertrans but was lucky to survive the shootings in which some of his colleagues lost their lives,unfortunately he passed on in 1956 just a year before Ghana attained independence.all we have of him are his medals 2 of his uniforms and the insignia patch of the 81st west African Division.thank you for shedding light on the contributions and sacrifice of our fathers.
Thank you for your kind words and this amazing comment! Your grandfather was a great man, it was men like him that brought the ideas of liberation from the colonial powers to Africa. I wished he would have received a compensation for risking his life for the British crown. I wish you all the best!
I lost my Grandfather in the war in Burma Camp
Nigerian Forces contribute alot too 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬
Thank you for you comment! For sure they also contributed and they should never be forgotten 🧡
Thanks sister! My GrandDad was a king African rifle. He fought in Burma! He was from British East Africa which is now Kenya. In my grandfather‘s village one man from each family was required to fight for the war. Many of these men had no idea what World War II was even about including my grandfather. But he went and he served, and fought for a country that hated him. He got his revenge somewhat though, he joined the resistance to fight the British about 10 years later. Rest in peace grandpa, I love you always.
Wow, what an amazing story, that should totally be a movie! Your granddad must be happy to be remembered by you 🧡
Yes we will always remember him! It was actually quite common! Many of the Kenyan freedom fighters that fought for independence against Britain in the 1950s used the very same skills they learned while fighting FOR the British in WW2. The irony is unmatched lol.
It's quite disheartening to think these brave men were not acknowledged at the time.
Not only african warriors,the people forget the contribution of the indu army,brazilian army and arab soldiers in the second world war
True, I also just found out about the contributions of Indian and Arab soldiers!
The men of the King's African Rifles, the Royal West African Frontier Force, the Northern Rhodesia Regiment and the Rhodesian African Rifles, which were part of the 81st (West Africa) Division, the 82nd (West Africa) Division and the 11th (East Africa) Division were not forgotten by the British officers who led, fought and died with them. Aside from fighting in Ethiopia against the Italians and Madagascar against the Vichy French, Africans fought against the Japanese in Burma. The French used them extensively in the First World War and North Africans (Tunisians, etc) in the Italian campaign. There were white South African and Rhodesian soldiers and units in the North African campaign. The 6 (South African) Armoured Division fought in the Italian campaign from Monte Cassino to the end of the war. The people who forgot them and their sacrifice were the African politicians who came to power on independence, dismissing them as colonial relics.
Interesting, so you would say their contributions were rather not recognised by the African politicians? That is even double tragic, being ignored by the Europeans and being neglected by the Africans.
This channel is extremely underrated. I've watched a few your videos and this is definitely the most enlightening of all channels I've come across to help give perspective on certain aspects of African history. One of my friends who studies in Germany has told me that you should not mess with Germans when it comes to facts and receipts and that seems to hold up here 😂😂.
Thank you so much! Sorry that I took so long to reply. Maybe this "turning around the coin multiple times" as we say comes in handy when doing research :)
Many promises of independence were given to the colonized nations if they agreed to participate in the war, promises that were not kept unfortunately. Became a subscriber since your video about Ben Barka poped into my feed and honestly love your content, hope to see more about asia and south/central America too in the future.
Thank you so much for your kind words! That's exactly my plan, I also wanna shed some light on the Freedom Fights and Forgotten Figures of Asia and Latin and South America 💛
do you by chance know the soldier called sani akpa who fought in the
world war 2 ? he was my grandpa im trying to locate my lost family
Thanks for this under told overview. In the early years, Eritrea and Ethiopia were being bombed every single day in some fashion. It makes me sad that this seems to be one of the only videos on sub-Saharan Africa's involvement in the war. Studying this aspect of the war by itself could easily be a PhD program, for chrissake. But the world hears nothing but Rommel, Monty, El-Alamein, and Tobruk.
So true, I'm sorry to hear, that this is the only video about this topic. As you say, it deserves much more attention! But sure, all they care for is Military tactics in the West Front, DDay and Stalingrad.
They deny you your dignity.......then your glory
I'm from Eritrea, our main enemies as colonisers were the Italians. Also, are you in Africa? Your interest in our home is very fascinating.
Thank you for your comment! I'm from Germany. I love to deep dive into history that is not covered by the eurocentric perspective. And Africa has a fascinating history, so many courageous and brave people. I think if we in the Western world would include that in our basic knowledge there would be less harmful prejudices.
This is a sadly overlooked subject but overstated here. At no point were African troops "crucial" or "critical", except arguably for both sides in East Africa in 1940, which was a very peripheral campaign anyway.
There are detailed military histories of most of the British units in Africa - KAR, RWAFF, NRR, and RAR. The only one not well covered is the Sudan Defence Force, perhaps because Sudan was not a formal part of the British Empire. However, these do not capture the African other ranks' experience, because they were all written by British officers.
Were there any African troops at Bir Hakeim? The French force had certainly come via French Central Africa, but it was composed of the French Foreign Legion. It certainly had no African units.
Then why it is less recognized during WW II ??
African soldiers were critical in the battles in the jungle of Burma, the British were not cut out for such a terrain, the Africans proved invaluable in that theatre. There have been books written about that.
@@ayyodele No. African troops were useful, not critical. The Burma Campaign was largely carried by the Indian Army, which in 1944-45 always had spare divisions on occupation duties in the Middle East or preparing in southern India for the invasion of Malaya.
Most African troops were not native to the jungle. East African KAR manpower and much West African RWAFF manpower came from sahel or bush environments, not jungle environments. Like Indian and British troops, they had to learn to adapt to jungle warfare in theatre.
I am all for publicising the role of African troops in WWII, but we should not exaggerate their significance to the war's outcome.
@@markaxworthy2508 ua-cam.com/video/ZHkdULvX-W4/v-deo.html
Not sure why you chose to highlight these men. Especially with the knowledge that they fought and died to protect colonialism. Most of them didn’t even return. It should be a cautionary tale.
@@gramma677 Colonial soldiers died liberating southest Asia?
@cheesefoodxii3091 yes. My great grand father was there with his brother.