Munirul-Haq Raza | News Editor
Featured image: While the World Wars mostly reflect the European experience, we must not erase Asia and Africa’s equally honourable contributions | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
World War II (WWII) is often seen through a mostly Western-centred lens, only focusing on the impact it had on Western nations and their citizens. While its origins lie in the aftermath of World War I (WWI), its centering of the European experience is mostly true. However, the problem with this narrative is that while most of these wars may have begun as European conflicts, their impact was felt around the globe—in particular, Africa and Asia—two continents that were heavily colonized by the West. Another factor this framing overlooks is that Japan and China were very much involved in Japan’s waging war in both China and Korea—even WWI included the Ottoman Empire.
Beyond the World Wars, many continents also became heavily impacted by colonization in Europe. Not only were Africa and Asia impacted by these wars, but they also actively participated in them. Many soldiers from these two continents’ colonies gave their lives for their colonial masters—and, even today—are rarely recognized for it.
There are many stories to explore here: from the Gurkha, Free French division formed in Palestine for Operation Exporter, African-American contributions such as Tuskegee airmen, or that Dunkirk had South Asian soldiers. The African contributions and sacrifices in WWII range from West, Central, North, and East Africa. Emir Idris Senussi, a leader of religious order in Libya, wanted independence from a fascist Italy, forming an alliance with the British. Ahmadou Bamba, a pacifist who devoted his life to fight against French colonial rule, inevitably sided with France in WWI. Charles N’Tchoréré was a war hero officer who refused to be treated as just a soldier by the Germans. But they would not acknowledge his rank as an officer, and he was eventually shot and killed.
One particular story that stands out was highlighted by the film Les Indigènes, which was that of the systemic erasure of African soldiers who fought for the liberation of France.
Several soldiers from Africa and Asia fought for liberation from Nazi-Germany, enduring massacres and very little mercy from Nazi soldiers if caught on the battlefield, as well as racism and minor support from the colonists for whom they were fighting for.
“As my colleague Raffael Scheck has shown, the Nazis committed war crimes against many African troops in French uniform, summarily executing approximately 3,000 of them after they had surrendered. They ridiculed the survivors in the staged footage they took for propaganda purposes, depicting a ‘degenerate’ France relying on colonial troops,” says Eric Jennings, a professor of History at U of T.
French General Charles de Gaulle would retreat to colonies from the French Equatorial Africa (FEA) and Cameroon, creating a Free French force to retake France. However, as Jennings points out in his book, Free French Africa in World War II: The African Resistance, the FEA and Cameroon were some of the most underdeveloped in comparison to French West Africa, which had now fallen under the grip of the Vichy government—the odds were stacked against them.
Jennings comments on the conditions that led to France relying on troops from its colonies. “After France collapsed under the Blitzkrieg in June 1940, most of its colonies came under the orbit of the pro-German Vichy regime. Troops from those territories languished in prisoner camps.
“Meanwhile, in the handful of colonies that immediately joined General de Gaulle’s Free French in the summer of 1940 (French Equatorial Africa, Cameroon, the French South Pacific, and tiny French territories in India, such as Pondicherry), new units were raised as early as September 1940, with the goal of fighting the Axis.
“Then, as the war progressed, more colonies fell out of Vichy’s orbit and into Free France’s control, like French West and North Africa. The Free French were then later renamed the Fighting French in 1942. Starting in 1943, troops from those territories joined the Allies under the Fighting French command.”
Speaking on the ethnic makeup of these soldiers, “‘Indigène’ in French means ‘native.’ In WWII, France drew troops from many different overseas territories. French colonial troops were extremely diverse, ranging from French West Africa, Indochina, and the South Pacific, to tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland.
“The ones I study in my latest book are the ones who joined the fight in 1940. Some were black Africans, others were white from the colonies. Some were Pacific Islanders; others Indians. Some were Muslim, especially forces from Chad like the ethnic Saras, and others were Christians from Cameroon, for instance,” says Jennings.
“Young people faced incorporation into a new military machine that extended its tentacles as far as the school system,” he noted in his book.
But not all the troops volunteered. “Some had volunteered to join the fight for ideological or patriotic reasons; others, especially in rural settings, were recruited under dubious circumstances, many of them against their will,” he says.
Troops were not the only contribution from the African colonies to the Free France cause—thousands of Africans were hired in workshops constructed from scratch, in order to perform tasks ranging from making uniforms to converting spoiled wine into medical disinfectant. Though they would perform these under tyrannical labour practices, as Jennings pointed out, many of the goods that came from France were now being made in Free French Africa.
“Africa contributed greatly to the movement’s fortunes, through natural resources, taxes, and a range of other fundraising efforts. Although voluntary in theory, fundraising drives often involved tacit or explicit pressure,” said Jennings in his book.
Jennings noted the purchase of Spitfire aircraft as a notable supplement to the Free French cause from Africa.
One particular example of the labourers’ harsh working conditions was that of African labourers working in Armand Vigoureux’s mines, where they worked without weekends and faced humiliating body searches and a high rate of workplace accidents.
These contributions were made while the soliders faced discrimination, such as not having equal rights, or being allowed cultural associations but not political ones, due to their status as colonial subjects. Cameroon also had a unique status as a mandate territory, which would prevent France from legally recruiting soldiers—however, they found ways around this.
“Colonial troops found themselves on radically different pay scales from European ones. They were also fed an altogether different diet: millet and manioc, most notably, rather than the tinned can meats for white troops. Native troops were subjected to glass ceilings, with non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks being essentially the highest they could hope to attain. Much the same was true in the British army at the time.
“Many were also exposed to everyday racism, a point some of them complained about while underscoring the hypocrisy that this should happen in an army dedicated to fighting Nazism,” says Jennings.
Food and pay inequalities were present; some did not receive their signing bonuses and faced promotion ceilings. In addition, ethnic specialization were also present, and certain groups of Africans were given some civilian-like roles, which meant they were not allowed to carry weapons.
Jennings pointed out African soldiers fought with minimal equipment—in many cases, barefoot—only getting footwear later on. However, the desert environment was quite harsh—thus, footwear did not often last for long.
The FFA fought in many battles. “French colonial troops fought bravely in the short-lived Battle of France in May and June of 1940,” says Jennings.
In Gabon, a short civil war arose after a number of government officials sided with Free France, while other officials, as well some French colonists residing there, sided with the Vichy government. Free French Forces took back control of Gabon from the pro-Vichy French.
The battle of Kufra in Libya where the FFA took a Libyan fortress from Italy put FFA on the map, especially given how under-equipped they were.
Under the surrender terms of the Tag Fort at Kufra, the Italians requested that the fortress only be occupied by Europeans.
From May 26 to June 11, 1942, the battle of Bir Hakeim took place in the Libyan desert. It involved the First Free French Division which included the Bataillons de Marche Two (BM Two), defending their position against the larger Axis, Panzerarmee Afrika. There were also the unsuccessful battles of Gazala in Libya and Dakar in Senegal.
These battles Jenning pointed out in his book put Free French Force and de Gaulle in a stronger negotiating position. “What seems certain is that without Kufra, the Fezzan, and Bir Hakeim, General de Gaulle would have found himself in a far weaker bargaining position during his Algiers negotiations with Giraud.”
During the BM Five, 26 soldiers were redirected into the BM Four, which had fought the Italians in Ethiopia and Eritrea in 1943.
The BM Four, which included 490 African soldiers and 66 African NCO’s, fought both German and Italian forces near Takrouna Djebel in Tunisia.
The Bataillons de Marche Somali (BMS) also included Yemeni Arabs. “Near the Pointe de Grave in April 1945, the FEA and Somali regiment met steadfast German resistance from hardened soldiers with their backs to the sea, obeying Adolf Hitler’s stubborn orders not to surrender. The ‘AEF/Somali’ regiment included the BM 14 and 15, as well as the BMS.”
At the same time in nearby Royan (April 14 to 16), the BM Two from Oubangui-Chari threw 528 African soldiers and 70 African NCOs into battle, alongside both 116 NCOs and 125 soldiers from Europe. This BM was supported by the Bataillon de Marche Antillais Number 5 and by tanks from the Second Division Blindée (DB). Facing them were some 13,000 Germans, ready to fight to the bitter end.
There were tensions between the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and the FEA that Jennings described in his book. The FFI were forces from the French mainland comprised of civilians and formerly French soldiers.
“It was the colonials who led by example, the metropolitan resistance that needed to be reined in. These same colonials implicitly claimed a far deeper commitment to the Gaullist cause. The army from FEA and Cameroon, at war since the battle of Kufra, clearly considered the metropolitan resistance—a latecomer to the stage—to be amateurs at best. An incident occured during Operation Pointe de Grave in which FFI killed Germans who had surrendered,” wrote Jennings.
He noted the incident was not isolated, and similar incidents “led the head of the BMS to deduce: ‘it is desirable that all contact with FFI hoards, like the Blayais unit, be halted as soon as possible, because the tirailleurs cannot understand why they should be prevented from killing prisoners, pilfering corpses, and pillaging homes, when they witness such acts of savagery being committed by the FFI.’”
The liberation of Paris was to be seen as one for whites only by French, British, and American generals.
Though Les Indigènes focused on the more predominantly-Arab North Africa division, the first whitenings happened years before with Black Africans. Though in the case of the liberation of Paris, white soldiers were not enough, so some North African soldiers were recruited.
“There were two waves of so-called ‘whitening.’ These were racist purges of the French army, in which non-white troops were replaced by white ones. The first occurred in the summer of 1943, after French North Africa joined the fray, and General Charles de Gaulle finally emerged triumphant over his competitors in Algiers.
“It was then decided to reduce the number of forces from sub-Saharan Africa and increase the number of troops from North Africa. A second, more famous purge occurred in 1944, prior to the liberation of Paris.
“Documents I have consulted suggest that, while black troops were generally removed from the units entering Paris for its liberation in August 1944 (there were exceptions), North African troops (the supporting unit of the Second DB that liberated Paris was largely North African) were not. Considerable historical debate surrounds both events, but it seems clear that United States pressure played a major role in both of them, especially the second. The United States army at the time was strictly segregated, and the Second DB had been outfitted and equipped by the United States,” says Jennings.
While the all-white liberation may have been due to more American and British influence, de Gaulle himself was considered by many to be racist and feared a Muslim takeover of France if they were allowed to integrate into the larger French society.
There were also some restrictions on the Native troops’ communication with French women.
“Native troops were allowed to communicate with French women, and in fact, many formed relationships with them. However, it is true that their letters tended to be read carefully by the censors, who proved hypersensitive to any hint of subversion or of challenges to the colonial order.
“It is also true that many were sent back to the colonies in 1944 under terrible circumstances, which caused considerable complications—and even revolts—in 1944,” adds Jennings.
Colonial veterans were given unequal pensions that were not adjusted for inflation, as they were for mainland French veterans.
“The pension inequalities were finally redressed in 2006, although far too late for most veterans of the Second World War. Interestingly, there has been more of an impact on African veterans of the French Indochina war (1945-1954), since more of them are still alive today.
“Rumour has it that then-French President Jacques Chirac and his spouse were deeply moved upon seeing the film Les Indigènes, and resolved to undertake the necessary steps to redress the pensions.”
