This Bank Holiday weekend many are celebrating the 75thanniversary of ‘Victory in Europe’ (VE) Day, when the German Army offered a complete and unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces (on 8thMay), ending World War 2 (WW2) in Europe. (The war completely ended in August when Japan surrendered).
With the current pandemic lots of celebrations have been cancelled but nations will still pay tribute to the many millions at home and abroad who gave so much to ensure we can all enjoy the freedom we share today. When one looks at how past VE days have been celebrated you might be forgiven for thinking Europe won World War 2 all by itself!
Just this week, I was sent a Whatsapp message by a friend which read: “Can you investigate. How can we raise the profile of our West African grand fathers who fought and died during the Second World War? I can’t say I have ever heard them been mentioned at any of the war celebrations in the UK”. Her message was very timely as by coincidence I had actually started writing a post for a Facebook page I administer on Sierra Leoneans who volunteered to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) and fight for Britain in WW2. Britain and France called on their Colonies to help fight (and win) the war and this included people from Anglophone and Francophone African countries such as Sierra Leone, Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon etc. Africa helped not just by providing human resources but do you know several African countries raised funds that helped towards the RAF’s purchase of planes? It’s ‘VE Day 75’ yes Africans too must be celebrated! As such I am paying tribute to five Sierra Leonean men who answered Britain’s call to join the RAF and help fight WW2. Just so I am not accused of favouritism to my home country, I will include as the sixth person a Nigerian WW2 hero too – hastening to add he did have Sierra Leonean connections!
Flying Officer Adesanya Kwamina Hyde – (1915 – 1993) served as a pilot navigator on 31 operations including D-Day operations in 1944. When on a bombing mission in August 1944, a German anti-aircraft shell exploded and sent shrapnel through the fuselage and Ade Hyde was wounded on his right shoulder. In spite of being in pain he refused morphine and insisted on staying at his station until they were safely within reach of the English Coast.Only then did he retire to the rest position where he collapsed. Ade Hyde’s injuries put him in hospital for three months, after which he returned to his Squadron to complete his tour. For this ‘act of valour, courage and devotion’ Ade Hyde was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross’.
Flying Officer John (‘Johnny’) Henry Smythe (1915 – 1996) served as a pilot navigator on 27 bombing missions in Germany and Italy. In November 1943 their plane was shot down and he spent 18 months in a German prisoner of war camp until the camp was liberated by the Russians in 1945. He became a barrister and QC after the war. To hear a full interview from one of Johnny Smythe’s sons go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JREzONVLrl8&t=72s
Christopher Sylvester Davies (1916 -1996) was a Flying Officer who fought in Germany for the RAF. Family have recalled that his plane was once shot at but no one was injured. After the war he was given a scholarship and studied Electrical Engineering.
Thomas Sigismund Johnson (1922 – 2012) joined the RAF and trained in radar, radio and top secret coding in Lincoln – where some of the bombing missions took off from. One family member recalls “after Hitler was slaughtering them they started to train more pilots and the old man was about to be put in a plane when the war ended”. T.S Johnson became a Pan-Africanist and Barrister when the war ended.
Remi Ben-Davies – was an officer during WW2 who received a medal from the then Queen (i.e. mother of the present Queen Elizabeth).
Flight Lieutenant Peter John Adeniyi Thomas(1915 -1945) was born in Nigeria. His great-grandfather was a ‘Krio Liberated African’ from Sierra Leone. (I did warn there was a Sierra Leonean connection!) He left Nigeria to enlist with the RAF and in September 1942 became the first Black African to qualify as a pilot and the first to be commissioned as an officer. Between September 1942 and December 1944, Thomas flew with a succession of training units. On 12 January 1945, while on routine exercise, Flight Lieutenant Peter Thomas was killed in a flying accident in bad weather. In anticipation of the war’s end, he had already been admitted as a law student at the Middle Temple. Peter Thomas is buried in Bath Cemetery.
As you can see these men were all heroes of the Second World War and make no mistake there were many more men and women of African heritage who helped win the war. So, as we continue to celebrate VE Day this year and in future we must all celebrate the Africans who helped win Victory in Europe! I am pleased to say that a few years ago I was able to have information on Ade Hyde and John Smythe included in the then newly opened International Bomber Command Centre and museum in Lincoln, where some of their bombing raids had taken off from. We must all do our bit to ensure these men are ‘gone but not forgotten’.
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