WHEN the whiteman’s Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939 blacks in the then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) did not at all expect to be involved in it in any way at all.
Little did they realise that they would suffer greatly under that murderous conflict.
It is the aim of this article to revisit the great suffering that Africans in this country endured due to the coming of the European Second World War to Zimbabwe.
One David Johnson helps us relive that very sad story.
On September 3 1939 the British declared war on the Germans as the white Second World War broke out.
A short time later, the Rhodesian colonial regime followed suit.
And with that blacks in this country were brought into a war they had no good reason whatsoever to participate in.
And it turned out to be a terrible experience for them.
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) as a self-governing territory was expected to support itself materially as far as the war was concerned and as there was no material support that came from Britain.
Alas!
Blacks were expected to contribute heavily towards the British war effort.
First, Africans were told that their duty was not to take part in fighting the war itself, but produce goods and services meant to help the successful prosecution of the war by white Rhodesians and their British masters.
No wonder the then British governor in the country Herbert Stanley asked blacks to, ‘work harder than usual’ and said “The King (British) had asked Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) to help him not only by sending white men to fight, but also by producing as much food and tobacco as possible and so much as possible of the gold and coal and chrome and asbestos and all the other metals which are found in our mines.”
The above announcement resulted in Africans being forced to work from dawn to dusk producing for the war effort.
Forced labour came into being and blacks were driven like cattle to go and work for the whiteman.
However, as the war intensified the colonial authorities decided that forced labour on its own was not providing all the goods and money required to finance the war.
And so organised state robbery called ‘donations’ from Africans came into place.
These ‘donations’ were expected to be in cash or kind.
Africans in urban areas were forced to establish organisations to collect cash towards the war effort.
For example, “On October 5 1939, before a capacity audience at the beerhall in Bulawayo, the Bulawayo Bantu National Emergency Fund was launched.”
“The committee which ran the fund was made up of Africans in the townships who got money from all over the locations.
“By November 1939 a total of £1 167.00 (a lot of money then) had been raised.”
This money was then channelled to what was called the National War Fund.
The rural Africans were not spared.
They suffered even worse.
Under an evil practice called ‘Maguramuswe’ they were forced to ‘donate’herds upon herds of cattle to help the war effort.
The Rhodesian War Fund through the robbery of African cattle and money by the colonial state received so much money that the colonial regime decided to go one step further to buy fighter aircraft through the looting of African cattle and money!
In 1943 funds to buy spitfire aircraft called ‘spitfire funds’ were launched.
In the end, two spitfires were bought which were then used to fight the Germans.
As the war became harder for the British, it was finally decided that black men were needed to go to the war front and fight alongside the whitemen.
Blacks were not interested in a war they had no good reason to fight in.
To page 11
But that did not stop the colonial regime from recruiting Africans.
“Ten months into the war – – the government agreed to the formation of an African regiment, which became known as the Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR).
“Major T.F. Wane a native commissioner and veteran of the First World War was placed in charge of the Rhodesian African Rifles which established a recruiting and training camp in Salisbury (Harare).”
All kinds of dirty propaganda were used to lure the Africans to join the army. For example, the Africans were told that the British were, “far superior than the Germans and that everyday Hitler’s forces suffered heavy losses”.
But Africans were not persuaded by this propaganda.
Then another dirty piece of propaganda was invented.
African men were gathered and told that whoever did not volunteer was a woman!
In the end, the colonial regime used conscription using chiefs as their chief recruiting agents.
And so many young Africans left their villages crying and kicking to go and fight the whiteman’s war.
In the Rhodesian army, blacks found that the conditions there were pretty bad.
White soldiers were paid many times more than them.
To make matters worse the Africans found out that they earned far less in the army than what they used to earn when they were civilians.
This is what one of the affected African soldiers said complaining about this new condition.
“Before entering the Rhodesian African Rifles I was able to support my family and my deceased father’s family.
“However, I am now not in a position to meet my expenditure on my present rate of pay.
“I must point out that I have had to sell eight head of cattle to keep my family.”
Shame .
And when the African soldiers got to the frontline, they were mostly sent to Burma to fight the deadly Japanese.
There they were used as cannon fodder as one of the commanders of the Rhodesian African Rifles tells us that, “They were undoubtedly cheap and easier to supply than many other races.”
Yes many blacks were sacrificed by the white racists in the Second World War.
When the war came to an end, white soldiers were treated like returning heroes while the black soldiers were treated like freed slaves.
“The benefit offered to African ex-servicemen compared poorly with those of European ex-servicemen.
“In 1943, £1 million was allocated by the government as the first instalment of the rehabilitation of white ex-service men.
“Under a land settlement scheme, returned soldiers with an interest in farming were offered free grants of land in some of the most fertile areas of the country and training by experienced farmers.
“Loans to be repaid over 25 years at the generous interest rate of 3,5 percent per annum were advanced to these budding white farmers who were exempted from interest charges for the first five years.
“In certain instances the state undertook the development work on the farms before handing them over to the white ex-servicemen.
“Where this was not possible a free grant was made available.
“In addition to the main loans short-term loans were made available for seasonal productions, livestock, irrigation, and drought relief.”
What about the black veteran?
Disaster !
“One of these black veterans was treated with extreme rudeness at a police station in Salisbury.
“Annoyed he complained that as someone who had risked his life in the last war he deserved a little courtesy.
“For this kind of ‘cheek’ he was taken to a private room and given a severe beating.
“He was told you are a native and always will be don’t ever forget that when you talk to a white man!”
Yes black ex-service men were rewarded with beatings and watches!
The Second World War was a real disaster for blacks in Zimbabwe!