During World War II, there was a special force from Africa on the battlefield in Myanmar. Its outstanding performance won widespread praise, but their deeds were little known for various reasons.

  With the collapse of the power of the North African battlefield Axis powers in 1942, Britain freed up more African troops to invest in other theaters. The British military attaches particular importance to the ability of West African troops to adapt to tropical jungle warfare, so it sent them to the Asian Myanmar battlefield to fight against Japan.

  African soldiers fighting against Japanese troops in Myanmar

  The African troops heading to the Asian battlefield consisted of the 81st and 82nd Infantry Divisions of West Africa and the 11th Infantry Division of East Africa, which were formed in 1943, and were all affiliated with the 14th British Army. West African soldiers mainly come from Nigeria, the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Sierra Leone and the Gambia; East African soldiers come from Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Niyasalan (now known as Malawi). Since 1943, African troops have been transferred to India one after another.

  In early 1944, West African troops formed a combat formation in the Galadan Valley on the Indian-Myanmar border. From then until the end of the Myanmar Battle in 1945, the troops fought against the Japanese army as frontline troops and participated in combat operations throughout the coastal areas of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Alakan). According to the deployment, the tasks of African troops include deep into enemy rears, flanking propulsion and mountain combat. African troops participated in the Battle of Kohima and Impal in 1944, two key battles in the Battle of Myanmar, and were seen as the turning point for the Allied forces to fight against the Japanese in Southeast Asia during World War II. In Myanmar, the Japanese army commented, "The enemy soldiers are not British, but Africans... Even if their commanders fall, they will move forward bravely", "African soldiers are fearless in hand-to-hand combat."

  In addition to fighting on the frontline of Myanmar battlefield and becoming a vital force in the fight against the Japanese army, the African troops are another important role of "pioneer". Due to terrain reasons, it is difficult to use motor vehicles on the Myanmar battlefield, most of the supplies need to be transported by mules and unstable airdrops to frontline positions, and frequent crossing of rivers in tropical jungles, and the required ships must be transported by soldiers themselves. African soldiers rely on their tenacious spirit to open up a jeep lane leading to the banks of the Galadan River. During these operations, the mobility of the 81st Division in West Africa was fully demonstrated. They had traveled 120 kilometers of dense jungle deep into the rear of the Japanese army in six weeks. Historical records record the scene of soldiers of the 81st Division of West Africa chasing the Japanese army in 1944: soldiers carried assault boats in the dark forest, and four people worked together to carry the cross-border roads, and the roads were tortuous, rising and falling sharply, and even the direction could not be distinguished. Even the British soldiers who were not carrying the weight felt difficult to travel, but the African soldiers completed the task with amazing perseverance. Such a surprise attack cut off the supply line of the Japanese army and laid the foundation for the victory of the Battle of Impal.

  According to historical statistics, about 100,000 African soldiers from the British army participated in the Battle of Myanmar. However, African soldiers were not treated equally for fighting side by side with the British. After the war, due to tight shipping, European troops were given priority care and evacuation, which caused a large number of British African troops to stay in a foreign land. It was not until early 1947 that the last batch of African soldiers returned to China. (The author of this article is Gao Tianyi, assistant researcher at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

[Editor in charge: Wang Jinzhi]