African voices from two world wars

Hundreds of thousands of African soldiers and labourers served in colonial armies during the two World Wars. Most were non‐literate and there are relatively few first‐hand records of their experiences. Using oral evidence, soldiers’ letters and official reports, this article allows the African voice to describe the role of individual men as they enlisted, or were conscripted; the period of initial training; the encounter with new forms of clothing, food and the artefacts of the modern world; travel overseas by ship to the war theatre; the face of battle; leave in foreign cities; and the stresses of long absence from wives and families. A final section looks at the process of demobilization and home‐coming and places in perspective the involvement of ex‐servicemen in nationalist politics after 1945.