Somalilander’s sorrow at failure to recognise his countrymen’s contribution to Britain’s war effort

Martin Shipton

A leading member of Wales’ Somaliland community has expressed sorrow that his country’s contribution to the Allies’ war effort was not recognised as part of the 80th anniversary commemoration of VE Day.

Eid Ali Ahmed, who has lived in Cardiff for decades and is an adviser to the government of Somaliland in east Africa, said he hoped future events would be more inclusive.

The country, a former British colony, broke away from its neighbour Somalia, an ex-Italian colony, in the early 1990s following a brutal civil war that resulted in the ousting of dictator Siad Barre. While it remains largely unrecognised by the international community, it has gained respect by creating a functioning democracy where defeated candidates accept the verdict of the electorate.

Loyalty

Mr Ahmed told Nation.Cymru: “Somaliland heroes fought during the First and Second World Wars with courage, loyalty and commitment to defend the British Empire, but their stories have unfortunately not been given the recognition they deserve.

“It is a shame and unfortunate that the sacrifices of those Somalilanders who took part in World War Two were not commemorated in the VE Day celebration. Others who fought with the Allies were represented in the ceremony.

“In 1940 the Italian forces attacked and outnumbered the British garrison in the Somaliland protectorate and the British forces were evacuated to Aden In the August of that year.

“The Italians had a significant numerical advantage, with around 91,000 troops, while the British force in Somaliland was much smaller. The British soldiers left the Somaliland people to the victorious Italians and soldiers from Italian Somalia seized their animals, confiscated them or ate them. “After six months the British forces returned to Somaliland and with Somaliland soldiers defeated the troops from Italy and Somalia.

“Unfortunately the British did not recognise or show any gratitude for the contributions of the Somalilanders who died defending the British Empire. Nothing was given to them that matched what those who fought for the French and even the Italians received.”

Somaliland Camel Corps

Mr Ahmed said that In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a statue on the banks of the Thames in London to commemorate the Somaliland Camel Corps, as it was known. A cemetery in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, lists the names of many who fell in both World Wars.

He added: “Every Somalilander must remember the sacrifice his father and grandfathers accomplished. Servicemen from Somaliland fought for the British Empire in World War One in Tanganyika and in World War Two they fought in Somaliland and Burma. In 1982, as seafarers, they fought in the Falklands.”

Those who fought in Burma were led by Captain Richard Darlington of the King’s African Rifles..Admiring the bravery and culture of the Somalilanders in Burma, Darlington decided to settle in Somaliland after the war and switched his career to education.

OBE

He spent most of his working life in Somaliland and started his educational mission as the first headmaster of the Amoud Secondary School, where he stayed some time before he was asked to run the then newly built Sheikh Secondary School, known as the Eton of Somaliland. . He was awarded the MBE in 1956 and the OBE in 1962, and was regarded with enormous affection by many Somalilanders, who gave him the nickname Gacmadheere, denoting one with long hands.

Darlington left Somaliland for Wales in 1971, just two years after the coup d’état staged by Siad Barre, and died in April 2007. His family and some of his former students founded a charity in his name known as the Darlington Gacmadheere Foundation, to give scholarships to disadvantaged young Somalilanders to study in Somaliland universities.

Eid Ali Ahmed was one of Darlington’s pupils.