1,772 Black servicemen who died in WWI were ignored in South Africa. At last they are being honored [View all]

By GERALD IMRAY
Updated 11:17 AM PST, January 22, 2025
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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The names are carved on poles of African hardwood that are set upright as if reaching for the sun. No one knows where the men they represent were buried.

But their names, forgotten for more than a century, have been revived and are now written in the records of history.

Black South African servicemen who died in non-combat roles on the Allied side during World War I and have no known grave have been recognized with a memorial featuring 1,772 names.

An inscription on a granite block at the memorial in Cape Town says: “Your legacies are preserved here.”

https://apnews.com/article/world-war-i-black-servicemen-memorial-south-africa-2631c58400fe236bb5e44aa3342fd707