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The tradition of commemorating sacrifice in war is age-old but in the twentieth century the emphasis changed from celebrating campaigns or victories by commissioning impersonal monuments to erecting memorials which identified the personal sacrifice of those who died, including a roll of their names.
Last week a news item on Isle of Man radio stations referred to the decision to establish such a memorial in Staffordshire to those British service personnel, hitherto unrecorded, who have died on active service since the second world war. The item emphasised that a number of Manx names would be included in the roll call. However, it is also probably fair to say that a great many names will also be recorded of those from other Celtic countries, such as Wales and Scotland, who have lost their lives since 1945.
No one would take issue with the desire of former comrades and the relatives of those who died to venerate their loved ones. However, in respecting the sacrifice of these fallen it surely is not necessary to denigrate the sacrifice of those they fought against.
Many of the actions in which the British armed forces have fought since 1945 were so called 'police actions' in colonies at that time administered by the British. It became part of the propaganda of that colonial period to label those fighting for their independence 'terrorists'.
Indeed, one of the news reports on the Staffordshire memorial issue broadcast last week said that it would "also recognise the many servicemen who have given their lives while on duty and those killed by terrorist action".
One of the first and most ruthless suppressions of a colonial independence movement occurred in Kenya from 1950 - 60 and during that 'police action' a number of military personnel died and will no doubt be commemorated on the new memorial.
It is gratuitously offensive however to refer to those they fought against as terrorists. People like the leader of the Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau), Dedan Kimathi, were at the time labelled as terrorists and he and more than 1000 others ultimately went to the gallows in one of the greatest 'hanging sprees' the British Empire ever indulged in. Kimathi was one of many who fought a liberation struggle to ensure that his countrymen could enjoy a free and democratic future. In his narrative on the period the teacher, Karari Njama, who was one of thousands who fought with the Land Freedom Army, quoting one of his colleagues saying: "the whole of Kenya is full of tears, shed by those who wonder when their freedom will come"
British tourists visiting Kenya today will see a statue commemorating Kimathi's sacrifice in the city centre in Nairobi. There are also roads, schools and parks across the country named after him.
The Kenyan experience is one that was replicated in other parts of Africa and in other former colonies where it took armed struggle to make the British go.
Commemorate the sacrifice of those who die by all means but do not denigrate the commitment and sacrifice of others. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
18/03/07
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