Bannière

[ Inscrivez-vous ]

Newsletter, Alertes

South Africa pays tribute to World War I victims

Imprimer PDF

Cape Town, South Africa, February 22  (Infosplusgabon) -  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to the victims of the SS Mendi, which sank in the English Channel exactly 100 years ago.

 

The British passenger steamship was carrying a mostly black South African crew when it collided with a Royal Mail cargo ship off the Isle of Wight in the early hours of 21 February, 1917.

 

Mendi had sailed from Cape Town carrying 823 men of the 5th Battalion the South African Native Labour Corps to serve in France. She subsequently anchored in Lagos, Nigeria, where a naval gun was mounted on her stern.

 

She next called at Plymouth and then headed up the English Channel toward Le Havre in northern France. She was being escorted by the Acorn-class destroyer HMS Brisk when the collision occurred.

 

At least 646 people, mostly South African troops died. The sinking was a major loss of life for the South African military, and was one of the 20th century's worst maritime disasters in UK waters.

 

Ramaphosa said the South African soldiers paid the “ultimate price” to defend freedom‚ peace and justice.

 

“It is a day that reminds us that blood was spilled by countless South Africans and freedom fighters to guarantee us our freedom and human rights‚” Ramaphosa said.

 

He added that it is also "a reminder that brave men and women continue to put their lives on the line to secure our hard-won freedoms and defend our Constitution".

 

 

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/EFG/GABON 2018

 

 

© Copyright Infosplusgabon

Qui est en ligne!

Nous avons 3925 invités en ligne

Publicité

Liaisons Représentées:
Bannière
Bannière

Newsflash