West Africa Was There, in illustrating the valuable contribution of West African soldiers to the campaigns in South East Asia, highlights a vastly under-represented aspect of West African history. Yet, this acknowledgement of the African effort was not screened to British audiences, and the film’s propaganda was directed specifically at African audiences.

The film attempts to position the Africans within the identity of the British Empire. In doing so, it emphasises the collaborative efforts – the RAF ‘never failed the West Africans throughout the long and arduous campaign’ – and notes that when Mandalay fell to ‘British and Indian forces, West Africans felt it was their victory too’. The film sought to highlight the ongoing interdependency of Britain and Africa, at a moment when the Indian National Congress was pressing hard for independence and when, in part because of the observations of Africans witnessing the political and industrial developments in Asia, independence movements were also becoming more prominent in parts of Africa.

West Africa Was There also illustrates the importance of home to the Africans, from their ‘native’ song ­– ‘when shall I see my native land, I shall never forget my home’ – to the ‘most welcome arrival of all, mail from home’. It thus relates the campaign to the defence of the local home and traditions, as well as to the broader Empire. The film claims authenticity, as the opening titles explains that the commentary was written by a member of the Royal West African Frontier Force, but this is a distinctly British account of the experience, written by a British Captain.

West Africa Was There does highlight the distinct roles assigned to the British and African troops. Initially the Africans assume non-combatant roles, cooking the food and providing ‘head transport’, while one shot depicts three Africans collecting supplies from a parachute drop, directed by a white man with a stick. Yet by the middle of 1944 some Africans had taken on combatant roles and a later shot cuts from a white man looking through binoculars to an African soldier firing a gun. The British figures are largely represented as authority figures, from the man handing out post to the final visit of General Burrows, which the commentary, attempting to highlight the unity of the Empire, asserts was ‘greatly appreciated by all ranks’.

First-hand accounts by Africans often emphasised the discrimination that they felt during the War, in relation to both pay and their treatment. While the film, seeking to emphasise British, Indian and African collaboration, avoids this subject, the commentary does assign specific racial characteristics to the Africans. The Africans were assigned ‘the important job of clearing the Karadung valley’, and later are shown ‘using their machetes with wonderful skill’ to clear the jungle. In explaining the success of the Africans during the Burma campaign, the film ascribes stereotypical, and ultimately denigrating, traits to them. The commentary explains that ‘the Japs had met their masters in jungle warfare’, presenting the Africans as uncivilised and as ‘jungle’ creatures in order to illustrate how their inherently different set of skills helped the more ‘civilised’ British. 

Tom Rice (March 2008)