( www.EweGhana.Net ) Meet The Forgotten African Hero Who Sank A German Ship With A Milk Tin - EweGhana 🇬🇠During World War II, South Afric...
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| ( www.EweGhana.Net ) Meet The Forgotten African Hero Who Sank A German Ship With A Milk Tin - EweGhana 🇬🇠|
During World War II, South African war hero Job Maseko sank an enemy ship with a makeshift bomb in a milk canister. As a member of the Native South African Army (NMC), Maseko recAdreived a military medal for his " excellent service" , which showed " resourcefulness, determination and utter disregard for personal safety" .
But it turns out that the military medal is " just a consolation prize. " Bill Gillespie, a Somerset County resident, heard the story of Maceco' s bravery from his father. He said Maceco was recommended for the highest military award, the Victoria Cross, but his South African commander was detained.
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The Contention For The Victoria Cross:
Since then, the Gillespie and Maseko family have launched a campaign to obtain a posthumous Victoria Cross for Maseko. Activists believe that the World War II soldier died after being knocked down by a train in 1952 because he was black and did not receive the award.
" I am very proud of what he did, but at the same time, there is pain. If he is a white soldier, we think he will get the [highest] award, " Maseko' s niece Jennifer Nkosi Maaba told the BBC.
Maseko worked as a deliveryman in Springs before volunteering in World War II and joining the South African Native Military Forces (NMC). After completing basic training, he was sent to North Africa to belong to the South African 2nd Infantry Division.
The South African Military History Journal noted that NMC members serve in departments that do not need to issue guns to them.
However, as military cooks, commanders, order soldiers, engineers, and bomb loaders, they were made to carry traditional weapons, such as spears, for security and ceremonial tasks.
Due to the race laws in South Africa at the time, they could not carry guns. Maseko was a stretcher for the North African Allied Forces, where he treated the wounded. However, in June 1942, when his commander surrendered to the Germans in Tobruk, he became a prisoner of war. At Tobruk, he was forced to unload the cargo at the dock. As a former miner, Maseko did something incredible on July 21.
How The Ship Sank:
He used a tank of condensed milk, cordierite, and a long wick to create a bomb. He filled a small vial with gunpowder and placed it near some gasoline drums in the cargo hold of a German ship.
The ship sank after the explosion, as indicated in the official quote attached to his military medal. Gillespie said: " On the night of June 21, 1942, before they left the still overloaded ship, Job planted his homemade bomb deep in the cargo hold.
" He lit the fuse and ran to meet his friends on the dock. There was an all- powerful explosion. The ship sank almost immediately. " Later, Maseko escaped from a POW camp and was promoted to Corporal Pike.
He will receive the Victoria Cross, but according to Neville Lewis, South Africa' s s first official war artist during World War II, Maseko received a military medal because of him. ' Just an African' " . Activists believe this is exactly what happened.
" I hate injustice of any kind. I think this incident needs to be resolved, " Gillespie said. Keith Lumley, the head of the Victoria Cross Trust, keeps the memory of those who won the Victoria Cross. He said that Maseko may not have won the award for other reasons. "
There is no doubt that Job' s act of sabotaging the ship is very dangerous. If he is caught, it may lead to his death, " Lumley quoted the BBC as saying. " However, it seems that it has not yet reached the level of venture capital, because I have not witnessed it.
Although there is no doubt that he did what he did. . . but no one saw him do it. From what I have read, I believe it is a feeling that his military medal is a reflection of his behavior. " The British Ministry of Defence does not seem to " raise" Maseko' s s award.
" We cannot consider retrospective rulings because we cannot confirm the circumstances or the facts between cases that occurred many years ago, " a spokesperson told the BBC. Maseko not only received the Victoria Cross but also became a poor man under the apartheid system in South Africa after the war.
According to the South African Military History Journal, even after he died in 1952, he still buried the borrowed money in the Painesville Town Cemetery in Springs.
However, his legacy still exists, especially in the town of Kwasema in his hometown of Springs, where the main road and an elementary school are named after him. A large mural with his portrait is also to commemorate him.
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