Vice President Bawumia taking a salute from one of the veterans
Of the surviving 123 Ghanaian WWII veteransin 2015 only 116 are alive today, DAILY GUIDE has learnt, the numbers having dropped over the years. The survivors last Monday, joined their colleagues across the world to mark the 74th Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Day Service for soldiers who died during the two world wars.
Vice President Bawumia joined serving and ex-service men, members of the diplomatic corps, chiefs and section of Ghanaians to mark the occasion at the Christiansburg War Cemetery at Osu, Accra.
The Remembrance Day, which falls on November 11, each year, is set aside to remember Ghanaian veterans and others who lost their lives in the course of the two infamous world wars.
Remembrance Day is observed in Commonwealth of Nations’ member states since the end of the First World War, to remember the members of their Armed Forces who died in their line of duty.
In 1918, the Armistice which ended World War One became effective at 11am of the November 11, 1918, when the guns fell silent in the Western Front in France and Belgium and four years of hostilities ended. The day was called the Armistice Day. Ghana, then God Coast and being part of the British Empire also sent its sons oversees to fight in this war and some lost their lives.
After World War II, the Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day to remember those who were killed in both World Wars and instituted as a National Day of Remembrance.
At 10:56 hours, there was the Call to Remembrance and the Sounding of the Farewell Call.
This was followed by blowing of the Siren at 1100 hours, the reading of the Bunion Verses, the sounding of the last post, a two minutes silence and the reveille.
Dr Bawumia laid the first wreath on behalf of the government and the people of Ghana.
Mr Iain Walker, British High Commissioner, laid the second wreath for the Commonwealth and Allied Countries while the Russian Ambassador to Ghana who is also the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mr Dimitry Suslove, laid the third wreath on behalf of the Diplomatic Community.
Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa, the Chief of Defence Staff, laid the fourth wreath on behalf of the Ghana Armed Forces and other Security Agencies while Major General C B Yaache Rtd, Chairman of the Veterans Administration of Ghana, laid the fifth wreath on behalf of the veterans of Ghana.
Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, the Paramount Chief of Osu and President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, laid the sixth wreath on behalf of all traditional rulers in Ghana.
Cemetery
The Christiansburg War Cemetery contains 419 remains of Second World War Casualties which is made up of 357 West Africans, 50 British, eight Canadians, two Italians, one Australian and one Polish.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent