BY MBONGENI NDLELA
LOBAMBA – Eswatini’s last surviving World War II Veteran Mkhulu Moses Mhhushile Khumalo yesterday received special treatment when government departments celebrated his legendary life.
He is part of the veterans who dedicated lives to fight in World War II in order for the British to allow Swaziland (now Eswatini) to be independent of its colonial in the future. Indeed, the Kingdom of Eswatini gained its Independence on September 6, 1968.
Khumalo, who turned 100 years old this year, was born in 1923 and he was amongst the Eswatini soldiers who were recruited to fight in World War 11.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world’s countries, including all the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
According to www.AfricaBib.org, close to 4,000 Eswatini men were recruited for the war effort, and some of them are a living testimony to the country’s contribution to the Allied war effort. However, government says Mkhulu Khumalo is the only surviving veteran as some have passed on.
Meanwhile, Wikipedia states that Eswatini’s memorial records the names of 53 Swazi soldiers who died after returning to their home country, as well as those of 24 Swazi soldiers who died in Egypt.
Yesterday, a delegation Led by the Deputy Director in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, Department of Social Welfare, Marcelia Neves, celebrated Mkhulu Khumalo’s Century with his family. He received lucrative gifts including a special cake, blankets to name a few.
In fact, Umsizi Ex-Servicemen Remembrance Day will be commemorated today at the UEDF Army Headquarters, in Nokwane.
The Day is a memorial day observed every 11th November since the end of the First World War.
About World War II
Sobhuza II, the King of Eswatini at the time the war broke out, struck a deal with the British government, agreeing to help gather volunteers for the war effort within the country in exchange for the British allowing for greater Swazi autonomy in the future.
A few thousand Swazi men ended up volunteering to fight alongside the Allies. Swazis enlisted into the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps which went on to serve in Egypt and Libya during the Western Desert campaign, part of the larger North Africa campaign, and also participated in the Allied invasion of Italy. One notable Swazi veteran of the war is Mnikwa Dlamini, who later became the Chief of Hhelehhele.[1]
