Jack Campin wrote:-
"Somebody knowledgeable about Francophone African music must know of something from there."

Well, I know quite a lot about the jaliya music of the Manding people of The Gambia, Senegal, Mali and Guinea Bissau and there is no reference to anything in their traditional music about the Second World War that I know of though there are lots of songs and stories about warriors though these tend to be about local conflicts including battles against French colonialists.

There are quite a number of modern composed jali songs calling for peace in Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Liberia, etc. etc (e,g. "Africa" sung by the Gambian kora player and singer, Jali Sherrifo Konteh on his album "Mansalou" - see http://www.compoundsounds.com/) and one of the most popular song in all the jali repertoire is "Kaira" meaning "Peace" in Mandinka.

We have been going to West Africa each year since 1997 and a couple that we met on our very first day in The Gambia - Adam and Pa M'Boge - are now amongst our closest friends out there. Although we have got to know them well, it was only about four years ago whilst we were having a meal in their compound that we found out that both their fathers had fought in World War 2 in the Kings West African Frontier Force and that they had served in Burma. Pa's father had received the Distinguished Service Medal for carrying his wounded (British) officer back to safety under fire. When he showed me that medal, I saw that he also had the Burma Star - as did Adam's father - and that brought us closer together as my father had also fought in Burma and had been awarded the Burma Star.

When we next went out to The Gambia, we were able to meet up at the the Gambian National War Memorial in Fajara. This is beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Commission. The egrets that parade sedately around it seem to fit in well with the mood of the place. We were able to place a wreath from three offspring of Burma Star holders - two Gambians and one Brit. As well as the graves of those who were killed in West Africa, there are plaques listing the names of the many Gambians killed fighting in Burma.

On our visit to The Gambia earlier this year, we also found out the father of the Head Teacher of the school that we support out there, Mrs Yaharr Jallow, had been a recipient of the Burma Star.