Prince Charles Visits National Military Cemetery Abuja

Prince Charles visits National Military Cemetery Abuja

..Lays wreath to honour Nigerian World War heroes

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA – PRINCE Charles, Thursday morning, visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,at the National Military Cemetery,Abuja, where he laid wreath to honour servicemen of Nigeria who died in the First and Second World Wars.

The wreath laying was in honoured memory of the soldiers, sailors and carriers of Nigeria who gave their lives in the World War I and World War II.

The laying of wreath by the Prince of Wales,was part of activities lined up for him during his three-day stay in Nigeria.

He performed the wreath laying alongside the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali during the occasion attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin,the Service Chiefs and some traditional rulers as well as two World Wars veterans.

Almost 1,000 Nigerian service men deployed in the British Force at the First World War that spanned between 1914 and 1918 lost their lives just as 1,100 died in the Second World War that took place from 1939 to 1945.

Prince Charles, however,did not make any remark at the solemn occasion, neither was the Minister of Defence.

Recall that soldiers, artillerymen,and engineers of the Nigeria Regiment served in the West African Frontier Force between 1914 and 1918. They took part in the British and French invasion of German Kamerun (now Cameroon) in August 1914 and fought in the German East Africa (now Tanzania) from mid-1916 to February 1918.

The Nigeria Carrier Corps included porters, dockyard workers and labourers who supported the military personnel