By: Dawda Baldeh
Ebou Janha, 102, who was the only surviving veteran of 1 Gambia Regiment, which fought for the British against Japanese troops in then-Burma during the Second World War died on Friday 1st July 2022.
Janha was born in Bathurst to a jeweler father and he returned from the war in 1946 as a private soldier and he couldn’t depend on the gratuity he received from the British to sustain his family. He lived in Brikama where he established a jewelry shop in the 1950s.
According to Al Jazeera, Janha was among the 1 Gambia Regiment of 1,350 men who were given training in jungle warfare before the Royal Navy put them on boats to war in Burma, (modern-day Myanmar), which had been part of British India in January 1944.
He returned from Burma in 1946 after fighting against the Japanese for two years. Speaking to journalists at the Fajara War Cemetery in 2020 Janha said; “I was not paid much money from the war. It was a small amount that I received which I distributed to my family,” he said.
After returning from the war, Ebou Janha didn’t join the military like many of his colleagues did but instead established his jewelry shop in the early 1950s where he worked to earn a living.
“Many of the people I went with to the war have died but for me I established a jewelry shop and whatever I sell from it I used it for myself and my family,” his daughter Mam Tutti Janha translated the message.
Mr. Janha was the breadwinner of his family until his death. His jewelry shop was tampered by thieves some months ago. At the age of 102, Janha still went to work to earn a living without asking for help from anyone.
According to an article published by Al Jazeera, Janha fought for two years in the jungles and on the hilltops of Burma.
