Remembrance Day at Historic Freetown Memorial

Representatives from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which works to commemorate those who died in the two world wars, marked Remembrance Day this year at the Freetown Memorial in Sierra Leone on November 9.

Richard Hill, CWGC’s Director of Commemorations, laid a wreath in honour of Sierra Leonean soldiers and carriers who served during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War, non-combatant labourers and soldiers from across Africa contributed to war campaigns. The Carrier Corps were the men who enabled the soldiers to fight, transporting supplies and materials across terrain by foot. Conditions were appalling and many died in service, and were not properly commemorated. 

The Freetown Memorial, unveiled in 1931, listed soldiers by name but the Sierra Leone Carrier Corps were only numerically acknowledged, and their names kept in a register. After the Second World War, the memorial was revised to include new names, removing the carrier reference all together. Efforts are now underway to properly commemorate the carriers. 

Some veterans laid wreaths at the Remembrance ceremony

Hill stated, “Over the next several months, we will be working with our partners in Sierra Leone to restore and enhance the memorial, adding a  new contemporary addition – that includes a beam of light –  and records  the names of the fallen Carrier Corps.”

The new monument will form a continued focal point of World War commemoration and in line with the wishes of the city of Freetown, be part of wider societal commemorations for significant days and anniversaries.

The CWGC representatives at the Freetown Memorial – Director of Commemorations, Richard Hill (left) and Director of Marketing and Communications, Liz Percival (right)

CWGC’s local partners include Isatu Smith, Managing Director of West Africa Heritage Consultants, who has supported community consultations, reviewed archive materials with CWGC historians, and is supporting CWGC to help new generations understand the outsized, yet overlooked role carriers from Sierra Leone and across the continent of Africa played. . The commission is also liaising with local officials, including Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of the Freetown City Council, and leaders from the Ministries of Works and Tourism.

This innovative and important work in Sierra Leone is part of a dedicated CWGC commitment to ensure the African and Indian service personnel who served for the then Empire are “remembered equally and in perpetuity”.  

CWGC King Tom Memorial Cemetery 

The new, enhanced memorial is scheduled for completion in 2026, standing as a physical symbol of remembrance and inclusion for Sierra Leone and the Commonwealth.