- The ship "Africa" was regularly the connection between Bordeaux and African colonies.
- On January 9, 1920, it left the Quai des Chartrons with 602 passengers, and sank three days later off the coast of New Aquitaine.
- Among the 568 victims included 178 Senegalese soldiers, fallen into oblivion.
On January 12, 1920, the African liner , which departed from Bordeaux on January 9 , was shipwrecked off New Aquitaine. It was the biggest French maritime disaster, since of the 602 passengers, this sinking took 568 people including 178 Senegalese skirmishers, and 20 missionaries from the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.
To "pay tribute to the victims and rehabilitate the sacrifice of the sinking Senegalese riflemen", the Bordeaux association Mémoires & Partages organizes several events. This Thursday at 4 p.m., an interfaith ceremony is held at the quai des Chartrons, where the ocean liner left a century ago today. And an exhibition, The Memorial of the Shipwrecked Tirailleurs, produced by Karfa Sira Diallo - founder and director of the association - is on display until January 16 at the Musée Mer Marine in Bordeaux.
"This is a very late tribute," notes Karfa Sira Diallo, who has been fighting for years to have these victims, who have been forgotten, honored.
Bodies strewn all along the coast
This passenger liner regularly made the journey between France and the former colonies of Africa: it had Dakar, Ivory Coast, Guinea as its destination… "It departs regularly from Bordeaux because at the time it was the first French colonial port, explains Karfa Sira Diallo. It was carrying families, colonial administrators, missionaries ... "This is also why the ceremony on Thursday, brings together an imam, a rabbi, a representative of the archdiocese and pastor.
The reasons for this drama are not yet fully clarified. "We know that the liner, leaving the Garonne, hits a wreck and a waterway is created, it then begins to drift," says Karfa Sira Diallo. The commander of the boat launches alert radio Sunday, January 11 at night, "Send tug of emergency. Fear not being able to hold out until daylight. "
A ship, the Ceylon , comes to its rescue and is said to have started towing it, but a storm finally prevents it from continuing its maneuvers. "And it is at the heart of this storm that Africa will sink. There will be 34 survivors of the 568 passengers, including seven Senegalese soldiers. We recovered bodies strewn all along the coast, towards the Ile de Ré, the Sables d'Olonne… ”
The wreck of the ship was found off Les Sables d'Olonne, where it still lies.
"Quadruple sentence for Senegalese riflemen"
This shipwreck is little known to the French today. "This is partly because it happens two years after the end of World War II, and it must be remembered that this war was an unspeakable butchery with almost ten million victims, analysis Karfa Sira Diallo. We must therefore situate this drama in this political context of the time. There is also the fact that there was a presidential election that year, which was hotly contested. "
And then, "there is the presence of Senegalese riflemen, and this is an additional reason so that this story is not retained" ensures the head of the association Memories & Shares. “This is something extremely embarrassing for French public opinion at the time. Today, there is recognition for the soldiers of the colonies, but in 1920 we are still in a colonial context ... In the end, it's a penalty for these four riflemen they are colonized, requisitioned for war n is not theirs, shipwrecked then forgotten… "
Forgotten, while the history of the sinking of Africa is nothing more or less than the history of the French Titanic …
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