Forgotten Heroes - Tribute To The North Africans In The Great War

Online, August 9, 2013 (Newswire.com) - In 2014, the world will commemorate the outbreak of the hostilities of the first world war. Indeed, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist student murdered the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. It was the trigger for a conflict that, during 4 years, would ravage the planet and make more than 9 million dead and about 20 million injured.

Visitors to the Menin Gate in Ypres and surrounding battlefields in Belgium and France are often surprised to find the names of Muslim soldiers who died on the western front. The contributions and sacrifices of soldiers and workers from North Africa to the Great War have not been given the recognition which they are due.

Colonial subjects worked, fought, were captured and died in their thousands between 1914 and 1918. (Approximate 280.000 Algerian ,Moroccan and Tunisian soldiers participated and almost 50.000 lost their live and many more were wounded. The Egyptian people contributed with more than 300.000 workers, thousands of them died .)

Whatever their misgivings about fighting for France, or working for Great Britain they did it with courage and distinction by all accounts and played a decisive role in the ultimate victory over Germany. The commitment of North African troops and colonial workers in the Great War and their sacrifice are indeed very little known to the general public.

To pay tribute to all these nations and their peoples having sacrificed their lives on an unprecedented scale, the Forgotten Heroes 14-19 Foundation (an independent Belgian non-governmental organization), will organize a travelling exhibition which, for five years, will travel the world to highlight these forgotten heroes. For more detailed information visit the dedicated website: www.forgottenheroes.eu.

This exhibition will try to get as close as possible to the reality of daily live experienced by these men. In this regard, the Foundation needs your help. Indeed, she wishes to make an exhibition based on the testimony of the descendants of these soldiers and civilians in North Africa. As Witnesses out of first hand are unfortunately extremely rare, we are looking for children/ grandchildren to share with us the memories that their parents/grand - parents passed over to them . If they want to perpetuate their memory and awareness of their sacrifice, we invite them to contact the Foundation «Forgotten Heroes 14-19» through the following email address: info@forgottenheroes.eu .

Important ! If you have photos, letters or any other document, please share them with us as well !!

If you need more information or an interview, please contact Olivier Mauen or Elsie Van Linthout at + 32 2658 02 70 or via pressandcommunication@forgottenheroes.eu