An international exhibition exploring the role North Africans played in the First World War is being organised to mark the Centenary of the conflict.
The exhibition, entitled Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War, 1914 – 1919, will open in 2014 and is scheduled to visit 17 cities in Europe, North America, the Middle East and North Africa before concluding in 2019.
It is being organised by a non-governmental independent Belgian foundation: Forgotten Heroes 14 -19, under the supervision of Dr. Eugene Rogan, Director of The Middle East Centre at Oxford University.
The organisers state that the exhibition will be the “first” to commemorate the men from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia who served with Britain and France on the Western Front.
According to figures from the foundation, over 280,000 Arab and Berber men served in the armed forces, and a similar number served in the labour corps.
As many as 45,000 were killed, and many more were wounded, in some of the bloodiest engagements on the Western Front.
As a result, the exhibition aims to “shed light” on the largely unknown stories of those North Africans who served during the First World both at home and abroad.
To find out more about the exhibition, visit the Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War, 1914 – 1919 website here.
Source: Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War, 1914 – 1919 website
Images courtesy of the Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War, 1914 – 1919 website
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News