On every Father's Day and Victory over Japan Day, I celebrate it in memory of my great father, Sunday Eke, who was among the battalions of Nigerian soldiers of the Royal West African Frontier Force of the British Empire who fought against the Japanese Imperial Army, which had overrun large parts of Burma (now known as Myanmar in South-East Asia) during the WWII.
More than15,000 African soldiers died fighting for the British in WWII.
In 1939, the RWAFF was transferred from Colonial Office to War Office control. Under the leadership of General George Giffard (GOC West Africa), the RWAFF served as a cadre for the formation of 81st (West Africa) Division and 82nd (West Africa) Division. Both divisions saw service during the Second World War, serving in Italian Somaliland, Abyssinia, and Burma. In 1947, the RWAFF reverted to Colonial Office control. After the war, the RWAFF comprised the Nigeria Regiment (five battalions, stationed at Ibadan, Abeokuta, Enugu, and two in Kaduna, with a field battery of artillery and a field company of engineers), the Gold Coast Regiment, and the Sierra Leone Regiment (including a company in Gambia). When Queen Elizabeth II visited Nigeria in 1956, she gave the Nigeria Regiment the title "Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment".
The RWAFF was finally disbanded in 1960 as the British colonies of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia moved towards independence. The former RWAFF units formed the basis of the new national armies of their respective states.
The popular award winning writer and filmmaker, Biyi Bandele should do the film adaptation of his Burma Boy.
You can read the following:
Remembering Nigeria’s ‘Burma Boys’ – Nsibidi Institute
http://nsibidiinstitute.org/remembering-nigerias-burma-boys/
The Burma Boy | Myanmar | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/08/2011828135228487172.html
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