Sergeant Berry Gazi was a black

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

who served in the

Native Military Corps The Native Military Corps (NMC) was a South African military unit during World War II. It consisted of Black South African volunteers recruited into the Union Defence Force (UDF). Despite the unit's name, they had no combative role and served as ...

(NMC) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although the racially segregated nature of the South African military notionally prevented black soldiers from serving in combat roles, Gazi participated in the Western Desert campaign as part of the 2nd Infantry Division and was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for rescuing wounded under enemy fire at Bardia,

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on 16 December 1941. He was the first black South African to be awarded this medal.

Action

After the

Battle of Bardia The Battle of Bardia was fought between 3 and 5 January 1941, as part of Operation Compass, the first British military operation of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War. It was the first battle of the war in which an Australian ...

, Axis forces had reoccupied the port in April 1941 during Operation Sonnenblume. Further fighting occurred from 31 December 1941 – 2 January 1942 during which the

2nd South African Division The South African 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of the Union of South Africa during World War II. The division was formed on 23 October 1940 and served in the Western Desert Campaign and was captured (save for one ...

were tasked to re-capture the port of Bardia. The

Durban Light Infantry The Durban Light Infantry is a Motorised Infantry regiment of the South African Army. It lost its status as a Mechanised infantry regiment in 2010 in line with the rationalisation of resources. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equival ...

were to attack the perimeter in the north-west as part of Northforce (Brigade) attack on 16 December 1941. By 3:45pm the battalion attack had been stopped due to heavy machine-gun and artillery fire, but they were instructed to renew the attack again the following morning. The second attack was launched at 11:00 the next morning but was again halted by German 20 mm Flak guns employed in direct fire role on the South Africans, with many wounded laying on the battlefield under ongoing fire from both Axis and South African forces. A volunteer was called for; to go onto the battlefield under a Red-Cross flag and to approach the enemy lines with a letter requesting a temporary truce, to permit both sides to remove their wounded from the battlefield. Berry Gazi, then a corporal, volunteered to go and describes the events as:

''"...I proceeded towards the enemy under very heavy enemy fire, shells were bursting around me and bullets were whining over my head. I cannot say what my feelings were at that moment. I somehow felt an inner urge to go forward and perform my task even though I might have been killed. I managed to reach the enemy without being wounded and delivered the message. I returned safely to our lines."''

Despite him having been wounded in the leg returning from the delivery of the letter, he was instructed to retreat to the rear to the closest field hospital to have his wounds attended to. Gazi showed complete disregard for his personal safety and wellbeing and returned to the battlefield to collect and evacuate wounded. For these actions, he was awarded the

, becoming the first black South African to have been awarded this decoration. Characteristic Features of the 'Liberal Approach of Moral Persuasion' p. A14
/ref> On 1 January 1942, during battles being fought along the Bardia-Tobruk road, Gazi again displayed great courage by taking forward a party to pick up

A-Company wounded. L/Cpl A.G. Girardeau (one of the wounded but who was already deceased) had a grenade with the pin drawn in his hand. As the rescuers tended him, the grenade detonated wounding Gazi and four of the stretcher bearers. Although wounded in four places, Gazi continued working, using a German collapsable boat paddle as a crutch and was only evacuated two days later.

Citation and award

Gazi was cited for the

and it was Gazetted on 3 March 1942.

After the War

Gazi was profiled on the front page of ''

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'' in 1960 in a photograph that depicted him as old and dejected, symbolising the shattered expectations fostered during the short period of racial equality during the Second World War. The caption described Gazi as a "hero of World War II", and declared him to be the first member of the Native Military Corps to have won the Military Medal for bravery during the course of his work as a stretcher-bearer. Ironically, at that time he had been totally forgotten by the country to which he showed allegiance, and was penniless.

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gazi, Berry South African Army personnel South African military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Military Medal Year of birth missing