Major Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage (1903–1993) was a physician, soldier, and the first person of West African heritage to receive a British Army commission.

Early life and family

He was born in 1903 at 15 Buccleugh Place, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, of mixed ancestry to the prominent

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

doctor

Richard Akinwande Savage Richard Akinwande Savage (1874–1935) was a prominent physician, journalist and politician in Lagos, Nigeria during the colonial era. Early years Richard Akinwande Savage was born in 1874, the son of a successful merchant in Lagos descended fr ...

of Sierra Leone Creole descent, who married a Scotswoman, Maggie Bowie. His sister,

Agnes Yewande Savage Agnes Yewande Savage (21 February 1906 – 1964) was a Nigerian medical doctor and the first West African woman to train and qualify in orthodox medicine. Savage was the first West African woman to receive a university degree in medicine, gradua ...

, also played a pioneering role as the first West African woman to qualify as a medical doctor.

Education

Savage studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduated (MB, ChB) in 1926, qualified in 1927, and received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant on 23 September 1940, making him the first West African to be commissioned an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

( Seth Anthony of Ghana, has been incorrectly referenced as the first West African to receive a commission in the British Army). In September 1941, Savage was promoted to the rank of captain. He served as a medical doctor in the Asian Theater of

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 ...

, specifically in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, where he tended to wounded soldiers from Britain's contingent. Among the soldiers that Savage treated in Burma was

Isaac Fadoyebo Isaac Fadoyebo (5 December 1925 – 9 November 2012) was a Nigerian soldier who served in the British Royal West African Frontier Force during Britain's World War II campaign in Asia. Early life Fadoyebo was born on 5 December 1925 in Emure-Il ...

, a wounded Nigerian soldier in the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognitio ...

, who recounted the quality of care that Savage provided to him and other West African soldiers.

Later life

He, like his father, also married a Scottish woman. He retired to Scotland, having found Africa "vexing", and died there in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Richard 1903 births 1993 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Nigerian people of World War II Yoruba military personnel Yoruba physicians Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish people of Sierra Leonean descent 20th-century Nigerian medical doctors Scottish people of Nigerian descent Scottish people of Yoruba descent Scottish military medical officers Nigerian military doctors Medical doctors from Edinburgh Royal Army Medical Corps officers

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Nigerian people of Scottish descent 20th-century Scottish medical doctors