Isaac Fadoyebo
Isaac Fadoyebo (5 December 1925 – 9 November 2012) was a
Early life
Fadoyebo was born on 5 December 1925 in Emure-Ile village, Ondo state in south west Nigeria.[1]
In 1942, Fadoyebo voluntarily joined the British Army at the age of 16,
Career
In 1943, Fadoyebo was deployed by the
In December 1944, the British Gurkha brigade liberated the area and found Fadoyebo and Kagbo, both of whom were admitted in the hospital to complete their recovery before returning to their native countries.[1]
After returning to Nigeria, Fadoyebo was encouraged by Michael Crowder (a Nigeria focused historian) to document his war experience in Burma. In the 1980s (about 35–40 years after the war) Fadoyebo typed his war account on a typewriter and was unable to find a publisher for his manuscript.[4] Fadoyebo received his publishing break when in 1989, on the 50th anniversary of the Second World War, the BBC's Africa Service planned a series of programmes seeking first-hand accounts of Africans who participated in the war. Fadoyebo submitted the only copy of his typed manuscript which was received with excitement by the BBC and was the basis for a dramatised BBC documentary titled I remember Burma.[4] Fadoyebo's manuscript was edited by Professor David Killingray and published in 1999 titled: "A stroke of unbelievable luck". Killingray wrote the introduction to the book; a copy of Fadoyebo's book is kept at the Imperial War Museum.[1]
Death
Fadoyebo died on 9 November 2012.[1]
Recognition
In 2011, Barnaby Phillips, a journalist with Al Jazeera, made a documentary about the unsung soldiers who fought for the British Army titled "The Burma Boys" for the Al Jazeera's Correspondent series.[5] The documentary picturing Fadoyebo's extraordinary life won the CINE Golden Eagle Award in 2012.[6]
In 2014, Barnaby Phillips wrote a book titled Another Man's War - The Story of a Burma Boy in Britain's Forgotten African Army which was published by Oneworld Publications.[7][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Isaac Fadoyebo". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ "Another Man's War by Barnaby Phillips, review, 'profoundly moving'". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Isaac Fadoyebo obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ ISBN 9780942615425.
- ^ "The Burma Boy". Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^ "SPRING 2012 CINE GOLDEN EAGLE AWARD RECIPIENTS". CINE (Council on International Nontheatrical Events). Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ^ "Another Man's War The Story of a Burma Boy in Britain's Forgotten African Army". Oneworld Publications. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ISBN 9781780745220.