A spotlight on pilots of African ancestry who fought in World War I

Francis Akhalbey May 15, 2018
Ahmet Ali Çelikten flew for the Ottoman Empire during WWI. His grandmother was brought to the Ottoman Empire as a slave from Bornu in Nigeria.

The First World War, fought between 1914 and 1918, was one of the largest and deadliest conflicts in history. With major European superpowers together with their allied non-European forces fighting against each other for supremacy, the war left nothing but emotional and physical ravaging damages in its aftermath.

Millions of military personnel, including Africans and those of African ancestry were recruited by those superpowers and their allies to fight in the war. Note that some of these so-called superpowers and their allies had colonies in Africa at that time.

Join Face2Face Africa as we highlight these 5 pilots of African ancestry who fought in the First World War.

Last Edited by:Francis Akhalbey Updated: May 15, 2018

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