71st anniversary of Christiansborg Castle cross-road shooting observed in Accra 

The 71st anniversary of the 28th February 1948 Christianborg Castle crossroad shooting incident was held in Accra yesterday with wreaths laying and flag-raising ceremony.

 Three Ghanaian ex-servicemen lost their lives during the shooting incident with the British Superintendent, Imray.

Mr Imray fired at the ex-servicemen, killing Sergeant Adjetey, Cpl Attipoe and Pte. Odartey Lamptey.

There were five wreaths laid in honour of the departed soldiers during the ceremony, with Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia laying the first one on behalf of Government and Ghanaians.

The ex-servicemen had visited the castle to present a petition to the British Governor and Commander-In-Chief of the Gold Coast Regiment, Sir Gerald Creasy, over their gratuities after the Second World War.

There was a roll call of the veteran soldiers and the departed ones at the ceremony held at the Nationalism Park in Accra on February 28.

“May the souls of all departed veterans rest in perfect peace, Amen,” was the prayer from the Veteran Administration of Ghana, after which the flag raising took place under a calm atmosphere.

Veteran soldiers marched to the venue, as they paid homage to their departed colleagues at the solemn ceremony.

Families and friends of the departed soldiers, government officials, military and police officers, rose to their feet as the flag was raised and remained standing to observe a minute’s silence.

Members of Sgt. Adjetey’s family arrived at the event attired in red and black garments, in remembrance of their departed relative.

A special place was allocated for them to sit and upon arrival, the Vice President exchanged pleasantries with them.

The 28th February Christiansborg Crossroads Shooting Incident is celebrated every year to honour the defenseless ex-servicemen.

It would be recalled that during the Second World War, there were soldiers from the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Forces who fought alongside the allied forces.

There was a reported increased agitation by anti-colonial movements at the end of the war, for independence for the colonies in South East and Africa.

The veterans who had fought were reportedly demobilised at the war and paid a pittance by way of war gratuity of about one shilling a day.

It is said that it was the thinking of the ex-servicemen that the British Government at the time who ruled the Gold Coast would in appreciation of their sacrifices, pay gratuities in the “right” proportion to those sacrifices.

The soldiers accordingly made several appeals to the authorities and those fell on deaf ears.

After a period of waiting for reasonable war benefits to be paid, which were not forthcoming, the ex-servicemen decided that a direct approach should be made to the British Government Commander-In-Chief of the Gold Coast Regiment, Sir Gerald Creasy.

On Saturday, 28th February, 1948, before noon, a number of unarmed ex-servicemen were on a march from Accra to the Christiansborg Castle to present a petition to the Governor and Commander-In-Chief when they were intercepted at the Christiansborg Crossroads by a contingent of armed policemen led by a British Superintendent, Imray who ordered the ex-servicemen to disperse.

When the Superintendent’s orders were disobeyed, he reportedly gave the order to the police to open fire.

But when his second order was not complied with, Mr Imray fired at the ex-servicemen, killing Sergeant Adjetey, Cpl. Attipoe and Pte. Odartey Lamptey.