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Posts Tagged "Military cemetery Dar es Salaam":

The Reconciliation Remembrance Service in Dar Es Salaam

The military cemetery in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

German East Africa

The story of German East Africa in the First World War is essentially the history of the colony’s military commander, General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, who spent the war harrying the forces of the British Empire, tying down with his band of 3,500 Europeans and 12,000 native Askaris and porters, a British/Imperial army 40,000 strong, which was at times commanded by the former Second Boer War commander Jan Smuts.  General von Lettow ended the war as one of Germany’s heroes, and his Schutztruppe was celebrated as the only colonial German force in the First World War not to have been defeated in open combat (although they often retreated when outnumbered). The German light cruiser SMS Königsberg also fought off the coast of East Africa. She was eventually scuttled in the Rufiji delta in 1915, and was subsequently blockaded  by the British. Another and smaller campaign was conducted on the shores of southern Lake Tanganyika over 1914–15. The Treaty of Versailles divided the colony between  Belgium (Ruanda-Urundi), Portugal (part of Mozambique), and the remainder to Britain, which named it Tanganyika.

 The Aftermath of War

So far as I know, the military cemetery in Dar es Salaam is unique, not only  in having German and Allied soldiers buried side by side but in also having a joint Remembrance Day service.

We lived in Dar es Salaam for five years in the 1990s and it was our privilege to attend these services each year. They were quite the most thought-provoking and moving services of their kind I have ever attended. First, there is a strong feeling of exile, of commemorating those that are now permanently ‘part of a foreign field’. Secondly, we are accustomed to these services being held in the northern hemisphere in mid-November, when all colour and life are disappearing from the landscape with the onset of winter. The contrast could not be stronger: November is the hottest part of the year in Tanzania, and we wore cotton dresses and held umbrellas against the sun’s rays as we walked over the lawn made of coarse tropical ‘grass’, tended as well as humanly possibly by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Our namesake, Ally Sykes (whose biography I edited) still plays an important role in the service, I am glad to see.

I am indebted to Mr Stanley Ngobei, who is in charge of  looking after the cemetery, and to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who gave me his telephone number. Mr Ngobei kindly and generously scanned the pages of the 2009 service sheet and emailed them to me. Hooray for the 21st century!

Remembrance Sunday Order of Service

1. THE CALL TO WORSHIP (Father Geoffrey Riddle)
Let us gather together to commemorate and commend to the mercy of our Heavenly Father, the giver of life everlasting, all those who have died in any war for their country and those who suffer from its consequences.

EINLADUNG ZUR GEDENKFEIER (Pater Ralf Weber)
Lasst uns in dieser Gedenkfeier an die denken, die im Krieg ihr Leben liel3en fur ihre Heimat und an alle, die unter den Kriegsfolgen zu leiden haben. Wir befehlen sie der Gnade unseres himmlischen Vaters an, der ewiges Leben gibt,

2. HYMN: GOD IS LOVE: LET HEAVEN ADORE  HIM
God is love: let heaven adore him;
God is love: let earth rejoice;
Let creation sing before him,
And exalt him with one voice.
He who laid the earth’s foundation,
He who spread the heavens above,
He who breathes through all creation,
He is love, eternal love.

God is love, and he enfoldeth
All the world in one embrace;
With unfailing grasp he holdeth
Every child of every race;
And when human hearts are breaking
Under sorrow’s iron rod,
Then they find that selfsame ,aching
Deep within the heart of God.

God is love: and though with blindness
Sin afflicts the souls of men, .
Holds and guides them even then.
Sin and death and hell shall never
O’er us final triumph gain;
God is love, so Love for ever
O’er the universe must reign.

3.      PRAYER OF COMMENDATION

TANZANIAN VETERANS (Mr Ally Sykes)
ban1-4Mungu Mwenyezi, Tunakuomba uwape wote waliotoa uhai kwa ajili ya nchi yao arnani ya milele. Uwafariji walioptata taabu na sikitiko kwa ajili ya vita na mateso ya vita. Lakini sisi utujalie roho ya upatanisho. Tusichoke kutafuta njia zinazoleta amani, umoja na uhusiano mwerna kati ya watu wore. Amin.

UK (Father Geoffrey Riddle)
Almighty God, we ask you to hold in your care all those who gave their lives for their country. Grant them eternal rest. We ask you to sustain all those who, as a result of war, have suffered physically or mentally or have lost loved ones. Grant us, 0 Lord, a mind of reconciliation and give us courage and inspiration to do all in our power to bring about lasting peace and unity among all nations. AMEN.

GERMAN (Pater Ralf Weber)
Allmachtiger Gott, schenke allen, die ihr Leben fur ihre Heimat gegeben haben, Deinen Ewigen Frieden. Sei Trost und Zuversicht fur alle, die unter den Kriegsfolgen gelitten haben und noch leiden. Uns aber schenk den Geist der Versohnung. Lass uns nicht mude werden in der Suche nach einem dauerhaften Frieden und nach Einigkeit unter alien Volkern. AMEN.

4. MUSLIM PRAYER (Sheikh Ali Hadi Mussa SaIum)
MOLA WETU MTUKUFU, MUUMBA W A MBlNGU NA ARDHI ULIYETUUMBA NASI PIA, TUKA WA MAKABILA NA MATAIFA MBALIMBALI KWA UMOJA WETU.
TUMEKUSANYlKA HAPA LEO KUW AOMBEA WENZETU MASHUJAA W ALIOTETEA HAKI ZAO NA HAKI ZA WANADAMU WENGINE KA TlKA DUNIA. EWE MOLA, KILA MMOJA UMLIPE MALIPO YANAYOSTAHIKI NA MEMA Y AKE, NA KULIF ANY A KABURI LAKE KUWA KIW ANJA KA TlKA VIW ANJA VY A PEPENI, NA KAMWE SIO SHIMO KA TlKA MASHIMO Y A MOTON!. NASI PIA UTUBARIKIE UPENDO, UMOJA NA AMANI Y A KWELI NA ENDELEA KUIJAALIA TANZANIA KUW A NI NeHI Y A AMANI NA UTULIVU. OMAR

5. HINDU PRAYER (Mr. Dinesh Vaishnav)

6. SIKH PRAYER (Manjit Singh)

7. THE LAST POST (Army Buglers)

8. TWO MINUTES SILENCE

9. REVEILLE (Army Buglers)

10 LAYING OF WREATHS ON COMMONWEALTH MEMORIAL

11. THE ODE (Diane Corner – British High Commissioner)
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going
down of the sun and in the morning.
ALL RESPOND – We will remember them

12. OUR FATHER (led by Father Geoffrey Riddle)
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. AMEN

VATER UNSER (led by Pater Ralf Weber)
Vater unser im Himmel. Geheiligt werde dein Name. Dein Reich komme. Dein Wille geschehe, wie im Himmel so auf Erden. Unser tagliches Brot gib uns heute, und vergib uns unsere Schuld, wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern. Und fiihre uns nicht in Versuchung, sondern erlose uns von dem Bosen. Denn dein ist das Reich und die Kraft und die Herrlichkeit in  Ewigkeit. AMEN.

CONGREGATION MOVES TO GERMAN WAR MEMORIAL

13. GEBET (German Ambassador)
Gutiger Gott, wir sind hi er versammelt, urn derer zu gedenken, die im Dienst fur ihr Land gestorben sind. Erfulle uns mit soJcher Liebe und Standhaftigkeit, dass wir egoistische und unlautere Motive hinter uns lassen. Lass uns Dir zur Ehre leben und so alien Menschen dienen durch Jesus Christus, unseren Herren. AMEN

14. LAYING OF WREATHS ON GERMAN MEMORIAL

15. GERMAN HYMN “Hilf, Herr meines Lebens”
Hilf, Herr meines Lebens, dass ich nicht vergebens, dass ich
nicht vergebens hier aufErden bin.
Hilf, Herr meiner Tage, dass ich nicht zur Plage, dass ich nicht
zur Plage meinem Nachsten bin.
Hilf, Herr meiner Stun den, dass ich nicht gebunden, dass ich
nicht gebunden an mich selber bin.
Hilf, Herr meiner Seele, dass ich dart nicht fehle, dass ich dart
nicht fehle, wo ich notig bin.
Hilf, Herr meines Lebens, dass ich nicht vergebens, dass ich
nicht vergebens hi er aufErden bin.

16. SCHLUSSSEGEN: FINAL BLESSING

SCHLUSSSEGEN (Pater Ralf Weber)
Jesus Christus, unser Herr und Erloser im Leben wie im Sterben, leite uns und alle, die seine Stimme horen,
God’s eternal loving-kindness
in Eintracht ihm zu folgen:
und der Segen des Allrnachtigen Gottes, des Vaters, des Sohnes
und des Heiligen Geistes, sei mit uns und mit allen, die wir
lieben, jetzt und allezeit. AMEN.

FINAL BLESSING (Father Geoffrey Riddle)
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour in Life and Death, draw us
and all who hear His voice to be one within one fold:
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, be among us, remain with us and all who are dear to
us, this day and for evermore. AMEN.
END

And We Shall Remember Them

 

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