| Week
starting Saturday 7 May |
|
| Date |
Year |
Event |
|
| 7 |
1943 |
World War II: Operation STRIKE
Bizerte and Tunis are captured. All that remains of the German force is
General Gustav von Vaerst's 5th Panzer Army on the Cape Bon peninsula. |
| 7 |
1965 |
Rhodesia's white electorate have abandoned their
traditional party loyalty and voted overwhelmingly for Ian Smith's
Rhodesian Front Party. |
|
|
For more on 7 May |
|
| 8 |
1925 |
Afrikaans becomes the official language of the Union of
South Africa following the introduction and passing of a bill by its
government. |
| 8 |
1953 |
Following the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and over a
thousand Mau Mau suspects last month, the Mau
Mau carry out their biggest raid to date on a fortified police camp. |
|
|
For more on 8 May |
|
| 9 |
1904 |
Death of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, illegitimate son of a
Welsh Butcher's daughter. Famous for his 1,500 mile safari into Central
Africa in 1871 to find Dr Livingstone. |
| 9 |
1936 |
Five days after Italy captured the Ethiopian capital of
Addis Ababa, Mussolini announces that Abyssinian is now part of the Italian
Empire. |
|
|
For more on 9 May |
|
| 10 |
1950 |
Life magazine is banned in Egypt after publishing an
unflattering article about King Farouk. |
| 10 |
1994 |
South African president Nelson Mandela is sworn in to
office. |
|
|
For more on 10 May |
|
| 11 |
1909 |
A draft constitution for a unified South Africa is
agreed by national convention in Bloemfontein. |
| 11 |
1953 |
Britain threatens to use force against Egypt over Suez
Canal dispute. |
|
|
For more on 11 May |
|
| 12 |
1903 |
After successful military operations in Sokoto and Kano
Britain adds 260,000 km2 to its Nigerian territory. |
| 12 |
1943 |
World War II: Arnim surrenders
At 11:15 am Giovanni Messe, promoted to Field Marshal of the Italian First
Army, is authorised to capitulate by Mussolini: "As the aims of
your resistance can be considered achieved, your Excellency is free to
accept an honourable surrender." Meanwhile at Ste. Marie-du-Zit,
Generaloberst Hanz-Jürgen von Arnim and his command, camped with the
remains of the Afrika Korps, surrender to the British. Arnim, however, will
not disobey Hitler's orders and instruct the rest of the German army in
North Africa to surrender. |
|
|
For more on 12 May |
|
| 13 |
1901 |
Boer War
The British prime minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, states that
Britain's successes in the South African campaign is proof of her "formidable
military strength." |
| 13 |
1943 |
World War II: Axis defeated in North Africa
At 2:15 pm the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, receives the
following news from Allied C-in-C General Harold Alexander in North Africa:
"Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over.
All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African
shores." |
|
|
For more on 13 May |
|
