Mzee Ssalongo Podcast TRIAL

This podcast episode features 99-year-old war veteran Salomo John Jones, who fought in World War II. He joined the army as a young man, motivated by the desire to see foreign countries and defend freedom. He was trained by the British and traveled to Kenya and Germany. Some of his comrades lost their lives, but the motivation and unity among the soldiers helped them cope. After the war, Salomo returned to Uganda and faced the challenges of rebuilding his life. He was honored with a medal and celebrated his 99th birthday recently. The podcast encourages listeners to appreciate the stories and experiences of previous generations. Welcome to our podcast for this week. As you know, we always bring you the best stories from the past about people who have lived in a world without the internet, without tap water, live streaming, or even online Bibles. This podcast is meant to give you a glimpse of what your great-great-grandfather or great-great-grandmother or how your sweet neighbor lived a few decades back. There's only so much that you can learn from them to make our lives better as well as those of our children. Remember Mrs. Darcy from last week telling us about the significance of telling your kids stories by the fire? Remember how she learned to write and become one of the best fiction writers of our time? Well, today we have Salomo John Jones. He is 99 years old and is a war veteran who fought in the world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. He was taken from Uganda aboard a ship to Germany at the age of 19. More than 70 years later, the memories of fighting for the British colonial government in World War II are still very fresh for Salomo. Welcome Salomo to this podcast. Thank you, Grace. Tell us a bit about yourself. It's been long, but my safe memories still come to my mind. I'm a fighter and I'm one of the heroes. My children call me that. So what was your life like before you joined the army to fight the world? How old were you when you joined the army? You have to know back in those years, most of us didn't even know when we were born. To have that perfect memory to tell you when I was born, that it would be difficult. But what I can remember would be around 19 or 18 years old. Did you volunteer or you were supposed to enter the army that went to the World War II? Back then, most of us, we were, as Africans, we like going out and we weren't always have what we call big dreams. We did, and it's just a saying. We volunteered, of course, but we were selected and we had the news that influenced us and we were eager to do it. So what was that news that influenced you and what was the criteria that was used by the British Army to recruit Ugandan forces? First of all, we joined as I said, the influence. We wanted to go to foreign countries and we also had a love of defending freedom. I must remind you that we were selected by our chief and the communities and the different villages we used to stay, we used to live by them. And then from there, there were different and various criteria, I can't really remember, but we were selected, I can tell you. When you look back at those moments that you were being selected, do you still remember a few people who joined with you at that time and now cross over the veil? I have good memories and bad memories. We were quite a lot, I still have some of the people, I just remember their children and their family members. They have become like part of my life. We had some good times together. Which countries did you travel to under the battalions that you were in and what were your victories and failures? You know, I must tell you that before we were selected, we were not normal soldiers or military and we had to be trained by the British. After that, one thing I have to tell you is that our love of seeing foreign countries and love of freedom and become a fighter, hero one of these days, helped us a lot to take things very seriously and we were trained, I would call it trained people, trained us. We were sent to different countries, some of the African countries. If you can remember which particular place were you sent to and what did you do there? First of all, we were sent in Kenya and from there, some of us got selected and it was amongst them who got selected and they went to Germany. I remember that was Germany. Did you suffer any losses at the hands of your superiors? Did you get anybody harmed? And if yes, how did you cope with any of this? It's hard to say. It's been a long time. Yes, of course, some of us lost lives, not just during the war, but even some medical conditions as far as I can still remember. But what really helped us is that coming together as one spirit and we were so motivated. Did you look at World War II as an opportunity rather than a danger? When you are a young person, as I told you, the influence of going to foreign countries at first, when the chiefs were coming to talk to us and ask us to be recruited during the recruitment, more things were told that made us to believe and have this motivation. Regardless of what was happening on the ground, we couldn't mind it because of this motivation and the things that were told to us. And how was the payment like? Were you paid in cash? Were you not paid? What was it like? We were treated pretty well at that time. I can't say I remember how much normal procedures. What sacrifices did you make in your life as a result of the choice to join the Army? You know, as a young man, I had my family, cattle, and some family responsibilities that I had to take care of. And in our culture, it would help me to secure the future, but leaving all these things behind would mean that the future is not secure. What happened to you after the war? You know that after the war, you had to go back to your country, your hometown, and restart life again. And starting a life again was something hard, and becoming alive was something good and better for them. And since some people lost lives, my family saw me and they couldn't ask how much I made and how much I had. And it was very wonderful to see me back again and still alive. Did you return with any medals, or did you get promoted from ranks and go to other ranks? Did the government of Uganda or the British government reward you in pension or gratuity? We were rewarded honor, the symbol of a medal. Yeah, that's what I can remember. Well, thank you for sharing your story. John Jones, I'm so happy you joined us today. Thank you to my great-granddaughter. That was Salomo John Jones, who, as he mentioned, was awarded the medal by the Kavaka of Uganda, His Royal Highness, Brunel Demoterri. And he just celebrated his 99th birthday last week. He is a war veteran who traveled the world, not for pleasure or fun, not holidays, but on a mission to fight wars, to win and go back home to his family in Uganda. He has lost so much, but he has achieved a lot at the same time. He is a true meaning of regret not. Thank you so much for tuning in. We wouldn't be here without your support. Please subscribe to our weekly podcast to get more family history stories, stories about things that happened in the days past, but have significance for our days. Till next time, I'm your host, who loves you very much, by the way, Grace Ninsima. This podcast is made possible by the production team here at Amazing Grace Studios and my manager, William Kalema. Thank you for having us today. Bye-bye.