To mark this year's Combatants Day, April 9th will see the unveiling of a monument in Jardim da Fonte, in Vila do Bispo, at a ceremony presided over by the local mayor, Adelino Soares.
The Council is to honour all the military from the municipality who died in 1918, during the First World War, the overseas Colonial War (in 1962, 1966, 1968 and 1969) and the ten Royal Air Force aviators (nine British and one Australian), who died on March 22, 1943, at Praia do Tonel, in Sagres.
The monument also will be a tribute to all the local combatants who served in Guinea, Angola, Mozambique and the former State of India (Goa, Damão and Diu) during the Colonial War (1961-1974).
The ceremony will end with the celebration of a mass at the Vila do Bispo church at noon.
The initiative, organised by the Vila do Bispo Council, has the support of the Association of Former Combatants of the Municipality of Vila do Bispo and the League of Combatants.
Comments
And what if Portugal was fascist? Are peoples not allowed to choose their own
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I would imagine that the overwhelming majority of Portugese citizens did not wish to have a fascist regime ruling them during this time, it was imposed on the people.
And let us not forget that during Britain´s own war in Southern Africa (the Boer War of 1899-1902), Portugal supplied significant help to Britain in the form of transport facilities in Mozambique. British aggression in the Boer War was condemned at the time by nearly every other government in the world, and in spite of the Ultimatum of 1890, Portugal stood by her British ally.
And what if Portugal was fascist? Are peoples not allowed to choose their own styles of government? Must they all conform to the Anglo-Saxon model? That democratic model in UK, in USA and perhaps even in Australia, is at present performing well below par.
And in any case, whichever war they were fighting in, soldiers deserve to be remembered by their home communities. November 11th at the Cenotaph, anyone?
The monument in question commemorates Portuguese troops who died in Flanders as a result of Portugal joining WW1 on the side of the Allies, and at the request of the British. The role of Portuguese troops was that of cannon fodder.
In WW2, Britain was not in a position to protect Portugal, Madeira and the Azores until the US joined on the side of the Allies. Portugal did not join either side as a combatant, much to the relief of its own people, but continued to sell to both sides, to the financial benefit of its government. While the Germans could use Portuguese neutral ports, so too could the Allies of course, and under the rules applied to neutral countries.
Your comment is full of hatred and lies towards Portugal and Portuguese, perhaps talking to someone privately about your feelings would help.