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30 May, 5 tweets, 2 min read
OPERATION HIROSHIMA

This was a military operation conducted by the Biafran 4th Commando Brigade in an attempt to recapture Onitsha from the Nigerian 2nd Division. The operation ultimately resulted in failure and ended in the deaths of numerous mercenaries and Biafran soldiers.
In early November 1968 the 4,000 strong Biafran 4th Commando Brigade moved northwards from Umuahia to Nkwelle, less than 10 km outside of Onitsha. On 15 November Colonel Rolf Steiner was ordered to launch an offensive operation coined "Operation Hiroshima". Steiner initially
objected on the grounds that his troops were trained for guerrilla tactics, but was overruled.

The operation was a full frontal attack across an open field. With no aerial support or any natural obstacles to hide behind the attacking Biafran brigade was decimated by Nigerian
machine gun fire and suffered heavy casualties.

The Welsh mercenary Major Taffy Williams ordered a unit of Biafran soldiers under the Belgian mercenary Marc Goossens to attack a Nigerian defensive position but were almost immediately forced to retreat after Goossens was shot
dead. On 29 November the remaining 2,000 soldiers of the Biafran 4th Commando Brigade retreated from Onitsha, leaving Onitsha under complete Nigerian control for the rest of the war.

#BiafraRemembranceDay

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Centre for Memories Profile picture
30 May
We have come to the end of today's event. We hope you have learnt a thing or two about the Biafra War and we immensely appreciate you for staying with us all day.

Daalụ nụ.

To close our event today, here is a gratitude video in honour of all who sent relief aid to Biafra
during the war. We are grateful to them all.

We also remember all who lost their lives during the war. May they Rest In Peace.

Kindly note that you can visit the Centre For Memories to see our ongoing exhibition on
the Biafra War titled “Ọzọemena".

#BiafraRemembranceDay

#CentreForMemories
Read 4 tweets
Centre for Memories Profile picture
30 May
THE BIAFRAN AIRLIFT

The Airlift to Biafra is the second largest airlift in human history. It is known that about 3 million Igbo people died during the war but that number would have been a lot more if not the humanitarian activities of so many groups, organizations and national
governments who sent relief aid to Biafra.

Approximately 30 non-governmental organizations and several governments provided non-military direct and indirect aid through or in support of the Biafran Airlift. Major contributors of such items as food, medicine, transport aircraft,
air and ground crew included:

American Jewish Emergency Effort for Biafran Relief

Canada (financial, food, material, C-130 Hercules aircraft)

Canairrelief (a NGO organized by the Presbyterian Church of Canada and Oxfam Canada. Over 10,000 tons were carried in 674 flights)
Read 8 tweets
Centre for Memories Profile picture
30 May
THE UGA AIRSTRIP

Many people are aware that Biafra had an airstrip in Uli but only a few know that there was another airstrip in Uga, Anambra State.

Uga, the second of the three sites originally selected as a bush airstrip, was hastily developed following the threatened loss of
Uli in September 1968. Like Uli, the airstrip at Uga was converted from a stretch of the main Orlu to Awka road but instead of creating concrete hard-standings, the Biafrans used a form of PSP (a pierced-steel planking system), although local reports at the time described the
material as 'perforated aluminium strip '. (It is very likely that the material used for developing Uga had originally been purchased via the Church Relief Service for use at Uli.

By the end of 1968 the strip was declared operational, but only as a secondary strip to Uli and
Read 6 tweets
Centre for Memories Profile picture
30 May
THE ABAGANA AMBUSH

The Abagana Ambush (March 31, 1968) was an ambush by Biafran guerrilla troops led by Major Jonathan Uchendu that wiped out the Nigerian 2 Division. Of the 6,000 Nigerian troops ambushed, only a very small number survived, including
the 2nd Division's commander, General Murtala Muhammed.

On 31 March 1968, a convoy consisting of 106 vehicles belonging to the Nigerian 2nd Division transporting 6,000 soldiers, as well as armour from Onitsha to Enugu was ambushed and decimated in the town of Abagana by a small
unit of Biafran soldiers led by Major Jonathan Uchendu.

Homemade Ogbunigwe rocket missiles were launched by the Biafrans at a tanker truck carrying gasoline which caused an enormous explosion destroying many of the convoy's armoured vehicles and killing a large number of
Read 4 tweets
Centre for Memories Profile picture
30 May
OPERATION OAU (September 2 – October 15, 1968)

Operation OAU was a move by the Nigerian troops to capture the three towns of Owerri, Aba and Umuahia. It was an intermittent battle that may have resulted in over 25,000 deaths on both sides. Although the Biafran soldiers were
outnumbered, they were able to retain control of Umuahia and eventually recapture the cities of Owerri and Aba.

On September 2, Nigerian artillery began shelling Aba while ground forces began to enter the city under heavy Biafran fire. For twelve days bloody house-to-house
fighting ensued and bodies filled Red Cross hospitals before the final Biafrans surrendered on the 14th September. On the 13th September the Biafran 14th Division came under heavy artillery fire from the Nigerian 16th Brigade under the command of Colonel E.A. Etuk.
Read 10 tweets
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30 May
SOME OPERATIONS DURING THE BIAFRA WAR

OPERATION TIGER CLAW (October 17–19, 1967)

This was a military conflict between Nigerian and Biafran military forces. The battle took place in the major port of Calabar. The Nigerian were led by Benjamin Adekunle while the Biafrans were led
by Maj. Ogbo Oji. The aftermath was a major loss to the Biafrans because it cost the Biafrans one of their largest ports.

In October 1967 a Nigerian Navy armada on a naval campaign left the port of Bonny en route to Calabar. Inside the ships were the heavily armed troops of the
Nigerian 3rd Marine Division under the command of Gen. Benjamin Adekunle. At the time Calabar was defended by the Biafran 9th Battalion under the command of Maj. Ogbo Oji, who was responsible for the defense of Biafra's entire southeast coastline from Opobo to the Cameroon border
Read 6 tweets

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