As Congo descended into chaos immediately after its independence from Belgium in 1960, Ghana’s first involvement in peacekeeping was a traumatic but important experience for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), according to retired General Emmanuel A. Erskine, who held senior command positions with UN peacekeeping missions in Sinai and South Lebanon between 1974 and 1986. Peacekeeping duties enhanced the GAF’s professional expertise and gave soldiers an improved standard of living.


Although he did not see action in Congo himself, Erskine recalls being envious of fellow officers who were posted there. The Ghanaian battalion attached to the UN force served from 15 July 1960 to 25 September 1963. When a shortage of troops forced the UN to look for new contributing countries in 1973, Erskine as Chief of Defence Staff was more than happy to accept on behalf of the GAF, as he recalls in his memoirs (‘Mission with UNIFIL’, St Martin’s Press, New York, 1989). The first troops to serve in the Middle East were sent there in January 1974.


“Ghana’s performance in ‘Op[eration] Sunrise’, especially with UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) in South Lebanon where I kept an eagle eye on the troops, was commendable. Like other units they had their ups and downs, but on the whole, taking the entire difficult and confusing situation of Lebanon into consideration, they did well. Part of their good performance could be attributed to the financial incentives from UN headquarters, through the government,” Lieutenant-General Erskine wrote.


“‘Op Sunrise’ undoubtedly helped to improve the living standards of our troops. For once they could afford freezers, cookers, hi-fi systems, television sets and all sorts of household items normally too expensive for them. A corn-milling machine – known to the Ghanaian troops as a ‘knicker-knicker’ – became the status symbol for all troops on ‘Op Sunrise’. Almost every soldier bought one, either to use commercially himself or to sell.”

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