SA’s inaugural coloured aviator took part in World War I

The Rhodesia Herald reported on August 29, 1913: “First coloured aviator Mr Rushdi Attaullah, the younger son of the late Ahmad Attaoullah Effendi of Cape Town, stands as the first coloured South African to obtain an aviation certificate.

“An English publication notes that ‘he is the first Turk in England to master aviation sufficiently to be recognised as a pilot. Despite his youth, he speaks several languages fluently, with his English being exceptionally proficient. Flights will commence as soon as the airplane is ready.

“Mr Attaullah is, in reality, not a Turk but a South African, born in Kimberley. His father was a South African, and his mother was the eldest sister of Dr Abdurahman. He has returned to Turkey, where he will oversee the first Turkish army aeroplane.”

Undoubtedly, during World War I, strategic interests and imperial considerations significantly influenced British policy in the Middle East. The Ottoman State held control over much of the Middle East for four centuries.

The British initially supported the Arab Revolt led by figures like Lawrence of Arabia. This collaboration aimed to challenge Ottoman control in the Arabian Peninsula and foster Arab nationalist sentiments. In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for establishing a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

Despite the political achievements of the London government, the British Empire suffered setbacks on two major fronts, Gallipoli and Kut’ul Amare, during World War I. Rushdi fought in the Ottoman army against the British in Kut (today Iraq). Meanwhile, the British government ordered the arrest of the Ottoman consul-general Mehmet Remzi Bey in Johannesburg. Remzi Bey died in prison under suspicious circumstances and was buried in Braamfontein cemetery in 1916.

While South African troops garnered recognition for their contributions to the British and Allied war efforts on the Western Front, Rushdi, as a South African Muslim, aligned himself with Türkiye and fought against Britain. In an interview, Rushdi stated: “I participated in World War I as an officer and served in the entourage of Jamal Pasha. I gained attention immediately due to my name, Ümit Burnulu (Capetonian). One day, spy Lawrence got wind that we were going to pass by train, and they opened fire on our train. Jamal Pasha’s aide, my friend Hasan Bey, was wounded next to me. What challenging days ...”

Rushdi also encountered pilot Ahmet Ali, a pioneering Turkish aviator and the world’s first black military pilot. Pilot Ali served during World War I, undertaking reconnaissance and combat missions for the Ottoman State. Interestingly, as a black citizen, Ahmet Ali was treated like other ordinary Turks and became a colonial attaché in the Turkish army.

In contrast, African blacks faced racism in their lands under colonial rule. After the war, Rushdi returned to Johannesburg and succumbed to life as a coloured man in apartheid South Africa in the 1970s. As Ibn Khaldun said, geography is destiny.

* Halim Gençoğlu

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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