Why a West Africa Squadron Memorial should be built in Portsmouth

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00:00 Hi, my name's Colin Kemp, I'm chairman of the West Africa Squadron Memorial Fund.

00:06 Behind me is Portsmouth Harbour, home of the Royal Navy.

00:11 And 150 years ago, Portsmouth was home to the West Africa Squadron.

00:16 Now you probably won't have heard of them, or know what they do.

00:19 Let me tell you.

00:21 In 1807, Britain was the first country to abolish slavery,

00:25 and we used the power of the Royal Navy to enforce that ban globally.

00:31 The West Africa Squadron, between 1807 and 1867,

00:35 freed 150,000 Africans who were destined for slavery in North America.

00:42 But it was at a cost.

00:44 The cost of 1,800 lives of British sailors.

00:48 Now there's no memorial to that, nor a memorial to the fact that Britain

00:52 was the first country to abolish slavery.

00:55 So with your help, I'd like to give the Bill Memorial to the West Africa Squadron

00:59 to commemorate both of those events.

01:02 Thanks very much.