Today marks the 75th anniversary of the February 28th Crossroads Shooting that claimed the lives of three unarmed veterans, Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Patrick Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey.
Sixty others were wounded on that day.
The officers were shot by a British colonial police superintendent, Major Colin Imray, while protesting peacefully as they marched to the Christiansburg Castle to present a petition to the colonial Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Gerald Creasy, about unpaid end-of-service benefits promised to them after fighting in Burma on behalf of the British during World War II.
It also marks the beginning of a series of events that triggered the liberation struggle, culminating in Ghana becoming the first colonised African country to gain independence.
After the killing of the three veterans, there were riots and boycotts of shops selling European goods. This led to the arrest of the ‘Big Six”: Edward Akufo-Addo, Dr Ako-Adjei, Williams Ofori Atta, J.B. Danquah, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey.
