John Amadu Bangura
| John Amadu Bangura | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
8 March 1930 Kalangba, Bombali District, Sierra Leone |
| Died | 29 March 1970 (aged 40) Freetown, Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone |
| Nationality | Sierra Leonean |
| Political party | None |
| Residence | Freetown, Sierra Leone |
| Occupation | Soldier, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces from 1968 to 1970 |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (C.B.E.) |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
Brigadier John Amadu Bangura, CBE (8 March 1930 – 29 March 1970) was the acting Governor-General of Sierra Leone from 18 April 1968 until 22 April 1968. He led the Sergeants' Coup in 1968 that successfully re-instated civilian rule in Sierra Leone.
Brigadier John Amadu Bangura was born at Kalangba, Karene Chiefdom, Bombali District on Tuesday 8 March 1930. He was educated at Binkolo and Rogbaneh American Wesleyan Mission Schools, and Koyeima and Bo Government Secondary Schools.
He left school in 1949 and joined the Army in 1950 as an ordinary soldier. While in the other ranks he served and attended courses in both Ghana and Nigeria. In one such course, the Platoon Commanders' course in Burma Camp, Teshie, Ghana, he graduated first in a group of sixteen Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers.
The impressive qualities of leadership manifested in his keen sense of duty, intelligence, and fitness recommended him to face the Special Selection Board at which the late General Sir Lashmer Whistler, C.M.G., D.S.O., O.B.E., M.C., then Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal West African Frontier Force was chairman.
His performance at Teshie Camp necessitated his transfer to Eaton Hall, Mons Officer Cadet School in 1952. At Mons Officers' Cadet School he was recommended by British Army authorities to go to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He graduated at Sandhurst in August 1954 with the rank of Second Lieutenant.
After a successful Young Officers' Course at Hythe and Warminster he was posted on secondment to the British Army on the Rhine in Germany. While on secondment he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He returned to Sierra Leone in 1955 and was appointed Commander or a Rifle Company's Platoon in the First Battalion, Royal Sierra Leone Regiment.
In 1958 he was promoted to the rank of Captain. In 1962 he served with the First Sierra Leone Contingent on the Congo Operations of the United Nations Organization (U.N.O.C.). On his return home that year he was promoted to the rank of Major.
Brigadier John Amadu Bangura became Commander of the First Battalion Royal Sierra Leone Regiment in 1964 when he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. These promotions were preceded or followed by several successful courses in various Military Centers in the United Kingdom. One such course was the All Arms Division Course for substantive Majors in the British Army. In 1966 he was posted to attend the Joint Services Staff College (J.S.S.C.) in Latimer, Buckinghamshire.
He was a fellow of the College. In the same year he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
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