British Army embarrassed by looted African relic

The British Army is refusing access to a golden ram’s head looted during a colonial butcher-and-bolt mission in 1874. The Brits stole the head from the Asante people in what is modern-day Ghana.

Ex-BBC journalist turned author Barnaby Phillips has written a book on the topic. But he was refused access to view the stolen head. Writer Barnaby Phillips asked to view the head as part of his research. The British army refused.

The Anglo-Asante war saw British troops set fire to and destroy the Asante capital Kumasi. The Brits returned in 1896 and destroyed it again.

A commander in the war said at the time:

I had shown the power of England.

And a newspaper reported in 1974:

The best trophy is a ram’s head … This is very valuable.

Anglo-Asante war loot dispersed over the years. London’s Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to repatriate pieces it held in 2024.

The army has been less forthcoming with the golden head, which remains hidden away in an officer’s mess in Larkhill, Wiltshire.

British Army — Black boys in loinclothes?!

Phillips told the Guardian he believed:

that the Royal Artillery may be “embarrassed” by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city.

Bizarrely, the army blocked him on “security grounds”.

Phillips said:

It’s an army institution holding the spoils of war, but they say it’s not safe to show it to me. That’s somewhat ironic.

He explained the regimental secretary’s rejection letter was “curt and categorical”:

The regiment was ‘unable to agree’ to my request to see its Asante gold ram’s head, held in the officers’ mess room at their barracks in Larkhill … ‘It has long been our policy, primarily on security grounds, not to allow public access to items held in the regiment’s private collection,’ wrote the secretary. He clarified that it was for insurance reasons.”

Iconic evidence of Asante prowess

Understandably, Ghana wants it artifacts back. Historian and diplomat Ivor Agyeman-Duah told the Guardian:

We are interested in negotiating with the Royal Artillery.

He added:

I hope to go to the officer’s mess when I’m next in England and I shall be writing to them. This piece is iconic evidence of Asante prowess over two centuries.

But there’s more. Barnaby Phillips said the same soldier who stole the ram’s head also pilfered:

 a magnificent silver cross from a church on the controversial 1868 military expedition to Abyssinia.

He added:

Two of the most extraordinary objects that were looted by the British army are in this mess and nobody can see them, except for the regiment’s invited guests.

Phillips also told the Guardian the unnamed director of a major UK museum who had seen the ram’s head told him:

When you see those things, and you realise no one else can see them, and they will never leave this place, it’s like a punch in the stomach.

The army said:

Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases, access to military locations is controlled for security, operational and safety reasons.

They used to say the sun never set on the British empire. But that was because you can’t trust the British in the dark. The UK’s imperial past — and present — is a history of theft. In some cases this involves the looting and spiriting away of artifacts. But these thefts speak to much vaster truth. Resources, territory and people — in the case of the Atlantic slave trade — were all stolen by the British empire. The absolute least the modern British government can do is give what still possesses back to its owners.

Featured image via V&A