Thousands of African troops fought bravely in World War I and World War II, as well as in France's colonial wars, but many remain unaware of their sacrifice. There are just 39 Senegalese tirailleurs, or sharpshooters, alive today. They only gained French nationality in 2016, which gave them the right to a state pension, but to qualify they had to live in France for six months of the year. Now, the government has finally let them receive their pension and return home. FRANCE 24 spoke to three former Senegalese sharpshooters.

Thousands of African troops fought bravely in World War I and World War II, as well as in France's colonial wars, but many remain unaware of their sacrifice. There are just 39 Senegalese tirailleurs, or sharpshooters, alive today. They only gained French nationality in 2016, which gave them the right to a state pension, but to qualify they had to live in France for six months of the year. Now, the government has finally let them receive their pension and return home. FRANCE 24 spoke to three former Senegalese sharpshooters.

Thousands of African&nbsp;troops fought bravely in&nbsp;World War I and World War II, as well as in France's colonial wars, but many remain unaware of their sacrifice. There are just&nbsp;39 Senegalese tirailleurs, or sharpshooters, alive today.&nbsp;They only gained French nationality in 2016, which gave them the right to a state pension, but to qualify they had to live in France for six months of the year.&nbsp;Now, the government has finally let them receive their pension and return home.&nbsp;FRANCE 24 spoke to&nbsp;three former Senegalese sharpshooters.

African soldiers: France's forgotten war heroes finally given full pension rights

<p>Our Focus programme brings you exclusive reports from around the world. Every day at 8:45am Paris time.</p>

Our Focus programme brings you exclusive reports from around the world. Every day at 8:45am Paris time.

Share African soldiers: France's forgotten war heroes finally given full pension rights

Sign up to save your podcasts

African soldiers: France's forgotten war heroes finally given full pension rights

African soldiers: France's forgotten war heroes finally given full pension rights

More shows like Focus

Global News Podcast

Economist Podcasts

Newshour

WSJ What’s News

arts24

People & Profit

Access Asia

Talking Europe

The 51%

Fashion

Six O'Clock News

Tech 24

Down to Earth

Business

The Debate

Inside the Americas

Europe Rendezvous

The World This Week

Learning English from the News

Reporters

FT News Briefing

France in focus

Banlieue Project

The Observers

Press Review

The Observers Direct

The Global Story

Truth or Fake