Can you identify the people with Madiba?
In January 1962 Nelson Mandela left South Africa on a secret trip through Africa and to London, to undergo military training and to garner support for the armed struggle against apartheid.
His military training was undertaken in Ethiopia and in Morocco with the Algerian Liberation Front, which was fighting to free Algeria from colonial occupation by France.
Apart from Mr Mandela’s own diary of his seven-month trip, there is very little other evidence. His training by the Algerian Liberation Front is immortalised in this famous photograph. Only he, in position 15, and two other people have been positively identified. They are Ahmed Ben Bella in position 5 and Agostinho Neto in position 16.
Ben Bella became the first president of an independent Algeria in 1963 and Neto was the first president of an independent Angola in 1975.
Mr Mandela, who arrived back in South Africa on 23 July 1962, was arrested 12 days later at Howick. He was charged with leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to strike. Convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on 7 November 1962, he was a serving prisoner when he was brought to trial for sabotage in 1963. His 27 years in prison are calculated from 5 August 1962, the day of his arrest after his foreign trip.
Please email any names or other information about the photograph to nmf@nelsonmandela.org.