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John Banks Elliott was Ghana's first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Moscow USSR from 1960 to 1966. During his tenure, he was Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Head Commonwealth Ambassadors, Head African and Diplomats, Head African Ambassadors Group.

His accreditation to the Soviet Union was directed by the last Governor-General of the Dominion of Ghana, the Earl of Listowel, William Francis Hare under the direction of Queen Elizabeth II. His appointment announced in Moscow on 8 January 1960 as Ambassador designate to the USSR did not fare well with the US and was critiqued in the central intelligence agencies bulletin of 12 January 1960. It was obvious the US government of the period would have preferred an appointee with a more pro-western orientation. Ambassador John Banks Elliott presented his credentials to the then Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Mr. K.E. Voroshilov. On 1st July 1960, Ghana became an independent Republic within the Commonwealth, and the first President of the Republic of Ghana Dr. Kwame Nkrumah reaccredited his appointment, which he presented to the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council Mr. Leonid Brezhnev.

Born in 1917 to Gerald Barton Elliott a Lawyer and Auctioneer at large and Mary Wood-Elliott a Sacristan, he was named after his grandfather who came to the Gold Coast as a timber merchant with attention to detail, one of his passions was photography, J. Banks Elliott's photographs of Gold Coast showing trading stations, factories, towns, markets and people taken in 1880-1890 is archived at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, Oxford.

The first son to Gerald and Mary Elliott was rather pampered and was carried back and forth on the back of his personal servant. This did not fare well with some of his mates who gave him a thorough bashing whenever an opportunity rose. He had an older sister Mary and later two younger brothers, Mowbray and Gerald. He was enrolled at St. Nicolas Grammar at Adisadel Cape Coast and after to Bishops Boy School in Accra where he lived under the guidance of the Rt. Rev. John Orfeur Anglionby, Bishop of Accra. After his education at Bishops Boy School, he joined Cadbury and Fry cocoa buying merchants with its headquarters based in Kumasi.

In 1939 he was enlisted as GC15603 to the Motor Traffic Unit of the 24th Infantry Brigade of the Gold Coast Regiment within the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) was trained further as a stretcher bearer/medical orderly, and promoted to Orderly Room Colour Sergeant (ORCS). At the outbreak of war, during the Italian campaign, his Regiment went to East Africa for training en route to North Africa. After the Italian campaign, the Regiment was moved on to Simons Town, a port in South Africa where Sergeant Elliott with the 24th Infantry Brigade of the Gold Coast embarked to Nigeria for further training. During this training, they went through the so-called 'Baptism of Fire'. The Regiment then went back through Gold Coast on to Gambia to patrol the Gambia River in the event of the Nazi Army moving to West Africa. The 24th Infantry Brigade then moved on to India for further training in jungle warfare, starting from Calcutta to Bangladesh then joining the 82nd Division with a shoulder emblem of the 'Cross Spears'. The Division then crossed the Kalapanzin Valley to Burma, Prome, Rangoon, and on to Pyapon. With the final retreat of the Japanese Army, units of the 82nd Division including the 24th Infantry Brigade stayed behind for a further year or so for anti-dacoit patrols. The Japanese in their hasty retreat had opened the prisons and released all manner of persons into the communities endangering the Burmese. Due to the negative indoctrination by the retreating Japanese, the Units containing Africans of the 82nd division RWAFF, came under strong suspicion from the Burmese people, immediate rectifications to alter their mind-set was put forward. Sergeant Elliott was one of the soldiers assigned to rectify this damaging influence left in the minds of the Burmese people. On Sergeant Elliott's demobilization he went through France and disembarked at Takoradi to go back home to Cape Coast where he became extremely ill with the most severe form of Dengue fever. On recovering, he reported to the Gold Coast Army Headquarters, the Records Office in Accra, where for his contribution during WW2 was presented with his full medals, including the 'Africa Star' and the 'Burma Star'. Back to civilian life, Mr. John Banks Elliott re-joined Cadbury and Fry cocoa buying merchants in Kumasi.

In 1948 as an ex-service man, he joined the Ex-Servicemen's march under the leadership of ex-Sergeant Tamaklo in Accra. The march was to the Colonial Castle with a view of presenting a petition of grievances directly to the Colonial Governor instead of, as advised, to the Colonial Secretary whose offices was at the secretariat. The police interceded at the cross road to the Castle and opened fire whereby three persons in the march were killed. The marchers scattered into town, starting a pandemonium of fear, ransacking the local shops owned by foreigners. At this point, the Colonial Government thought it time to intervene and called in external help. During the pandemonium, the goods removed from the foreign shops was taken to the yard of the Mission House, which prompted the Bishop of Accra the Rt. Rev. John Anglionby to come out of his residence and declare to the rebellious crowd that under God, he recognizes the Colonial Governor as the representative of the Queen of England. The chief of police arrived at the Mission yard and the Bishop stated to him, "if you had treated these people in a civilized manner, this would not have happened". After the Bishops announcement, the pandemonium abated and there after the Governor deemed it right to write a new constitution for the Government of Gold Coast. From then on, the issue of independence for Gold Coast became accelerated. During this period, ex-Sergeant Elliott was aid to the Bishop of Accra.

In 1949, he attended a rally inaugurating the Convention People's Party (CPP) a breakaway group of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). At this rally, he met Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for the first time and was impressed with the sincerity of Nkrumah's anti-colonial stand. Mr. Elliott was invited by Kwame Nkrumah to be part of the concept of the African Unity and the African Command.

After independence, President Nkrumah found it difficult to comprehend the mentality of African civil servants trained under the former colonial administration. He was looking for people that understood Ghana's responsibilities in Africa. Ghana, he said was in need of a new style of diplomacy. Thus, the setting up of the African Affairs Secretariat and other agencies comparable to the Ministry of External Affairs. He appointed political appointees and set up overseas diplomatic missions in order to push forward his agenda and fulfill his foreign policy objectives.

Leonid Brezhnev's visit to Ghana in 1961 established strong bonds with the Russian Government. This encouraged President Nkrumah to visit the Eastern bloc in the same year. Ghana was expanding its trading partnerships with the Soviet Union, at the same time retaining its western partnerships.

In 1962, Anastas Mikoyan visited Ghana for bilateral talks on his Africa tour. Thereafter stream of Soviet advisors, technical experts, entrepreneurs and official delegations from several ministries went to Ghana, establishing various bilateral agreements. Ambassador Elliott was active in coordinating these visits and where need be, would travel to Ghana to initiate and welcome the Russians.

At the time when the market price of cocoa was at its lowest, the Soviet Bloc was not consuming enough cocoa and Ambassador Elliott having held posts within the Government's Cocoa Marketing Institutions was encouraged to convince the Russians to purchase a larger quantity of cocoa beans in order to boost the market price. During President Nkrumah's visit to Moscow in 1961, Ghana signed a trade agreement to supply the Soviet bloc with cocoa. The cocoa beans were used as barter for industrial and agricultural equipment from the Soviet Union.

Ghana needed to develop its agricultural sector and as former Deputy Chairman of Ghana's Industrial and Agricultural Development Corporation, Ambassador Elliott welcomed a delegation of Ghanaian engineers including foreigners employed by the Ghana Government to Moscow. They were to ensure that the Russian equipment would be suitable for the terrains of Ghana. After thorough inspection, the delegation confirmed the suitability of the machines for Ghanaian Agricultural use. Directly tractors meant for Poland were diverted to Ghana as an emergency. Certain types of equipment meant exclusively for importation to Poland was not offloaded from the consignment before diverting the tractors to Ghana. The western version in the media was that Ghana had ordered snowploughing machines from Russia. It was at this stage that, agreements signed with some western countries for supply of certain industrial goods was cancelled.

After vigorous financial negotiations and uncertainties about the Volta river project, Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation offered to build the Akosombo Dam. During President Nkrumah's visit to Moscow in 1961, it was negotiated with the Russians to assist and develop the Bui Hydroelectric Dam, it was then he started planning for atomic energy. The construction was nearing its completion when the overthrow of the Government of Ghana took place. Work on the Bui Dam was suspended and so was Ghana's Atomic Energy project.

Shortly after Congo's Independence in June of 1960, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba visited Ghana at the invitation of President Nkrumah. Ghana had sent all manner of aid to the newly Independent Congo. During the Congo crisis, President Lumumba requested for special aid in the form of military intervention to squelch the Belgian troops who were interfering with the internal security of Congo. Planes were required to convey Ghanaian troops to the Congo. The requests for airplanes from the British were not available and the American Government had difficulty in supplying aircrafts as well. President Nkrumah asked Ambassador Elliott to request help from the Russians who responded favourably and sent seven Ilyushin planes. It was at this stage that President Nkrumah sent in Ghanaian troops with his Commander in Chief General Alexander to the Congo. In the meantime, America was also able to aid Ghana with a transport plane that was on duty, but was diverted to Ghana in which Ambassador Elliott, Colonel Otu, Captain Bernasco and some French-speaking interpreters were conveyed at a first stage to Congo Brazzaville to await the eventual safe landing in the Republic of Congo itself. Prime Minister Lumumba did not initially request United Nations Security Council for assistance. It was when the situation escalated that he asked the UN to intervene with the aggressive conduct of the Belgian Army. The Ghanaian troops that were in Congo were subsequently re-hatted as UN forces.

Higher education was one of the priorities of the Government, and when Ghana had exhausted other sources of scholarships to its students, Ambassador Elliott requested that Soviet scholarships be offered to Ghanaian students. The Soviet Government accordingly accepted this. Starting in 1960, the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries awarded scholarships to Ghanaian students making it the largest foreign donor scholarships scheme for Ghana. During this period, there were western press reports of discrimination against African students in the Eastern bloc. The Russian press was also busy emphasizing segregation and discrimination having no boundaries in the Western bloc, and how diplomats of colour were experiencing discrimination in America. Reality turned into 'tit for tat', of course, it was well known that some of the African students who were complaining to the western press would have preferred to study in the west but had not the offer to do so.

The African Affairs Secretariat as part of its policy for the liberation of Africa opened its doors and extended part of its scholarships to several African counties still struggling against colonialism and apartheid. Elmina Castle was the venue for these students, training some of them as cadets. After the initial training, some of them were re-located to the Soviet Union to further their education and combat training. As Ghana was the first Independent African country to have an Embassy in Moscow, President Nkrumah requested that Ambassador Elliott insure diplomatic coverage for students from the other African states.

In 1966 when President Nkrumah was en route to North Vietnam at the invitation of President Ho Chi Min, he made a stopover in Peking to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong who welcomed him most courteously as is the Chinese custom. While in Peking he was informed of the coup d'état that had taken place in Ghana. This was the beginning of a major setback for the development of the first Republic. Ghana's official presidential plane in which President Nkrumah arrived to China with his entourage, was no longer available to him. His hosts kindly arranged for an aircraft to convey him and his delegation to Moscow. On arrival, he was welcomed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Council and accommodated at Lenin Hills. After a sequence of meetings, President Nkrumah requested Ambassador Elliott to make travel arrangements for his entourage to travel to countries of their choice. The President himself left Moscow for Conakry, where his great friend the former President of Guinea Ahmed Sekou Toure made him an Honorary Co-President.

Thereafter Ambassador Elliott received a dispatch from the military junta to return to Ghana for consultations. He did not hesitate, left his post in Moscow, and travelled to Ghana. On his arrival, he was arrested and imprisoned under so-called protective custody for over eight months. There was no reason given by the 'Coup Junta'. He was then released to go home in Accra, and given a ticket to meet with his family, who had travelled from Moscow to London with the aid of the British Foreign Office.

On safer ground, Ambassador Elliott visited President Nkrumah in Conakry, Guinea at 'Villa Syli', where he had been given refuge. The meeting was fruitful, laying outlines for action to return President Nkrumah to Ghana.

In the seventies, Ambassador Elliott relocated back to Ghana to pursue his business interests, but Coup d'état after Coup d'état rendered it impossible to continue residing in Ghana and decided to leave his homeland and return to the United Kingdom.

In his lifetime, Ambassador Elliott witnessed, discussed, advocated, endorsed, recommended, proposed, advised etc., and been involved in all sorts of intrigues and controversies of the world stage, some in the forefront, and other, behind the scenes. He met with and got to know some very interesting people during his endeavours, Emperor Haile Selassie I, of Ethiopia. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of Israel. King Idris I. of Libya. Prince Souvanna Phouma of the Kingdom of Laos. President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. Commander in Chief Fidel Castro of Cuba. President Sukarno of Indonesia and many more. In Ambassador Elliott's opinion Ghana is one of the important African countries in the world. There was rivalry between pro-Communists' and non-communists' block for Africa in the 60's. In those days opposition parties, pro-Western agents and unwitting accomplices did everything in their power to undermine the First Republics progress and that of its Ministers, its Political Appointees and the Presidents stance. What President Nkrumah envisaged for the Organization of African Unity (OAU) fifty years ago is still on the discussion table today.

Mr. John Banks Elliott throughout his private and official life is renowned for his successes in building the Republic of Ghana's image as the first African Country to gain Independence. He is resolute and holds no grudges any persons or institutions that are inequitable towards him or his achievements'.

He resides in Maidenhead, the Royal Borough of Berkshire, United Kingdom and is happy meeting old and new friends for a chat and catching up with current affairs of the world. (the above chronicle was recounted by Ambassador Elliott)

References

1. "A Chronicle of the day, 1960 № 13". Newsreel Daily News. 1960. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
2. Miller, John (2010). All Them Cornfields and Ballet in the Evening. Hodgson Press. pp. 40–. ISBN 9781906164126. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
3. "(title unclear)". Pittsburgh Courier. 9 April 1960. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
4. The Current Digest of the Soviet Press. American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. 1960.
5. Report of the Conference of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations J. Delegates and observers attending the tenth session of the conference http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5573e/x5573e0t.htm
6. _Ambassador John Banks Elliott_copy 1-2 accreditation from Queen Elizabeth II_01.1960_1.jpg _Ambassador John Banks Elliott_copy 2-2 accreditation from Queen Elizabeth II_01.1960_2.jpg
7. Ambassador John Banks Elliott_copy 1-2_accreditation from President Kwame Nkrumah_07.1960_1.jpg Ambassador John Banks Elliott_copy 2-2_accreditation from President Kwame Nkrumah_07.1960_2.jpg
8. Newsreel Daily News/A Chronicle of the day March 1960 No.13 fragment 4 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ghana, John Banks Elliott presents his credentials to Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Voroshilov. http://www.net-film.ru/en/film-10894/?search=p6%7cv2%7cs1
9. http://fs.net-film.ru/fs7213.mp4
10. The Diplomatic Press Directory of the Republic of Ghana: Including Trade Index and Biographical Section, Diplomatic Press and Publishing Company, 1959 http://books.google.nl/books?id=YCwUAAAAIAAJ&q=Ghana's+diplomatic+mission+abroad,+revised+to+June+1960,+John+Banks+Elliott&dq=Ghana's+diplomatic+mission+abroad,+revised+to+June+1960,+John+Banks+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NHnnU_u6KoGqOpjtgdgO&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA
11. Daily Report: Foreign Radio Broadcasts, issues 56-60 United States Foreign Broadcast Information Service 1960 – World politics http://books.google.nl/books?id=yCUjAQAAMAAJ&q=Ambassador+John+Banks+Elliott&dq=Ambassador+John+Banks+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=an7nU4ivFofaON6xgQg&redir_esc=y
12. http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v18/d123
13. http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=65196&back= (Earl of Listowel William Francis Hare)
14. Approved For Release 2002/07/12 Doc No/ESDN: CIA-DP79T00975A004900080001-9) Pages:12 http://www.foia.cia.gov/search-results?search_api_views_fulltext=Central%20Intelligence%20Bulletin&field_collection=&page=259
15. http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/5829/CIA-RDP79T00975A004900080001-9.pdf
16. http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v18/d123#fn7
17. (two volumes reference number GB 162 MSS.Afr.s.1956) http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/elliott-jb.html
18. http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw189023/John-Orfeur-Aglionby?
19. Sergeant ORCS John Banks Elliott_RWAFF_82nd West Africa Division_WW2_.jpg
20. http://www.rogersstudy.co.uk/medals/ww2_stars/stars.html
21. http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/webeasycms/hold/uploads/bmh_document_pdf/82_West_Africa_Division.pdf http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
22. Commonwealth at KEW Commonwealth at KEW http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
23. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/nkrumah-sees-moscow
24. Newsreel Daily News/A Chronicle of the day January 1961 No.28 fragment 2 Moscow, President Kwame Nkrumah visit to Brezhnev, Khrushchev in the Kremlin http://www.net-film.ru/en/film-11021/?search=p13%7cv2%7cs1
25. http://fs.net-film.ru/fs7134.mp4
26. West Africa: page 785, West Africa Publishing Company Ltd., 1961 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NKrjAAAAMAAJ&q=Soviet+Ilyushin+planes,+Ghana,+John+B.+Elliott&dq=Soviet+Ilyushin+planes,+Ghana,+John+B.+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MFHtU_7kG8nT0QXix4G4Cg&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA
27. Newsreel Daily News A Chronicle of the day 1960 № 33 Nikita Khrushchev in the Crimea with governmental delegation of the Republic of Ghana. http://www.net-film.ru/en/film-10914/?search=p8%7cv2%7cs1
28. Newsreel Daily News/A Chronicle of the day January 1962 No.3 fragment 2 Visit of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Mikoyan in Accra, Ghana. http://www.net-film.ru/en/film-11117/?search=q1962%7cv2%7cs1
29. http://fs.net-film.ru/fs7095.mp4
30. Reuters ref. 5511/61 Moscow 26 July 1961 http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1961/07/27/BGY504090272/?s=*
31. Diplomatic Press Directory of the Republic of Ghana: Including Trade Index and Biographical Section. Diplomatic Press and Publishing Company 1959, page 193 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YCwUAAAAIAAJ&q=Chairman+of+Ghana's+Industrial+and+Agricultural+Development+Corporation,+John+Banks+Elliott&dq=Chairman+of+Ghana's+Industrial+and+Agricultural+Development+Corporation,+John+Banks+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uNnvU5bSNKqZ0QX804HACA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ
32. The Logic of Trade_ editorial response John Banks Elliott
33. West Africa: West Africa Publishing Co. Ltd., page 75 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qZLjAAAAMAAJ&q=Chairman+of+Ghana's+Industrial+and+Agricultural+Development+Corporation,+John+Banks+Elliott&dq=Chairman+of+Ghana's+Industrial+and+Agricultural+Development+Corporation,+John+Banks+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uNnvU5bSNKqZ0QX804HACA&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA
34. H.T. Alexander, African tightrope my two years as Nkrumah's Chief of Staff, chapter 4, The Congo situation, page 38. Pall Mall Press, London, 1965 http://books.google.nl/books/about/African_tightrope.html?id=04lyAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
35. http://www.cairn.info/zen.php?ID_ARTICLE=CMR_471_0033#no72
36. Department of State, Central Files, 645J.60/8-2861. Department of State, S/S-NSC Files: Lot 72 D 316, National Security Action Memoranda, NSAM 89 http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v18/d123
37. African Diplomacy: The UN Experience – Page 137 by Frederick S. Arkhurst, Published by AuthorHouse 2006 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eWtwP5z8MWkC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=African+Diplomacy+the+UN+Experience+by+Frederick+S.+Arkhurst,+Ambassador+Elliott&source=bl&ots=KSsHXsLk5V&sig=Alrt948RMcKl9gkZ3BoEBRDy9lE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qbFuVJeaK4isPO6SgYgF&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=African%20Diplomacy%20the%20UN%20Experience%20by%20Frederick%20S.%20Arkhurst%2C%20Ambassador%20Elliott&f=false
38. Soviet Officials, Families begin exodus from Ghana by plane Page 3, section five, column 3 Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RigRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5211%2C96028
39. Africa Diary: volume 6, page 2795. M. Chhabra, 1965 – Africa http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z1MOAQAAMAAJ&q=Soviet+Ilyushin+planes,+Ghana,+John+B.+Elliott&dq=Soviet+Ilyushin+planes,+Ghana,+John+B.+Elliott&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MFHtU_7kG8nT0QXix4G4Cg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ

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