As Namibia marked 47 years since the Cassinga Massacre, a sombre chapter in the country's path to independence, some of the survivors recalled the events that transpired on that fateful day.

Some of the survivors of the 4th of May massacre still bear physical scars.

These scars are not just wounds, they are a silent witness to a history that must never be forgotten.

Survivor Albertina Nghipandulwa was one of the survivors who sustained serious injuries when shrapnel from a bomb sliced through her hand, leaving her with irreparable physical and emotional damage.

"I don't feel at all. Then when I went to the trench and saw that I didn't have a hand. Then I saw the boers because they were dropped to come to the trench where we were supposed to hide ourselves. Then when I saw them, I covered myself with this hand because I know when I cover myself with blood all over, then I make myself like this, lying, sleeping, and pretending that I'm dead."

Dr. Shitaleni Heman, another survivor, says he was about four years old when the event took place.

Although his memory about the day is vague, he remembers planes flying by in the early hours of the morning and tents burning down.

He says he was terrified and froze in one position until an elderly lady came to his rescue.

"Right at that moment a woman came and grabbed me. We went under a tree. We stayed there, of course, but it seems that I was losing blood. So in the moment, perhaps feeling weak and losing blood, between unconsciousness and so forth, we crossed over the river. There were a lot of people. I can't remember much of anything I knew at that time, but I couldn't find my grandmother, I couldn't find my sister, and I didn't know anybody."

Survivor Martha Kalola says they have not entirely healed from the ordeal, as it brings back many painful memories, especially on Cassinga Day.

"They say you should forget, but you can not forget those things. We forgive, but we are not going to forget. It is really difficult because some of them, like my brother, were wounded. And some of the people even lose their body parts. So how will you forget if you are like that? And we did not really say we are healed; we are not healed. We still need to be healed, perhaps as time goes on."