Harry Fecitt

Mervyn There is a possibly suitable museum at: http://www.rhodesian....org/index.html You will find Hugh Bomford's contact details at the bottom of the page. Harry

Mervyn Thank you for posting these images - with all the medals on display I think that this is a post-Great War ceremony. Bechuanaland, I believe, only ever had a small police force. My instincts tell me that these photos were taken in West Africa, and a research colleague of mine who is an expert on that theatre suggests that this might be the Gold Coast Regiment (GCR) on parade at Kumasi Fort. If you dig deep you should be able to find out details of post-WW 1 colour presentations to the GCR and then identify the Commanding and Presenting Officers. Please keep your flow of interesting images coming. Harry

Michael Please may I refer you to pages 126 & 127 of John Arnold's splendid rerence book The African D.C.M. (Published by The Orders & Medals Research Society 1988) John lists your medal. You are lucky to have access to it. Harry

Mervyn Greetings My guess, considering the location and the dates, is that this was a Rhodesia Native Regiment Colour. I certainly hope it is, as then it is a real discovery. Harry

Gentlemen Anybody researching the 1950s Cyprus Campaign will be interested in this news item: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/persona...-mans-land.html Harry

Gentlemen If anyone is interested in the campaign awards of the late 1890s have a look at: http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk/navy-and-...-1895-1896.html There is a lot of good background material here and some very good images. Harry

Bob's photo in Post 111 sums up for me more than anything why we are floundering around in our overseas theatres these days. There you see lightly-equipped soldiers leaping off a vehicle with the agility and determination to get amongst the miscreants and take effective action. That's how it was done. Recently I saw news footage of a British unit that called in an airstrike because one sniper with a standard AK rifle fired at the British base! After a decent interval heavily-laden British infantry lumbered out of the base on foot, weighed down by protective armour, helmets and massive packs. The enemy was long gone. For months at a time up on the hill I would live off my mens' rations - chapattis, rice, dal, tinned fish, cheese & meatballs, and dates. Donkeys carried the rations up from the nearest airstrip. Now our overseas theatres are dependent on massive road convoys of luxury food that apparently is needed today. These convoys, besides being ridiculously expensive to operate, themselves attract attacks and more casualties are incurred from roadside IEDs. We have lost our military agility, both mentally and physically. Thank you for showing these images of how it used to be. Harry

Irish Here are some notes that I posted on Great War Forum: 40th PATHANS The 40th Pathans was a single-battalion regiment with its depot in the northwest Punjab at Sialkot, the former winter capital of the state of Kashmir. The regiment was composed of 1 company of Orakzais, a half company of Afridis and a half-company of Yusufzais, 1 company of Punjabi Musulmans and 1 company of Dogras. The regiment was linked with the 33rd and 46th Punjabis. The dress uniform was drab coloured with emerald green facings. This was a lively regiment attracting attention wherever it went and being nicknamed the "Forty Thieves" (Major "Ali Baba" Graves of the 42nd Gurkhas had raised the unit at Peshin, Quetta as the only all-Pathan regiment in the Indian Army, but the 1901 linked-battalion system destroyed that unique identity). The stirring regimental march : "Zakhmi Dill", played on srinai (reed pipes) and dhols (drums), was a favourite on band nights along the North-West Frontier, especially when the verses were sung. In August 1914 the 40th Pathans was in Hong Kong, but after Lord Kitchener remarked that there was a job to be done by such a fine body of men on the Western Front the regiment was ordered to France. Embarking in Kowloon on 26th February 1915 on SS Basilan the regiment disembarked at Marseille on 1st April and marched through the town with its Pukhtan band-musicians playing the Marseillaise. After inspections by the Indian Corps Commander Sir James Willcocks and by Sir John French the regiment experienced gas attacks and spotter aircraft for the first time during the 2nd Battle of Ypres. After the battle half the regiment was gone, (Killed in Action 24 including the CO, Died of Wounds 10, Missing in Action 11, Wounded in Action 295). During August and September the regiment was in the trenches near Neuve Chappelle, taking more casualties, but was not committed during the Battle of Loos. In the December 1915 withdrawal of the Indian Infantry Divisions from France the regiment embarked on the 14th at Marseille on HMT Arcadian for an "unknown destination". The destination was Kilindini where the regiment disembarked on 9th January 1916. On that day Wavell's Arab Rifles were ambushed at Mwele Mdogo, just southwest of Mombasa, losing 30 men killed including Wavell. The 40th Pathans sent two companies immediately to Mwele Mdogo, retaining the two other companies in the defence plan for Mombasa. However the Mwele Mdogo ambush was the last threatening action that the Schutztruppe made on the British East Africa coast and the 40th Pathans was then employed on Line of Communication duties before being placed in the 2nd East African Brigade of 1st Division and allocated to Centre Column. The 40th Pathans would soon be operating alongside the 2nd Bn the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment during the capture of Dar Es Salaam. The 40th Pathans would leave behind over 100 dead in East Africa. I suggest that you obtain a copy of High Noon of Empire - the diary of Lt Col Henry Tyndall 1895-1915 edited by B.A. 'Jimmy' James. Published in 2007 by Pen & Sword. ISBN 978 1 84415 546 0. This is the only account of the regiment in East Africa that I have found. Harry

Paul Thank you for showing interest - I do not think that there are many other photographs of the East Africa Rifles. Harry

Whilst exploring the McMillan Library in Nairobi last year I came across this loose image in a book published in 1900, and I photographed it. I believe that it shows a detachment of the East Africa Rifles in 1899 waiting for a train to arrive, probably in Nairobi where the first train arrived that year. At that time the unit still had an Indian contingent, the other companies being composed of Sudanese and Swahilis. I find the head-dress, particularly of the Indians, interesting. Has any Gentleman got comments or information to add? Harry

Rick & Arthur I got my answers and posted an article titled "Bronkhorst Spruit" under Harry's Africa in: http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/209401.html Thank you Harry

From Hayward & Clarke's history. Harry

Thank you Gentleman What I like about this Senior NCO is that he demonstrates authority in every action, even a pose. We built our Empire and Protectorate Territories upon the backs of lads like this. Harry

Gentlemen If you go here: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query and type in A group of Sudanese you come to the image at: Africa - Sudan(?) - warriors [between 1900 and 1927] 1 photographic print. Veniery, M, photographer. LOT 11356-44 [item] LC-USZC2-6347(color film copy slide) Harry

A group of Sudanese Happy Valentine's Day Gentlemen This is a Library of Congress photograph kindly sent by Per Finsted in Denmark. Can anybody speculate as to the soldiers' unit and awards? Harry

Blanche St John Bellairs excellent history: The Transvaal War 1880 - 1881 states in the footnote on page 89 that Sergeants Bradley, Maistre and Pears of the 94th Regiment all received distinguished-service medals. Does she mean that these three were amongst the 20 recipients of the DCM in this campaign? (Interestingly in the London Gazette of 3 May 1881 Maj Gen Evelyn Wood recommends Private Murray, 92nd Highlanders for a Distinguished Service Medal, but I cannot find trace of such a medal in use in 1881.) Can any Gentleman advise, please.

This plaque on an outer wall of the English Church in Madeira might be of interest to some Gentlemen. I say Well Done Johnson Gideon Beharry. He was there when his Victoria Cross was won and other commentators were not.

GentlemenThanks to Per Finsted of Denmark who has just sent me a copy of this Richard Knotel plate we can see more uniform detail of the various components of the first German East African Force. Harry

On the lanyard: WHISTLES, Police, metal, 1. Clasps: Could be: NANDI 1905-06 (422 issued to E.A. Police) Getting the Uganda Railway through to Lake Victoria without hindrance. EAST AFRICA 1905 (135 issued to E.A. Police) For expeditions into Sotik and Kisii. EAST AFRICA 1915 (198 issued to E.A. Police plus 30 issued to Donkey Transport of E.A. Police) Turkanaland. In text above. EAST AFRICA 1918 (93 issued to 5KAR) Turkanas west of Lake Rudolf. JUBALAND 1917-18 (657 issued to 5KAR) Aulihan operations. Continuation of last campaign in text above. Personally I would guess EAST AFRICA 1915 and JUBALAND 1917-18, assuming that our Corporal transferred into 5KAR with "D" Company at Wajjir. Harry

The Kagera River east of Kyaka

THE EAST AFRICA POLICE SERVICE BATTALION During the initial months of the Great War Uganda and British East Africa (BEA) both formed Police Service Battalions and so quickly produced more combat troops. Whilst the Ugandan Police Battalion was immediately deployed to counter the military threat along the German East Africa border, BEA had to also counter security problems in the northern regions of Turkanaland, Jubaland and along the Abyssinian border. Normally the King's African Rifles (KAR) was deployed on northern frontier security duties. However, until Indian Army troops arrived, the KAR was needed to counter German Schutztruppe demolition patrols that were targeting the Uganda Railway line and infiltrating across the border from Lake Victoria down to Mombasa. The BEA Police selected 400 Askari for the Police Service Battalion plus twelve European officers and two Warrant Officers. The Commanding Officer was Brevet Major W.F.S. Edwards, DSO, Inspector General of the East Africa and Uganda Police. The Battalion went under canvas in the Nairobi Police Depot and commenced training on 1st December 1914. Four companies, each of around 75 Askari, were formed. Major Edwards worked his men hard hoping to be deployed against the German threat, but on 11th January 1915 he was ordered to move his Battalion north to deal with Turkana raiders. 3,000 porters were used to carry stores and equipment into the operational area near Lake Rudolf. The Turkana were herdsmen who, along with their tribal neighbours, raided cattle in a never-ending cycle of raid and counter-raid. Turkana warriors rarely fought in formation, but ferociously picked off enemy stragglers or covertly tunneled under enemy thorn-tree cattle enclosures, called zaribas, to make surprise attacks on sentries. Turkana weapons were double-ended "sword spears" about 6 feet long, and for close-combat circular wrist-knives for disemboweling and curved finger-knives for eye-gouging were used. Firepower proved decisive, and in a series of small engagements during which Sudanese troops assisted from the north and Ugandan police joined in from the west, the BEA Police Service Battalion subdued the Turkana raiders, capturing over 150,000 head of cattle, camels, donkeys, goats and sheep. Much of this stock was returned during the negotiations that followed the end of the fighting. The Battalion returned to Nairobi to rest and refit in June 1915, the East Africa General Service Medal with Bar "East Africa 1915" being awarded to all ranks who had served in Tukanaland. Major Edwards was Mentioned in Despatches and promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. Two Askari were awarded the African Distinguished Conduct Medal for Turkanaland operations, and their citations ( LG 4 May 17) give an indication of their operational duties: 1941 Sgt Mohamed Ahmed ? "For gallant conduct when he succeeded, while in charge of a party of 6 men, in capturing large quantities of stock in spite of repeated and determined efforts of large numbers of the enemy to recover the same." 3444 3/Constable Ndone Nzamba ? "For conspicuous gallantry during an enemy attack. Though severely wounded he took the place of his Section Commander who was wounded and continued to direct the fire of the section until the retirement of the enemy." In early August 1915 the Battalion moved into southern Uganda and northwestern GEA to take over positions on the Kagera River Line, Lt Col Edwards becoming OC of this sector. Here the BEA Police Askari frequently swam or silently canoed across the Kagera to raid Schutztruppe posts or burn down vegetation that provided cover for enemy patrols. Lt Col Edwards was now appointed Inspector General of Lines of Communication in East Africa, with the rank of Brigadier General. Captain W. Rigby became CO of the Battalion and was promoted to Major. March 1916 saw the East Africa Police Service Battalion move from the Kagera River up through BEA to Northern Frontier Province where the Aulihan section of the Somalis was a threat. The Aulihan had over-run the Jubaland Armed Constabulary post at Serenli, killing 65 Askari and the British Post Commander, Lt F. Elliot. The Aulihan had seized all the arms and ammunition in the post including a Maxim gun. The Battalion made a 450 mile march from the Thika railhead near Nairobi into the operational area and re-occupied Wajir Fort, which the District Commissioner had been ordered to evacuate after the Serenli disaster. On this march locally-hired camels were used to transport supplies. Patrols went out searching for the Aulihan and their stock but were unsuccessful as the Somalis crossed the Abyssinian border whenever they felt threatened. In September 1916 the Battalion was ordered to leave one company at Wajir and to return to Nairobi, where it was disbanded at the end of the year, most of the Askari being returned to police duties. "D" Company, which had remained at Wajir was incorporated into a new KAR battalion, 5th KAR, that had been re-formed on 1st June 1916 for service in Jubaland and along BEA's Abyssinian border. In 1918 Brigadier Edwards commanded a column in Portuguese East Africa named "Edforce". He was hot on von Lettow's trail in October and he finally accepted the Schutztruppe surrender at Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia on 18 November 1918. After receiving Lettow's sword Brigadier Edwards returned it as a gesture of respect. Major Rigby was Mentioned in Despatches and received a DSO. He then went to Europe to command a Service Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry until the Armistice. Another interesting officer in the East Africa Police Service Battalion was Geoffrey Le Blanc Smith. As a Trooper in the East Africa Mounted Rifles he gained a DCM ("For gallant conduct on 3rd November, 1914, during the engagement at Longido (East Africa), when he assisted to carry a wounded comrade into cover, whilst subjected to a very severe close range rifle fire.") during the abortive Tanga diversionary attack. Commissioned and appointed Adjutant and Quartermaster in the East Africa Police Service Battalion Geoffrey received a MC for the Turkana operation. He stayed on the Kagera Line as a staff officer when the Battalion went to Wajir and was recommended for a DSO, but this was reduced to a bar to his MC. He returned to Turkana as Supplies and Transport Officer attached to the KAR during the Northern Turkana Expedition 1918, for which he received a promotion to Brevet Major and the clasp "East Africa 1918" to his East Africa General Service Medal. The East Africa Police Service Battalion was a hasty war-time creation, as many other local units were, but it served its purpose and pulled its weight operationally. The decision to raise it was justified.

May I offer this quote from "German Schutztruppe in East Africa 1889-1911" by Colonel Ernst Nigmann (The Battery Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-89839-335-3) Pages 2 to 5: "The highly experienced Imperial Commissioner found a brilliant solution when he enlisted Sudanese. These men had served in the Egyptian Army and had proven themselves to be splendid soldiers, especially during the fighting within the Sudan. But once the English had lost the Egyptian Sudan, they disbanded a number of Egyptian regiments which were now too expensive. Soldiers from those units found themselves wandering across the countryside with no food, and generally in miserable circumstances. These people were an obvious backbone for the formation of the new unit. They eagerly responded to the call of German recruiters, who saved them from their deplorable fate and restored them to their customary trade under arms. Wissman sent an Arabic-speaking officer, Lieutenant Theremin, ahead to Cairo to recruit the Sudanese. When Wissman arrived there in March (1889), accompanied by Medical Officer Schmelzkopf and by Bumiller, who later served him as adjutant, Theremin had already been very successful. The recruits included not only Sudanese who had served as enlisted personnel, but also former officers and senior NCOs. A number of Turkish police had also been permitted to enlist, as they were extremely well qualified for police service. Some of the former Egyptian officers were soon found to be quite unsuitable and had to be discharged. With the permission of the English government, the enlisted recruits were transported to a camp in Aden under the command of German officers and NCOs, although as yet without uniforms or weapons. This camp was very colorful: the Sudanese had all stipulated that their families should come with them, and many of them, concerned that they may not find a suitable spouse in a foreign land, had quickly selected a wife from among the daughters of their homeland. After landing from the steamer Martha on 3 May 1889, the new unit was deployed on the African shore. Only one company was allocated to Dar Es-Salaam, while the main force was concentrated at Bagamoyo, which had been abandoned by the natives after being shelled by German warships. The troops were quartered in suitable stone houses in Bagamoyo. The unit was organized as: WHITES 25 Officers (1 Commander, 8 Company Commanders, 13 Lieutenants, 2 Doctors, 1 Paymaster) 7 Warrant Officers 56 NCOs including Corpsmen BLACKS 6 Companies of Sudanese of about 100 men each 1 Company of Zulus of 100 men 1 Detachment of Askari (Local natives, about 80 men transferred from the German East Africa Company) 1 Detachment of Artillery (Sudanese, about 30 men) 1 Detachment of Seamen (Somali, about 40 men) SPECIAL (Police Service) 2 Officers and 20 men (Turks)" Harry

King's African Rifles transport. Porters cross a river.

Turkana warriors

FORGOTTEN EDGES OF EMPIRE Marched over by men of the The Royal Lancaster Regiment Compiled by Major Harry Fecitt MBE TD Number 4 TURKANALAND The Turkana tribe inhabited (and still do inhabit) the arid and desolate northern border region of British East Africa (now Kenya) west of Lake Rudolph. The Turkanas were a very warlike tribe, constantly fighting their neighbours in order to acquire livestock to replace their own losses caused by drought. The tribe was one of the last in the region to be "subdued" by colonial authorities. The Turkanas fought with their traditional weapons ? long spears, narrow shields and vicious wrist-knives (circles of metal sharpened on the outer edge and worn around the wrist) that were used to disembowel opponents. They lived in a hot climate and had little use for clothing. Turkana tactics were based around a traditional tribal saying that success in war is based not on power but on knowledge. Also they wished to avoid heavy casualties as the tribe did not have reserves of manpower. Thus the Turkanas would not mount a mass charge but preferred to blend into their landscape, appearing suddenly and fleetingly to spear enemy sentries or stragglers or run off cattle. These skilful and fearless fighters fiercely resisted any foreign penetration into their territory but they lacked central and effective military leadership. Abyssinian gun-runners traded with the tribesmen, offering firearms for ivory. The Abyssinians also encouraged the Turkana to resist the growing authority of the British colonial government. Sometimes Abyssinian troops or irregulars would cross the border to fight alongside the Turkana. However the tribe never really trusted the Abyssinians, and the firearms were poorly and ineffectively handled due to a failure to comprehend the weapons' capabilities. In 1910 the police in eastern Uganda were responsible for maintaining law and order in Karamoja, a tribal area just west of Turkanaland, but were short of men and so could not go to investigate reports of fighting between the Karamojong and Turkana tribes. 4th King's African Rifles (4 KAR), the Uganda battalion, was tasked with escorting a Political Officer into Karamoja, helping him determine the facts, and disarming and punishing recalcitrants as the Political Officer decided. This expedition became known as the Turkana Mission 1910-11. Although hardly any fighting took place this mission is a good example of the type of policing action that colonial military units were involved in at that time. Lieutenant Edward Gerald Mytton Thorneycroft, Royal Lancaster Regiment, was one of the three KAR officers on the mission, which also contained a Doctor, 103 African Askari and a Maxim gun detachment. Because the route from north-eastern Uganda into Turkanaland was not proven the mission, starting out on 21st November 1910, crossed Lake Victoria from Uganda in a steamer to Kisumu in British East Africa, then took a train to Nakuru and then commenced marching north. The main problems were logistic ones. Ox-waggons were hired at Nakuru and over 450 porters were also required to carry supplies for the mission. On arrival at Lake Baringo the ox-waggons went home as the owners would not risk them going any further north. The Assistant Distict Commissioner at Baringo arranged for the hire of over 100 donkeys to replace the ox-waggons and the Askari were detailed to improvise panniers for the donkey loads using old sacking, as the bags of food had to be protected from the dense thorn trees that lay ahead. Meanwhile Edward Thorneycroft and his fellow officers went out shooting game to provide ration-meat and also skins for sandals. A difficult fly-belt (terrain dominated by tsetse-fly where horses and game cannot survive, but where donkeys sometimes can) lay ahead and the mission used the porters to cross it. But the porters were collapsing with dysentery and the mission was glad to reach the Kerio River where tribesmen offered bullocks and sheep for sale. The mission then pushed on to the Turkwell River through herds of elephant and rhino that on one occasion stampeded the donkey column, and finally reached Turkwell Boma. Here on 4th February 1911 Edward Thorneycroft took over command of the military personnel in the mission. His Askari escorted the Political Officer around the region to talk to the tribes and impose fines of livestock if raiding had occurred. The prevailing attitude of the various tribesmen was not to argue but just to say that raiding was part of their way of life. In one judgement the Political Officer decided that the Turkana had been raided against by the Karamoja. The Karamoja were reluctant to accept their fine and so Lt Thorneycroft and his men pursued the fleeing Karamoja herds, overtook them and captured 800 head, 200 of which were handed back to a delighted Turkana delegation to compensate for Turkana losses. After a month or so of these duties the mission was terminated and Edward Thorneycroft marched back to Bombo, Uganda with his men, having covered 780 miles on foot. In September 1911 Edward Thorneycroft was promoted to Captain and appointed Adjutant of 4KAR. He was killed in action three years later whilst fighting a German incursion into British East Africa. Raiding continued in and around Turkanaland whilst the Governors of Uganda and British East Africa debated who should be responsible for this area. A large military expedition was planned for 1914 but the Great War intervened. 4 KAR was fully committed on the southern border with German East Africa and British Sudanese forces moved into northern Uganda to temporarily assume responsibility for security. Lawlessness increased over the next four years as British garrisons in the area remained under-manned and resulted in a large security operation mounted from both Sudan and British East Africa from April to June 1918. This became known as the Turkana Patrol. But this failed to suppress raiding as the Abyssinian gun-runners maintained their activities, and the area where Sudan, Abyssinia and British East Africa met provided easy escape routes for fleeing raiders. Even today the tribes in this remote region (where the killings took place in the book and film "The Constant Gardner") raid each other's herds and sometimes violate and kill each other's women and children - and now they have the use of automatic weapons because the gun-runners still thrive.