Harry Fecitt

If you do a search on "Great War Forum" you should find an archive website from where you can download the last version of regiments.org.

The southern outskirts of Kisii on a wet day

Map showing Kisii, the centre of Gusiiland FORGOTTEN EDGES OF EMPIRE Marched over by men of the The Royal Lancaster Regiment Introducing some little-known campaigns where men of the King's Own served. Compiled by Major Harry Fecitt MBE TD Number 3 GUSIILAND Gusiiland lay on the southwestern highlands of British East Africa (now named Kenya) about 50 miles south and southeast of Kisumu, where the British-built railway from Mombasa named the Uganda Railway terminated. From Kisumu passengers and goods were transported in steamers across the lake to Uganda. Gusiiland was extremely fertile, attracting rainfall throughout the year. The local tribes, named the Gusii, grew a variety of crops and herded cattle. The Gusii lived in clans but lacked a central organization to determine tribal policies, and this led to them rarely uniting as a whole tribe. They were extremely superstitious and prophets and tribal doctors ("witch doctors") exercised a lot of knowledge and influence. This knowledge could be very practical and useful as in the case of trepanning, where the doctors drilled a hole in the skull to relieve headaches or mental illness. Since 1894 Gusiiland had been theoretically administered by the British as part of the Uganda Protectorate but in 1905 it was transferred with other eastern Uganda territory to be part of British East Africa. However the British had only concerned themselves with the fringes of Gusiiland and knew little about the heartland. It was only when a minor Gusii clan living on the northern Gusiiland border towards Lake Victoria came to Kisumu to request British protection from stronger Gusii clans who kept raiding and stealing cattle, that the British decided to enter Gusii territory. Action needed to be taken because the Gusii were also regularly raiding the Luo tribe who inhabited the southern shore of Lake Victoria. The British administrators also had in mind that Gusiiland could be a potential area for European settlement. In June 1905 a British column subdued the Sotik tribe who were the Gusii's eastern neighbours and who had recently raided cattle from the Masai and taken captives. As a punishment 5,000 head of cattle were taken from the Sotik. This success led to an expedition against the Gusii four months later. A 100-man strong company of the King's African Rifles and 50 policemen marched from Kericho southwest into Gusiiland to punish the tribe for murdering Luos near Lake Victoria. The Gusii that had collected to fight were armed with long-shafted spears with small heads and on 28th September they charged right up to the KAR bayonets before the Askari firepower killed 67 of them. On 4th October around 600 Gusii attacked the British column again, and although the Askari were ordered to initially fire over the attackers' heads about 30 Gusii were killed and the same number wounded. The Gusii now realized that the rifles that the Askari carried were not sticks but were firearms that could kill at a distance. The British column stayed two weeks in Gusiiland collecting many cattle as a reprisal and having to fight several skirmishes whilst doing so. This led to more deaths of Gusii warriors. (The KAR Askari enjoyed rounding-up livestock as, when out of sight of their officers, they rounded-up the shepherdesses as well.) The British column then marched away to other duties leaving a legacy of ill feeling. Due to staff shortages the British administration was slow to follow-up the military action and it was not until early 1907 that a government station was sited at a location named Kisii. G.A.S. Northcote (an Oxford graduate who joined the Colonial Service in 1904 and eventually rose to be Governor of Hong Kong) was appointed Assistant District Commissioner at Kisii. He was an enlightened man but had difficulties in persuading all sections of the Gusii (now re-named the Wakissi by the British) to accept British rule and law. The clans who had suffered during the 1905 punitive expedition were especially recalcitrant ? they had not invited the British to their territory and they did not want the British to remain. Northcote introduced the British principle of taxation to be paid in cash. To a cashless society this presented problems and led to an influx of Swahili (coastal) cattle dealers and Asian and European traders who would buy livestock and other commodities from the Gusii, but not always fairly. This further displeased the conservative elements amongst the Gusii, particularly the prophets and tribal doctors. Also as he constructed his government station Northcote sometimes could not always hire the labour or buy the materials that he needed. In those situations he used force to procure the labour and materials, and although the debts were always settled later in cash, Gusii society was further alienated. On 30th May 1907 Lieutenants John Bois and Thomas O. Fitzgerald were seconded from The Royal Lancaster Regiment to The 3rd King's African Rifles based in British East Africa. Towards the end of 1907 John Bois, serving in No 1 Company 3 KAR, took out a patrol of 35 rifles into the Western Highlands to quell disturbances. (Lieutenant Bois, who had gained the Queen's Medal with four clasps in the South African War was later awarded the African General Service Medal with clasp inscribed "Somaliland 1908-10" for operations described in the first article of this series.) In Kisii in November 1907 a famous Gusii prophetess called Muraa was inflaming opinion against Northcote and the British presence that he represented. Northcote arrested Muraa for a minor offence and later released her. He then held a large tribal baraza (public discussion) during which he hoped to clear the air. It was not to be. On 11th January 1908 Northcote was investigating the theft of cash from Swahili traders when the thief, inflamed by taunts from Muraa, speared Northcote in the back, narrowly missing his spine. The wound was painful but not critical, and to Northcote and other Europeans working with the tribes this type of incident was to be expected as part of the job, as the spearing was recognized as being a personal issue rather than a tribal one. However to the rear echelon back in Nairobi the spearing represented a major challenge to British authority that had to be punished. Groups of Gusii warriors now further enraged the British administration by attacking and killing two unarmed policemen and an Asian trader and by reverting to the old pastime of raiding Luo territory. Many warriors approached Kisii hoping to finish off Northcote and the traders, but a display of rifles kept the spearmen at bay. As usual the Gusii did not unite as a tribe and only the clans that really disliked the British took up their spears. A British punitive expedition was organized and dispatched by train to Kisumu. From there 334 officers and men from the King's African Rifles, equipped with Maxim guns and supported by 50 Nandi tribal auxiliaries sailed by steamer to Kendu Bay, 53 armed police having gone ahead to Kisii. (The Nandi were a tribe living to the northeast of Kisumu that had fiercely resisted the construction of the Uganda Railway through its territory, but whose warriors later fought well for the British as irregulars.) Marching south into Gusiiland for a month the British force seized cattle, burned huts and used their rifles and machine-guns to kill anyone who stood in their way. There were no pitched battles and no British casualties but 240 Gusii were killed (like many body counts of the day this did not include the wounded men, women and children who took refuge in the bush until they died) and 7,000 head of cattle and 5,000 sheep and goats were seized. In Nairobi the severity meted out to the Gussi was felt to be justified as it was followed by the swift imposition of British administrative procedures throughout Gusiiland. But Northcote thought that the whole operation was too severe and was poorly carried out by the KAR. In a later letter to his father he wrote: "It would take too long to describe the absolute idiocy, obstinacy and want of knowledge of military operations in this country that they shewed." Captain T.O. FitzGerald wrote in a jingoistic style: "In January, 1908, the Kisii became out of hand and speared the District Commissioner when travelling round his district as a protest, against paying taxes. This necessitated an expedition being sent to punish the tribe. It was alleged that the Wakissi were a very ferocious and formidable tribe, so great excitement prevailed among the officers chosen to take part in this expedition, as it was thought that it would be a really good show. However the formidable enemy turned out to be a myth, the warriors having no stomach for a fight. Large numbers of cattle were captured and many huts destroyed besides about 150 casualties inflicted on the tribe. After about six weeks the expedition returned to Nairobi from what was humorously described as the Six Weeks' War. Anyway whatever jibes may have been made against this expedition it is significant that the Kisii have given no further trouble since and the result bears out the contention that if a tribe has got to be punished heavy punishment in the first instance minimizes trouble later." But Captain FitzGerald was not quite correct. Six years later a battle at Kisii would result in the death of another officer from The Royal Lancaster Regiment, and give the Gusii people a chance to again vent their anger against British colonial rule.

Serenli on the Juba River

Juba River from Serenli Boma

Map showing Jubaland FORGOTTEN EDGES OF EMPIRE Marched over by men of the The Royal Lancaster Regiment Introducing some little-known campaigns where men of the King's Own served. Compiled by Major Harry Fecitt MBE TD Number 2 JUBALANDJubaland was a generally dry and arid country covered by bushes which lay in the northeast of British East Africa (now named Kenya). The main physical feature was the Juba River which ran south into the Indian Ocean near Kismayu. The Juba River formed the boundary between British East Africa to the west and Italian Somaliland (now named Somalia) to the east. A few lakes and swamps occurred where the river overflowed its banks. Kismayu, located in British territory 12 miles southwest of the River Juba's mouth, had an all-weather harbour. The river mouth was closed by a sandbar with a depth of only one fathom at high water, but once the bar was crossed shallow-draught steamers enjoyed a fine navigable waterway up to rapids at Bardera, 150 miles from the sea. The Imperial British East Africa Company, a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the area, began administering Jubaland in 1891 from a base at Kismayu. On 1st July 1895 the British Foreign Office took over the company's administrative responsibilities. The hinterland was sparsely populated by fiercely independent Somali tribes who made nomadic migrations with their flocks between water sources. The tribes regularly raided each other . When the King's African Rifles arrived as British garrison troops the tribes accepted these intruders because of their firepower, but attempts at taxation by the British were fiercely resisted. Whenever any fighting took place the tactics of both sides were planned around securing and holding water supplies. In June 1910 the British established a defensive post at Serenli, four miles north of Bardera. The local Marehan tribe was truculent and had to be treated as a threat, so the post was built on a small hill overlooking the river. An outer zareba (a perimeter hedge constructed from thorny bushes and branches) with machine-gun emplacements built into it surrounded the post. An inner fortification of barbed wire and breastworks enclosed the living and storage areas. All the bush around the post was cut down to provide good fields of fire. The proximity to Bardera, which lay on the Italian side of the river, was not accidental as the Italian military maintained a regional HQ at Bardera. The traders in Bardera were very helpful to the British troops across the river, often selling them food and goods when the British resupply system failed. A small steamer re-supplied the Serenli base during the latter six months of each year when the river contained sufficient water. It took between 14 and 20 days to move up-river to Serenli from a post established at Gobwen near the river mouth, but when travelling downstream the time was halved. In May 1911 Captain T.O. FitzGerald, The Royal Lancaster Regiment, was sent to command the garrison at Serenli with troops from 3 King's African Rifles. Captain FitzGerald wrote: "It is a very pleasant, if somewhat slow, journey up the Juba River. Owing to the number of snags in the river bed the steamer ties up to the bank every evening, when it is possible to get some very good duck shooting before nightfall. The river is infested with crocodiles, and during a fourteen days' journey up the river the writer and another officer shot 78 of these rapacious brutes. It is a wonderful sight to see hundreds of these reptiles lying on the sand banks basking in the sun and when disturbed by the crack of a rifle to watch them scuttle away into the water. It is significant to note that the natives when drawing water from the river do so with cup-shaped gourds, tied to the end of a long pole. Many of these natives have been taken by crocodiles when bailing out water, by hand, from the river. It is quite a common thing for a crocodile to seize a camel by the nose when drinking water and pull it into the river, where it is soon torn to pieces by these ravenous creatures. To give some idea of the variety of food these beasts indulge in; the contents of the stomach of one that had been shot was as follows : an askari's blue jersey and puttees, various trinkets worn round the necks of native women, and an undigested leg bone of an ox, with various other bits and pieces." At Serenli Captain Fitzgerald commanded two British Officers, two Native Officers and 121 Askari (African soldiers). For a time he also held the post of Acting District Commissioner. However the major threat that developed against Captain FitzGerald's force was not the local Marehan tribesmen but sickness. In late 1911 and early 1912 a serious epidemic of beri-beri broke out amongst the Sudanese Askari (3 KAR recruited Sudanese soldiers whenever possible, but this race was said to be very susceptible to beri-beri) and their families at Serenli. Of 87 Askari, 25 women and two "followers" (civilians working for the military) affected, 41 Askari and three women died. This was a severe blow to the garrison strength. At that time the only means of communication out of Serenli was by runner to Gobwen, 150 miles away, and so it took fifteen days before a doctor arrived to treat the sick. The Medical Board of Inquiry that followed this incident determined that the causes of the disease were an inferior type of rice supplied that was deficient in mineral salts, the lack of green vegetables, which were unobtainable in Serenli, the general lack of variety in diet, the exceptionally hot climate of the station and the fact that the troops spent too long in a static location. (The Inspector-General of the King's African Rifles had recently passed through Serenli and his later report observed that static posts served no useful purpose, and that more camels were needed to make the Askari mobile and capable of accompanying civil officers on their visits to the tribes.) However the Medical Board of Inquiry paid a warm tribute to the way in which Captain FitzGerald handled a very trying situation. Another administrative problem for Captain Fitzgerald was provided by the accountants back at Nairobi HQ. The Askari at Serenli could select to be paid in "americani" cloth (bolts of material for clothing and general use), Indian Rupees (the currency of British East Africa) or Thalers (Austrian Maria Theresa Dollars). The men's pay accounts had to be kept in so many yards of "americani", rupees or dollars. Captain FitzGerald wrote: ". . . and as the value of the latter (Thalers) fluctuated considerably the Treasurer in Nairobi, who received the accounts about three months later, usually got frightfully perturbed and demanded an explanation as to why Mohamed Ferjalla was paid dollars at the rate of two shillings and sixpence when the value was only two shillings. The obvious reply was that one was not in touch with the money market by telephone or wireless and it was impossible to get the latest quotation." In July 1912 Captain Fitzgerald's Askari were relieved at Serenli and they returned to Nairobi. For superstitious reasons "C" Company 3 KAR, which had lost the beri-beri victims, was disbanded and its men posted to "B" Company. "C" Company was not reformed. Between December 1913 and May 1914 a large operation named the Marehan Patrol was mounted against the Marehan tribe in Jubaland. Companies from 1 KAR (from Nyasaland, now named Malawi), 3 KAR and 4 KAR (from Uganda) took part but there was no decisive outcome. The Marehan took advantage of weak British garrisons in Jubaland during the Great War to overrun and capture Serenli in 1916, killing the British garrison commander and 35 of his Askari. A punitive expedition between July 1917 and March 1918 recaptured Serenli, tracked down the Marehan responsible for the British deaths in 1916 and hanged eight of the leading perpetrators. Over 4,200 Marehan camels and goats were captured and slaughtered as a reprisal against the malcontents in the tribe. In July 1925 Jubaland ceased to exist when the districts of Juba River and Kismayu (a total of 33,000 square miles) were ceded by Britain to Italy to become part of Italian Somaliland.

The Waterfront Wei-Hai-Wei. (Note the policeman at the rear of the near gun.)

A Chinese policeman in British-administered Wei-Hai-Wei The city of Weihai was part of a territory called "Weihaiwei", which was leased by the UK from 1898 until 1930. It lay on the north Chinese coast west of Seoul in Korea. It was a summer station for the naval China Station along with Hong Kong. Wei-Hai-Wei was rented from the Chinese government. From 1898-99 it was administered by a Senior Naval Officer, RN; in 1899, this transferred to a military and civil commissioner appointed by the War Office. The garrison comprised some 200 British troops and a locally raised Chinese Regiment with British officers. In 1901, administration transferred to the Colonial Office. A Civil Commissioner was appointed to run the territory in 1902, and the Chinese Regiment was disbanded in 1903. The Wei-Hai-Wei Regiment had been raised by the British and had performed well during the Boxer Rebellion. After disbandment in 1903 ex-members of the regiment were selected to join the Wei-Hai-Wei Police. An armed policeman is shown in the postcard above. The territory became especially important to the British during the Great War when it was used as the Recruiting Centre and Depot for the Chinese Labour Corps. Companies of between 300 and 500 men were despatched to France via Vancouver, Halifax and Liverpool. Officers were recruited from Europeans working in China.

THE BAROTSE NATIVE POLICE In 1899 Britain agreed to protect Barotseland, now located in western Zambia, and in 1901 the British High Commissioner at the Cape, Alfred Milner, proclaimed the formation of the Barotse Native Police, authorizing its strength at 300 African Rank and File led by white officers and NCOs from the British South Africa Police. The Ruler of Barotseland, the Litunga, was not too keen on the idea but he was talked into accepting it. At that time the westernmost parts of his territory were being ravaged by slavers operating out of Portuguese West Africa (now Angola). (A future Boundary Commission was to award most of these areas to Portugal.) By 1902 240 men had been recruited and trained and allocated between five districts. In his report for 1902 the British Resident, Major R.T. Coryngdon BSAP, commented: ?The corps is recruited chiefly from the Batoka natives, who take to the routine and discipline at once and who will make smart and reliable soldiers; a few Mashukulumbwe who contrary to expectations are amenable and obedient; and a few Barotse, who, though more intelligent, do not seem to take to the military life at all. Experience has shown that it is always advisable to police a country with, if possible, natives from an alien tribe; . . .? In the Rhodesias, unlike in British West and East Africa and Nyasaland, there were no regular native military units and so the Police were regarded as a military force. The force was armed with rifles and two Maxims complete with pack saddles and tripods. A suggestion to recruit 25 Sikhs to be employed as NCOs instead of the whites was accepted but never adopted as the African NCOs quickly proved themselves capable of commanding small detachments and patrols. Whilst the Barotse Native Police did not have to fight any major engagements it carried out its duties professionally, maintaining the authority of Lewanika the Litunga, whilst also representing British interests in the region. In 1905 the force now totaled 300 African Rank and File and eleven white officers, and was inspected by Lord Roberts at Victoria Falls. A main operational task at that time was the prevention of the illicit traffic in rubber, arms and slaves across the Portuguese West Africa border. In 1910 the force, now numbering 370 Africans, twelve white officers and six white NCOs, was inspected at Victoria Falls by His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught. He became Honorary Colonel-in Chief of the force, and, it is said, gave permission for the force to use the regimental march of the Royal Engineers: ?Wings?. By now the duties of the force had been widened to include policing activities in the towns of Livingstone (now also known as Maramba), Broken Hill (now named Kabwe) and Ndola, just south of the Katanga border. In 1912 the Barotse Native Police and the North-Eastern Rhodesia Constabulary were amalgamated into The Northern Rhodesia Police. The unit was to fight hard and well during the Great War on the north-eastern border and in German East Africa. Further reading: ?The History of The Northern Rhodesia Police? by Tim Wright. ISBN 0-9530174-4-3 ?The Story of The Northern Rhodesia Regiment? by W.V. Brelsford. ?In Remotest Barotseland? by E.C. Harding

Endorsed on rear: "Egyptian Humour Serie 1 - No 8" Some of the other cards in this series, showing British troops interfacing with local people, are politically incorrect for these modern times. However to myself at least, they are indicative of social attitudes and behaviour during WW1 and are thus of historical interest.

Endorsed on rear: "Egyptian Humour - Serie 1 - No 2" Although Egypt doesn't qualify as "Commonwealth" these two cards fit into this topic. They were part of Series drawn by V. Manavian and printed for sale to British troops.

"Victoria Falls Regatta - The Barotse Police who were paraded on the day of the Regatta and whose band played selections." Here is an interesting postcard. The postmark looks like 1910. The handwriting states: "These are the Police who will parade in front of the Duke of Connaught at Victoria Falls which I hope to visit. Cheap excursion from Cape Town 19 pounds 10 shillings."

Here's what I have written elsewhere (extracts from 3 postings): Ross's Scouts Ross's Scouts was a white mounted unit formed in British East Africa after the declaration of war. Major Charles Joseph Ross DSO had been born in Australia in 1857. He ran away as a child to America where he lived with Indians, & then was a scout for the US Army in three Indian wars. He then joined the Canadian North West Mounted Police for six years & was Chief Scout during the Riel Rebellion. In the South African War he was awarded a DSO whilst riding with Roberts Horse & later comanded the Canadian Scouts. He then stayed in Africa trading in Bukoba & buying land in GEA. He poached in the wilder parts of BEA & GEA, & when the German authorities seized his land in retaliation he moved to the Kisii region of BEA, continuing his activities & selling his ivory to an Asian trader in Shirati, just across the GEA border from Karonga. Angry about the loss of his land Ross would sometimes raid across the GEA border to seize herds of native cattle, infuriating the German authorities. To curtail these activities BEA appointed him an Assistant Game Ranger in 1907 & he gradually became respectable, guideing Theodore Rooseveldt's Smithsonian Institute Safari in 1909. A year later he guided another Safari for "Buffalo" Jones, a famous USA wild-life conserver who wished to lassoo animals & photograph them rather than shoot them dead. On this safari the photographer was Cherry Kearton who later served in East Africa in the 25th Royal Fusiliers before moving to photographic duties with flying units. Charles Ross knew the bush on both sides of the border & he was a proven military leader. On the declaration of war he was appointed to form his own unit of Scouts & in November 1914 the 40 men of Ross's Scouts were sent to secure the western end of the BEA-GEA border area. Back on the ground he knew well Major Ross wasted no time in settling old scores. He is believed to have sent the male organs from a slaughtered goat across the GEA border to his old adversary District Commissioner Schultz, along with a note explaining that this was what the DC could look forward to. "E" Company 4 KAR established defended posts on the border south of Karungu & raided southwards into GEA with Ross. The opposition was minimal as the Schutztruppe (weak detachments of 7 FK & 14 FK) were south of the Mara River. Probably now things started to get out of hand, Ross's Scouts were a rough bunch of lads even by African frontier standards, & the looting & killing may have been "over the top" to spectators in Nairobi. Also, as was to happen elsewhere during the war, the temptation of seeing cash in the form of ivory ambling around the bush may not have been resisted. On 28 November 1914 Ross & his men rode into Shirati to find the Germans gone, but he had to ride quickly out when a British steamer shelled the town (see Post #354). However Ross & 4 KAR did not always win without loss. On 01 December a KAR & BEA Police patrol about 50 strong had a sharp fight at Susini during which the British lost BEA Police Lieutenant C.E.L. Bowen & two Askari. This border area quietened down in December but flared up again in January 1915 resulting in a deployment of Loyal North Lancashires onto the Lake. On 13 January 1914 General Stewart interviewed both Major C.R. Ross & Lieutenant Paysant of Ross's Scouts at Kisumu. As a result of these interviews it was decided to disband Ross's Scouts. Ross's 40 men chose where next to go & some went on Intelligence duties. Lieutenant J.J. Drought & 18 other officers, NCOs & men were posted to the East African Mounted Rifles on 15 January. They stayed in the eastern Lake area & were known as "Drought's Troop", & they raised a force of tribesmen for cross-border patrolling known as the "Skin Corps" because of the tribesmens' aversion to using clothing. On the disbandment of Ross's Scouts Charles Ross dropped out of sight. The Official History states that he resigned his commission in December 1914, but his unit wasn't disbanded until mid-January 1915.. He qualified for the 1914/15 Star, & for the War & Victory medals & his medal card lists him as a Major in Ross's Scouts, East African Mounted Rifles & East African Signal Company. The History of The East African Mounted Rifles does not list him as ever being on strength. Neil Speed who wrote his biography "Born to Fight" (The Caps & Flints Press, Melbourne, 2002) believes that he may have joined his old pals Paddy Driscoll & Frederick Selous in 25th Royal Fusiliers (The Legion of Frontiersmen) & become involved in Intelligence duties. Certainly he was convalescing back in UK in 1917 when the remnants of 25th Royal Fusiliers also were. After the war Ross re-joined the BEA Game Department, working from his home in Eldama Ravine, Rift Valley Province in what is now Kenya. On 19 June 1922, just 15 days short of his 65th birthday, he died of double pneumonia caused by exposure after a fall whilst out on patrol. Does anyone have any more information on Charles Ross's war service?

Cuthbert Bowen's memorial plaque in Nairobi Church of England Cathedral

An interesting 1906 postcard of the Hong Kong Constabulary

Gentlemen PRIMROSE BACKING The Curator of the QLR Museum, Ms Jane Davies, has kindly provided this extract from the QLR Handbook: 'The Primrose Diamond worn on our soldier's berets was introduced by Lt Col FFE Allen DSC, CO of 1st Bn the ELANR (East Lancashire Regiment), at Hamburg in 1945. Primrose was the facing colour of the 30th Ft 1702-1881 and was carried again in 1916 when 1st Bn ELANR wore patches of that colour on their helmets and sleeves at the battle of the Somme. The distinctive diamond shape of the backing may be traced back to the old 59th, the 'Lilywhites', who when in India in 1902-3 received permission to wear a white diamond patch on their sun helmets. The backing is not worn by officers or by warrent officers class I.' Harry ex-1 LOYALS and 4QLR

Lieutenant Cuthbert Bowen's grave in Kisumu Cemetery, Kenya Lieutenant C.E.L. BOWEN, East African Police The civilian European graves in Kisumu Cemetery are now suffering from neglect but the graves tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are well maintained, and these include nine graves holding German remains that were brought in from Kisii Boma after the action there on 12th September 1914. One interesting CWGC headstone at Kisumu commemorates Lieutenant C.E.L. Bowen of the East African Police who was killed in action on 1st December 1914, age 30 years. CWGC records list Lt Bowen as serving in the East African Corps of Military Police. "The Bond of Sacrifice", Volume 1, states that he was attached to the King's African Rifles at the time of his death. Cuthbert Edward Latimer Bowen was the son of a Swansea vicar. He was educated at Rugby and he served in the South African War with the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment (Militia), joining the 1st Battalion of that Regiment at Peshawar on a Regular Commission in 1903. However in 1905 he left the Army to accept a Colonial Office post as an Assistant District Inspector of Police in British East Africa. On the declaration of war Cuthbert Bowen was commissioned into the forces of the British East Africa Protectorate and was sent with a few policemen to operate on the German East African border southwest of Kisumu. In late November 1914 the British Forces in this area were "E" Company 4 KAR under Major R.F.B. Knox working out of defended camps at Suna and Butende, supported by Bowen's police detachment and Ross' Scouts. The latter unit had been recently raised by Major Charles Joseph Ross DSO, an East African hunter and adventurer who was working in the BEA Game Department, and consisted of around 40 mounted men known to Ross. Ross's Scouts had been in the Lake border area since the Kisii action, raiding south to Musoma and the Mara River and removing any cattle that they found back to BEA territory. The German Schutztruppe forces in the area were No 7 and No 14 Field Companies based at Mwanza under Captain Bock von Wulfingham (whose photograph can be seen in the Arusha Boma Museum). These companies had deployed forward detachments in forts at Musoma, Utegi and Shirati, but pressure from the British had recently caused the Schutztruppe to evacuate Shirati. However German patrols remained near the border. Lieutenant Bowen was working with "E" Company 4 KAR and during a patrol on late November he captured a German prisoner. News then came in of two more Germans with Askari on Susuni Hill, 25 miles southeast of Shirati. On 1st December Major Ross at Butende ordered Cuthbert Bowen and his police with half of "E" Company, a total of around 50 men, to attack this enemy detachment and hopefully take more prisoners. On reaching the objective the British force split, a KAR officer taking his Askari on one route whilst Cuthbert Bowen made directly for the summit with his police. As the police approached the summit the Schutztruppe surprised them, killing Lieutenant Bowen and two policemen. The British force consolidated and fought with the Germans, forcing a Schutztruppe withdrawal as darkness fell. The following morning the three British dead were recovered and buried at the foot of Susuni Hill. Later Cuthbert Bowen's remains were re-buried in Kisumu Cemetery. Ross' Scouts had become notorious and controversial by the end of 1914 and they were disbanded. Around 30 of them enlisted in the East African Mounted Rifles as a Scouts Troop under Lieutenant J.J. Drought and this troop remained in the Lake border area. Sporadic fighting continued in the region until the capture of Mwanza by British forces in July 1916. By then Drought was a Major commanding the East Lake Border Police.

Great War graves in Kisumu Cemetery, Kenya Gentlemen I recently produced these short notes for the journal of the King's African Rifles & East African Forces Association & I post them here for general interest. Harry

FORGOTTEN EDGES OF EMPIRE Marched over by men of the The Royal Lancaster Regiment Introducing some little-known campaigns where men of the King's Own served. Compiled by Major Harry Fecitt MBE TD SOMALILANDSomaliland, a possession of Ottoman Egypt, was acquired in 1884 when Britain occupied Egypt and renamed the possession the British Somaliland Protectorate. Britain retained the territory because of its strategic position across the Straits of Hormuz from Aden. The Protectorate was totally undeveloped and consisted of an arid coastal plain with a depth of up to 50 miles, followed by a broken range of mountains 4,000 - 5,000 feet high. Behind the mountains was a high nearly waterless plateau known as the Haud. The summer heat was intense and the winters in the mountains and on the plateau created cold swirling mists. The people were Somali nomads who moved with their flocks of camels, sheep and goats constantly searching for new pastures. Aden relied upon Berbera for supplies of meat. The more adventurous British officers of the Indian Army took leave in Somaliland for the hunting, which was superb. In 1899 a local influential religious leader, Mohamed bin Abdullah Hassan (known by the British as the "Mad Mullah" - as a youth he had undergone primitive tribal surgery to remove a bone from the top of his head) attracted followers who became known as Dervishes, and he openly resisted British Rule. No Briton ever saw the Mullah & he was never photographed, but for the next 22 years he and his men led British troops on a chase around the Protectorate and in & out of Abyssinia & Italian Somaliland. When British troops were needed they were deployed from Aden, East Africa or directly from India. The East African troops were battalions of the King's African Rifles based in Nyasaland (now named Malawi), Uganda & British East Africa (now named Kenya). In 1909 Captain T.O. Fitzgerald of the King's Own was seconded for service with the 3rd King's African Rifles in British East Africa. Captain Fitzgerald had served operationally in the South African War from February 1900 to July 1901 where he had been mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Queen's Medal with three clasps and the King's Medal with two clasps. Captain Fitzgerald and his Askari (African soldiers) waded ashore at Berbera in Somaliland in February 1909 as part of a British military expedition trying to contain the Mullah's activities. The Mullah had been exiled to Italian Somaliland for a time but he became restless for his own land and so returned to the Haud and incited his tribesmen to become Dervishes and to confront the British again. The campaign involved a lot of marching and counter-marching across the Haud and one of the major pre-occupations of the British officers was the obtaining of adequate supplies of water. When found the water was not exactly pure, and Captain Fitzgerald wrote: "The great difficulty in these operations was the lack of water, which could only be obtained from wells and pumped out into large tarpaulins. The water had to be exposed to the air for some time before it was fit to drink owing to its sulphur content. Nothing one could do to it, or add to it ? even whisky ? could take away the abominable taste. When moving from one camp to another it was possible to tell, by the loathsome stench some considerable time in advance, that camp was being reached. The water was so highly charged with chemicals that the life of the tarpaulins into which the water was pumped was about six weeks to two months, when they became pitted with holes. Judging by the agony one suffered after drinking, there is no doubt that this water must have had some deleterious effect on the interior arrangements." As the wells were far apart the British columns of troops had to carry large quantities of water on camels brought from East Africa and elsewhere, making the columns slow and immobile. The Mahdi's men rode local camels that were hardened to marching long distances without watering, and the Dervishes themselves could live for days by just drinking camels' milk. Thus the Mullah's men were nimble and they always stayed ahead of their lumbering British pursuers. In 1910 the British colonial authorities lost patience with the campaign and its expense and the Haud was evacuated and left to the depredations of the Mullah. A British garrison was left on the coast but Captain Fitzgerald and his Askari sailed back to British East Africa. As the book "African General Service Medals" records: "There was no fighting except against monotony, and most, if not all, of the troops eventually returned to their home stations without seeing a Dervish, let alone firing a shot, but they did receive a medal!" Captain Fitzgerald and his Askari received the African General Service Medal with a clasp inscribed "Somaliland 1908-10" but also, by campaigning over some of the roughest and most inhospitable terrain in Africa, they had prepared themselves as a team to face the much tougher military tasks that lay ahead of them. (To be continued.)

Map of Somaliland & the Mullah Campaigns Greetings Gentlemen I have written a series of very short articles for the newsletter of The Lancaster Military Heritage Group, titled "Edges of Empire". As they are published I will post them here for general interest. The images accompanying this article on Somaliland 1908 - 1910 may be of interest to anyone possessing a relevant medal. Harry

Patrick I strongly recommend the publications of Foundry Books. "Colonial Armies: Africa 1850 to 1918" "Small Wars and Skirmishes: 1902 to 1918" "Armies of the 20th Century: Risings and Rebellions 1919 to 1939" "Armies of the 19th Century: Asia: India's Northwest Frontier" are very readable and contain excellent detail and useful illustrations. They don't focus just on the British campaigns, but cover other colonial powers as well. Harry