East Africa

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Information about the database African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1800-1925, part of Readex World Newspapers Archive.

British African regiments such as the King's African Rifles

Excludes South Africa.

After Uganda was declared a Protectorate in 1893, the colonial authorities formed a military force of some 600 regulars and 300 reservists, most of whom were Sudanese recruited in Egypt. A small number of Arabic-speaking British officers were responsible for training this force. In 1895 this force was organized into rifle companies, which collectively became known as the "Uganda Rifles".

Growing disillusionment in the Uganda Rifles over issues such as loneliness, poor food, poor pay and frequent reassignments to remote areas led to a mutiny in 1897. Several British officers were killed, and discontent amongst Uganda’s moslem community, which was sympathetic to the Sudanese, erupted into violence in several places. The British despatched troops from India to put down the mutiny and to stop the violence, although this took until 1899 to complete.

As a result of the mutiny, towards the end of 1897 the colonial government decided to reorganise the Uganda Rifles on an urgent basis, and a number of commissioned and non-commissioned officers for the task of reorganisation were recruited in London. A newspaper report of the day said ,,,The Soudanese forming the force will be greatly reduced, and the vacancies filled up by recruiting from the East African Protectorate and, possibly, also from India… The non-commissioned officers were ready to depart for Uganda around 20th-21st January 1898, and the commissioned officers followed in due course.[1]

The King's African Rifles (KAR) was formed on 1 January 1902 from various local regiments, and were responsible for the defence of British colonies and protectorates in East Africa, initially Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda, British Somaliland, and later Tanganyika Territory and Zanzibar. Each colony was responsible for recruiting and maintaining its own battalions.[2] The 1st and 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalions [later Regiments] were established from the Central African Regiment, 3rd (Kenya) Battalion [later Regiment] from the East Africa Rifles, 4th and 5th (Uganda) Battalions [later Regiments] from the Uganda Rifles, and 6th (Somaliland) Battalion [later Regiment] from local Somaliland forces. In 1910 this was disbanded, though a 6th (Tanganyika) Regiment emerged in 1917.[3]At least during war time, each regiment could have multiple battalions. Men were recruited locally while officers, and at least some NCOs were from the British Army.

The Army and Navy Gazette 15 February 1902 (page 2) stated

"We alluded recently to the creation of the King's African Rifles, under the Foreign Office, embodying the East and Central Africa and Uganda Forces, as an example of an organisation having many features to commend it, since it brings all units under a single and controlling responsible authority, and will cause the whole to be disciplined upon a simple system under settled rules and regulations.[4]

Control of the King’s African Rifles appears to have passed to the Colonial Office in 1905.

From 1927 the administration of the King’s African Rifles, together with that of the Royal West Africa Frontier Force (previously The Niger and West Africa Frontier Force, known from 1900-1918 as the West Africa Frontier Force) was brought together in a new Military Branch within the Colonial Office. In September 1931 the appointments of inspector generals for the KAR and RWAFF were combined into one post; the Inspector General of African Colonial Forces.

The East African Mounted Rifles (EAMR) was a Volunteer regiment of settlers formed in Nairobi, Kenya, on 5 August 1914. Most of the members of the EAMR were expert riders, crack shots and they had the immense advantage of knowing the country, the conditions and the lingua franca of the country, Swahili. Within a few months many were transferred to other units to satisfy the demand for men who knew the country.[5] Due to transfers, the regiment had faded away by May 1917.[6]

Records

  • Officers will generally be mentioned in the London Gazette, and British Army Lists. It appears they are more likely to be mentioned in the official War Office publications Quarterly and Monthly Army Lists, or listed with more detail, compared with the commercial Army Lists. For more details of these publications, see British Army - Records. As an (online) example: September 1919 Monthly List, under "Special Lists", lists King's African Rifles officers in Staff, 1st-7th Regiments, Signal Company and Pay Department.[7]
  • A researcher found an officer of the Uganda Rifles 1901-2 mentioned in The National Archives record "Africa: Protectorate staff lists (East Africa, Uganda, Somali Coast, Central Africa, King's African Rifles), 1896-1905 FO 403/556"[8]
  • Catalogue entry CO 534 Colonial Office: King's African Rifles Original Correspondence TNA. This series contains original correspondence relating to the King's African Rifles 1905-1926,
  • Catalogue entry Subseries within WO 106 King's African Rifles, including Somaliland Camel Corps TNA. 1895-1937.
  • Search TNA Discovery for WW1 (East Africa, Cameroon and West Africa: WO 95/5289-5388) and WW2 War Diaries.
  • King's African Rifles Papers at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
  • Catalogue entry CO 445 Colonial Office: Niger and West Africa Frontier Force and West Africa Frontier Force Original Correspondence TNA This series contains original correspondence relating to the Niger and West Africa Frontier Force to 1899, the West Africa Frontier Force from 1900, and the Royal West Africa Frontier Force from 1918. It was raised locally in 1897 to protect the frontiers of the British protectorates in West Africa against the French. It was paid by the imperial government, and officered by the British Army. It took the title 'Royal' in April 1928, and was responsible for the defence of The Gambia, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.
  • Catalogue entry CO 820 Colonial Office: Military Original Correspondence TNA. From 1927 to 1938, the files relate principally to two colonial military forces: the King's African Rifles and the Royal West African Frontier Force. From 1939 there is also correspondence relating to other African colonial forces,
  • Service records, should they still exist, would be found in African archives. Researchers have found emails to such archives have not been answered. For practical purposes, any potential service records appear unaccessable, unless perhaps you are personally able to visit the relevant African country. There is no information known about holdings, but any records which survive are likely to relate to later, rather than earlier periods.

Regimental histories

  • The King's African Rifles. A Study in the Military History of East and Central Africa, 1890-1945 by Lieut.-Colonel H Moyse-Bartlett 1956. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001096707. Sample pages only, reprint edition Volume 1, Volume 2 Google Books. Includes Contents.
  • Historical records of the 3rd Battalion [King's African Rifles] 1895-1933. TNA WO 106/270
  • Record of the 3rd Battalion [King's African Rifles] during the campaign in East Africa TNA WO 106/273
  • The Story of the East African Mounted Rifles by C.J. Wilson 1938. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01009620624. Also available in a reprint edition.[9]

Regimental articles

  • "The 4th Battalion of the 4th Regiment (Uganda) of the Kings African Rifles in the Great War" by Harry Fecitt March 21, 2011. gweaa.com. 4th Regiment, recruited from Uganda, started the Great War with only one battalion. By the end of the war the 4th Regiment had six battalions. 4/4 KAR was initially based at Mbagathi, outside Nairobi in British East Africa (now Kenya). This was a massive depot where recruit training was centralised for all the KAR regiments except the 1st. 1 KAR continued to use its bases in Nyasaland (now Malawi).

External links

Maps

Historical books online

  • The Kenya Gazette Issues from 1899. (broken range). There is a small tool bar which enables you to scroll the volumes available. There appear to be no editions for 1916 . There is a Search facility for all issues. Google Books
The Kenya Gazette is an official publication of the government of the Republic of Kenya. It contains notices of new legislation, notices required to be published by law or policy as well as other announcements that are published for general public information. It is published every week, usually on Friday, with occasional releases of special or supplementary editions within the week.
Britain across the seas. Africa: History and description of the British Empire in Africa by Sir Harry Johnston 1910 Archive.org

References

  1. ↑ nhclark. 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903) Victorian Wars Forum 14 May 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018
  2. ↑ CO 820 Colonial Office: Military Original Correspondence TNA.
  3. ↑ King's African Rifles Papers at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
  4. ↑ LeoHickman. 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903) Victorian Wars Forum 6 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  5. ↑ stevebecker. East African Mounted Rifles Great War Forum 14 June , 2014, quoting The Story of the East African Mounted Rifles by C.J. Wilson 1938. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  6. ↑ Nine Faces Of Kenya by Elspeth Huxley. Google Books
  7. ↑ September 1919 Monthly List, page 2518 digital.nls.uk.
  8. ↑ LeoHickman. 2nd Lt John Simeon WARD - Uganda Rifles (1899-1903) Victorian Wars Forum 5 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018
  9. ↑ The Story of the East African Mounted Rifles by C.J. Wilson leonaur.com.

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