East Africa (First World War)

Also Includes some other regions of Africa.

Sixth Avenue Nairobi, British East Africa c 1915 sent by John Flatman who was probably in British East Africa with the Indian Army

FIBIS resources

• "The North-Western Railway Volunteer Rifles in East Africa in the First World War" by Noel Clark FIBIS Journal Number 32 (Autumn 2014), pages 30-33. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals.

External links

• Great War Forum contains a category "Sub Saharan Africa".
• Great War in Africa Association. Includes a category Medical Archive, which currently consists of documents relating to the Pike Report into medical conditions in East Africa, 1918.
• World War I in East Africa by Ross Anderson 2001 PhD Thesis. academia.edu. Abstract from University of Glasgow] website, with link to a pdf download.
• "Indian Army in the East African Campaign in World War I" by P K Gautam. Africa Trends July-September 2015 The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) [India].
• Indian Volunteers in the Great War East African Campaign, by Harry Fecitt, now an archived webpage. Western Front Association.
• Harry Fecitt’s Harry’s Africa kaiserscross.com
  • The 29th Punjabis in British East Africa, September to December 1914. There is also a brief mention of the Cossipore Artillery Volunteers (Calcutta Volunteer Battery).
  • The Advance into German East Africa: Indian Army Units in Action, March to mid-June 1916
  • The 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis. German East Africa, October 1916 to January 1917
  • The 3rd Battalion of 2nd King’s African Rifles in German East Africa in 1917
  • British Somaliland: March 1915 – October 1919 Minor Operations against the ‘Mad Mullah’. Includes Indian Army troops.

Somaliland 1920: The Final Campaign against the “Mad Mullah”. Includes Indian Army troops.

• Harry Fecitt on gweaa.com
  • "The 17th Cavalry East Africa Squadron 1915 – 1916" by Harry Fecitt April 14, 2011.
  • "The Indian Railway Corps, East African Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919" by Harry Fecitt, April 2015. html version pdf
  • "Atonement: The 5th Light Infantry Regiment in German Kamerun, August 1915 to February 1916" by Harry Fecitt, April 2015. html version, pdf
  • "The 5th Light Infantry In East Africa March 1916 – January 1918" by Harry Fecitt, April 2015. html version, pdf
  • "The 40th Pathans in action in East Africa, January 1916 to February 1918" by Harry Fecitt, March 2015 html version, pdf
  • The 57th Wilde’s Rifles (Frontier Force), Indian Army, in German East Africa by Harry Fecitt gweaa.com. July 1916-1917. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  • "The 22nd Derajat Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) In East Africa December 1916 to December 1918" by Harry Fecitt html version, pdf gweaa.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  • "The 30th Punjabis at Tandamuti Hill and Nakadi Ridge East Africa, February – October 1917" by Harry Fecitt, March 2015 html version, pdf
  • "The 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) in German and Portuguese East Africa September 1917 – February 1918" by Harry Fecitt c May 2016. html version, pdf
• "Oranges, Dates and Coconuts: 58th Vaughan’s Rifles (Frontier Force) in Egypt, Palestine, Somaliland and Portuguese East Africa 1916 - 1918" by Harry Fecitt. Harry’s Sideshows kaiserscross.com. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
• "East African Campaign 1914 – 1918: Faridkot Sappers & Miners" by Richard Sneyd html version, pdf gweaa.com. Robert (Robin) Thomas Stuart Sneyd was working as a civil engineer in Madras Presidency when he joined the Indian Army Reserve of Officers in March 1915 and joined the Faridkots at Voi in British East Africa in October 1915 as a Lieutenant. Faridkot Sappers and Miners were Imperial Service Troops raised, and paid for by the His Highness the Maharajah of Faridkot, recruited from his princely state of Faridkot, in the vicinity of Lahore.
• "Norforce: Major General Edward Northey and the Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia Frontier Force, January 1916 to June 1918" by Ross Anderson. Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies Vol 44, No 1 (2016): Special Issue - The Union at War, 1914-1953. Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
• "Go Spy Out the Land: Intelligence Preparations for World War I in South West Africa" by James Stejskal Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies Vol 44, No 1 (2016): Special Issue - The Union at War, 1914-1953. Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
• "A Machine Gunner's Odyssey Through German East Africa: The Diary of E S Thompson January 1916 - February 1917" Military History Journal, South African Military History Society, Vol 7 No 3, June 1987 - Vol 7 No 6, December 1988. The author was in the 7th South African Infantry.

Introduction; Part I. 17 January - 24 May 1916; Part 2. 25 May - 17 September 1916; Part 3.
 18 September 1916 - 26 February 1917

• "The German East Africa Campaign - 1914-1918" Military History Journal , South African, Military History Society, Vol 6 No 6, December 1985. Includes extracts from a diary kept by the Brigade Signals Officer of the 1st South African Mounted Brigade, Capt F E Jackson, MC
• Soldiers’ Stories: [Diary extracts] Major Charles Stooks. The diary of Major Charles Stooks of the 5th Light Infantry, Indian Army, reveals the difficulties faced by those involved in the final conquest of Germany’s West African colony of Kamerun. nam.ac.uk
• Soldiers’ Stories: [Letter extracts] Major John Montgomery Letters sent home by Major John Montgomery, 1st Mounted Rifles (1st Natal Carbineers), describe the successful campaign fought by South African troops in German South-West Africa. nam.ac.uk
• Soldiers’ Stories: [Letter extracts] Medical Officer Captain Alexander Wallace joined ‘A’ Company of the British South Africa Police in August 1915, and spent the early part of the war securing the border between Rhodesia and German East Africa. In May 1916 he joined the new British offensive. Wallace was later Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Cross for his care of the wounded during the fighting at Mpepo in September 1917. Includes photographs. nam.ac.uk
• Great War Diaries of John Bruce Cairnie, King's African Rifles Scroll down to letter C for The Great War Diaries - 1917 (King's African Rifles) and The Great War Diaries - 1918/1919 (King's African Rifles). Cairnie was posted in December 1917 to 5/4 K.A.R. at M’bagathi [Kenya] wwi.lib.byu.edu.
• East African Campaign Diary - Tanzania & Mozambique: 1917 – 1919 by Percival W Probert. Select letter P of Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences wwi.lib.byu.edu, or Direct link. If you select pages “Web versions”, note that contents are more extensive than appear, for example the diary continues for over 100 pages. Percival Probert was with the Royal Engineers, Wireless Signals Corps.
• The Old and the Bold: The 25th Battalion Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen) in the Great War 1914-1918. Select "On Campaign" for transcriptions of personal accounts from newspaper articles, and "East Africa"/Despatches for transcriptions from the London Gazette
• The Frontiersmen Historian. [25th Bn Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen)]
  • "Frontiersmen in their own words" Part 1, Part 2
  • "The Frontiersmen’s Lorry". Indian Army Staff at Nairobi are heavily criticised.
• "Battle of Tanga, German East Africa, 1914". Kenneth J Harvey, 2003. Master of Military Art and Science Theses from Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library. In November 1914, British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" conducted an amphibious assault on the Port of Tanga in German East Africa
• The Battle of Tanga – 1914 by Geoffrey Regan. This article from "Dansk Militærhistorisk Selskab - Chakoten" is in English and Danish and appears to be based on Brassey’s Book of Military Blunders by Geoffrey Regan
• First page only of "Armoured Trains in British India" by Colonel A. A. Phillips C.I.E., V.D Royal United Services Institution. Journal Volume 113, Issue 651, 1968 pages 254-257. There is mention of the armoured train crew from the Regiment sent to East Africa during the First World War. They operated until the railway lines were safe from German attacks and then manned a tug on one of the Great Lakes.
• Listen to the podcast How the Great War Razed East Africa: Edward Paice on WW1 in Africa africaresearchinstitute.org
• Article "How the Great War Razed East Africa" by Edward Paice africaresearchinstitute.org
• B.S.A.s in German East Africa. The South African Motor Cyclist Corps. bsa.org.nz
• "The use of flight in the African campaigns of World War 1" by Dr Anne Samson. thesamsonsedhistorian.files
• "The Third Man: Willy Trück and the German Air Effort in South West Africa in World War I" by S. Monick Military History Journal, South African Military History Society, Vol 5 No 3, June 1981
• Bibliography: East Africa firstworldwarstudies.org.

Maps

• Guide: War Office Archive of [online] Maps relating to the former British East Africa (modern-day Kenya, Uganda and adjacent parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia). The maps were created between 1890 and 1940. British Library website.

Historical books online

• Collection 425/95 Operations in East Africa: reports of engagements, honours and rewards IOR/L/MIL/7/17250 1914-1919 British Library Digitised Manuscripts. Awards to both British and Indian soldiers. From page 224 there is a description of the action which took place on the Tsavo River on 6th September 1914.
• Military operations : East Africa: Volume I August 1914-September 1916 compiled by Charles Hordern 1941 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Part of the series "History of the Great War based on Official Documents". This was the only volume published.

Contents page viii; General Index page 583; Index to Arms, Formations and Units page 597; Maps at end of book, after page 603.

• "List of published despatches on Military Operations during the Great War" page 715 Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War, 1914-1920 The War Office HMSO 1922. Includes East Africa. Locate these in The London Gazette World War 1 despatches. Links to all the military despatches from commanders-in-chief. thegazette.co.uk.

See below for the one despatch for Rhodesia, and one for East Africa.

• History of the Great War: Medical Services: General History, Volume IV by G W Macpherson 1924. Includes East Africa. Archive.org

Transcribed reports by Dr WW Pike on the medical services in East Africa in the Medical Archive gweaa.com. Includes British East Africa and German East Africa, the latter publication is titled Report On Medical And Sanitary Matters In German East Africa 1917, published 1918.

• The Royal Army Service Corps: A History of Transport and Supply in the British Army, Volume II by Colonel R H Beadon 1931. Link to an Adobe pdf download. Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. Includes the First World War period, with a chapter on East Africa.
  • There are two known ASC MT Driver memoirs.
• A History of the Army Ordnance Services, Volume III: The Great War by Major General Arthur Forbes 2nd edition 1932, first published 1929. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. Includes a chapter on East Africa.
• The Post Office of India in the Great War edited by H.A. Sams 1922 Archive.org. "East Africa", page 253.
• "Military affairs in Rhodesia from the outbreak of the war to the beginning of 1916" The London Gazette 13 July 1917 Supplement: 30182 Page: 7067. Includes
  • The Tanganyika Naval Expedition [1915-1916] The London Gazette 13 July 1917 Supplement: 30182 Page: 7070. This incident inspired The African Queen, the 1935 novel by C. S. Forester and 1951 film (starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn) and was retold in the book Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: The Bizarre Battle for Lake Tanganyika by Giles Foden.
    • "Naval Operations in Central Africa" by Commander G B Spicer Simson RN, page 287 United Empire The Royal Colonial Institute Journal Volume IX New Series 1918 Archive.org. The Tanganyika Naval Expedition.
• Fourth Supplement to The London Gazette of Tuesday, the 2nd of April, 1918 Archive.org . The Supplement date is 5 April 1918. East Africa.
• With Botha and Smuts in Africa by W Wittall Late Lieutenant–Commander, RN, Armoured Car Division 1917 Archive.org. Also includes South West Africa.
• Marching on Tanga: (with General Smuts in East Africa) by Francis Brett Young. New and revised edition 1919. First published 1917. Archive.org
  • " ‘Marching on Tanga’ " Chapter XI, page 109 Francis Brett Young by E G Twitchett 1935 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Comments about the book.
• Historical Record of the 101st Grenadiers, 1778-1923 2nd edition 1928. lib.militaryarchive.co.uk. Note: to view the document you require Flash (turned on). Includes WW1 service in East Africa, including Tanga, and Egypt and Palestine.
• "A Side Show (to the memory of some very gallant gentlemen)" by "Ganpat" (M L A G) page 721 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 199 Jan-June 1916. Archive.org. [Tanga, East Africa]
• Sketches of The East Africa Campaign by Capt. Robert V. Dolbey, R.A.M.C. 1918 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available as a transcribed Project Gutenberg edition Archive.org, or from Gutenberg.org.
• Three Years of War In East Africa 1919. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. Although the author is catalogued as Captain F R Sedgwick, the title page shows the author to be Captain Angus Buchanan, 25th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, (the Legion of Frontiersmen).
• "Jambo," or, With Jannie in the Jungle; 30 East African Sketches by A W Lloyd, [Captain Arthur Wynell Lloyd M.C, 25th Bn Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen)] [cartoonist] c 1917-1920s Archive.org. Jannie is Jan Christian Smuts.
• Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th Royal Fusiliers by J G Millais 1919 Archive.org. Includes two chapters on the East African Campaign.
• The East African Force 1915-1919; an unofficial record of its creation and fighting career; together with some account of the civil and military administrative conditions in East Africa before and during that period by Brigadier General C P Fendall 1921 Archive.org. British Library Digital Collection edition where the images may be rotated.
• My Reminiscences Of East Africa by General von Lettow-Vorbeck, [the German commander], published London, c 1920 Archive.org
• With the Nigerians in German East Africa [Nigeria Regiment] by Captain W D Downes 1919 Archive.org

"Beho Chini" [Bweho Chini] by ‘Ba-Ture’ page 324 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 203 January-June 1918. Archive.org. Nigerians in German East Africa

"A Nigerian Column" by ‘Ba-Ture’ page 779 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 203 January-June 1918. Archive.org.

• Map

• The Gold Coast Regiment in the East African Campaign by Sir Hugh Clifford 1920 Archive.org
• War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force, Volume III by H A Jones 1931 Archive.org. Part of the series "History of the Great War based on Official Documents". Includes German East Africa.
• "An Airman’s Experiences in East Africa" by Leo Walmsley. Blackwood’s Magazine, no 206-207 July 1919-June 1920 Archive.org. Page 633, page 788, page 53, page 189.

The accounts appear to be extracts from the book Flying and Sport in East Africa, by Leo Walmsley1920, available to those in North America, etc on Hathi Trust Digital Library

• The War in Africa, 1914-1917, and in the Far East, 1914 by H C O’Neil 1918 Archive.org
• British Campaigns in Africa and the Pacific, 1914-1918 by Edmund Dane 1919 Archive.org
• "The Conquest of East Africa January 1915- November 26, 1917" page 105 A History of the Great War, Volume IV by John Buchan 1923 Archive.org. For other volumes in this series, see First World War - Historical books online.
• Duel For Kilimanjaro An Account Of The East African Campaign 1914-1918 by Leonard Mosley. Published c 1963. Pdf download, Digital Library of India.
• The Navy Everywhere by Conrad Cato 1919. Archive.org Includes "The Navy in East Africa"
• World War I Naval Staff Monographs. Select Volume 2: East Africa to July 1916. Cameroons 1914, to download a pdf. Published London c 1920. Royal Australian Navy website (Select Media Room/Publications/World War I Naval Staff Monographs)
• Britain's Sea Soldiers. A Record of the Royal Marines during the War 1914-1919. Compiled by General Sir H. E. Blumberg, Royal Marines 1927. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Includes East Africa and the Cameroons.
• "Severn's" Saga by E. Keble Chatterton 1938 Hathi Trust Digital Library. HMS Severn of the Royal Navy in East Africa.
• From Dartmouth to the Dardanelles, a midshipman's log, edited by his mother 1916 Archive.org. Includes two chapters on East Africa. Note: the first page of the Foreword advises that due to tradition, the names of officers and ships have been suppressed- those of the midshipmen mentioned are all fictitious.
• The story of a lion hunt; with some of the hunter's military adventures during the war by Arnold Weinholt, late Intelligence Corps [British East Africa] 1922 Archive.org
• "Eighteen Months Shore Service in German East Africa" by Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander Cecil G Sprague R N. Pages 184-192 and pages 306-316 Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, Volume 5 1919 Archive.org
• "Inland Waterways and Docks, Royal Engineers in War Time, with special reference to the mystery port of Richborough (Lecture & Discussion)" by Captain A E Battle, RE Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers 1923-1924, pages 104-116. Includes Inland Water Transport in Mesopotamia, and brief mention of other theatres of war Egypt, Salonika, East Africa, Italy and Northern Russia. Melbourne University Digital Collection.
• From The Motor Cycle Archive.org
  • "Despatch Carrying in the Jungle" page 203, Volume 17, September 16, 1916 .
  • "A South African Despatch Rider in “German East” page 244, Volume 17, September 21st 1916.
  • "Motor Cyclist Infantry in German East Africa" page 324, Volume 17, October 12 , 1916
  • "Despatch Carrying in German East Africa" page 452, Volume 17, November 23rd 1916.
• "Humours of the East African Campaign" age 254 True Stories of the Great War, Volume IV. Editor in Chief Francis Trevelyan Miller 1917 Archive.org
• The Mad Mullah Of Somaliland by Douglas Jardine, Secretary to the Administration, Somaliland, I916-21. published 1923 Archive.org
• Through Swamp and Forest : the British Campaigns in Africa [Photographs] 1917. State Library of Victoria.
• Two years' captivity in German East Africa, being the personal experiences of Surgeon E. C. H., Royal Navy [Ernest Charles Holtom] c 1919 Archive.org. Also see next book.
• In German Gaols; a narrative of two years' captivity in German East Africa by Ernest F Spanton, Priest of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa. 1917 Archive.org. The four anonymous Naval officers mentioned in this book are Holtom (see previous book), Sankey, Paterson and Turner.
• Reports on the treatment by the Germans of British prisoners and natives in German East Africa … Presented to both Houses of Parliament September 1917 Archive.org
• British civilian prisoners in German East Africa; a report by the Government Committee on the Treatment by the Enemy of British Prisoners of War 1918. Archive.org
• 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, however issues for the other WW1 years are available. 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.

South-West Africa Campaign

The South-West Africa Campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa (Namibia) by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British Government at the beginning of the First World War.

• With Botha in the field by Moore Ritchie 1915 Archive.org
• With Botha's Army by J P Kay Robinson 1916 Archive.org
• With Botha and Smuts in Africa by W Wittall Late Lieutenant–Commander, RN, Armoured Car Division 1917 Archive.org. Also includes East Africa.
• A Doctor's Diary in Damaraland by Dr H F B Walker , late Captain RAMC 1917 Archive.org. Damaraland was the central portion of German South-West Africa.
• "Our Escape from German South West Africa" by Corporal H J McElnea, late of the Imperial Light Horse, South Africa. Page 231, True stories of the Great War, Volume III. Editor in Chief Francis Trevelyan Miller 1917. Archive.org
• Hunting the Hun in British [i.e. German] South West Africa : a series of sketches on the humourous side of the G.S.W.A. campaign by W. H. Kirby [1915]. The author served with the Natal Light Horse, and was previously artist [cartoonist] for a newspaper. State Library of Victoria.

Togoland and the Cameroons

• Also see some books listed under East Africa above.
• History of the Great War based on Official Documents: Military Operations, Togoland and the Cameroons, 1914-1916 by Brig.-General F J Moberly 1931. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Lacks maps and illustrations.
• French Official Histories: Les Armées françaises dans la Grande Guerre sga.defense.gouv.fr. Includes Tome IX. Les fronts secondaires. Deuxième volume. Les campagnes coloniales : Cameroun. - Togo. - Opérations contre les Senoussis. With online maps (Cartes).
• "Doing Her Bit. An Account of a Cruiser’s Operations in the Cameroons" by Guns.Q.F.C. page 717 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 198 July-December 1915. Archive.org
• Correspondence relative to the alleged ill-treatment of German subjects captured in the Cameroons Presented to both Houses of Parliament November 1915 HMSO London 1915 Archive.org.

Fiction

• Wilmshurst of the Frontier Force by Percy F. Westerman. Illustrator Ernest Prater. 1918 gutenberg.org. Archive.org version
• Tom Willoughby's Scouts: A Story of the War in German East Africa by Herbert Strang. Illustrator Wal Paget. 1919 gutenberg.org.