"The old and the bold"

[iaindh]

I'm currently reading the book, "They fought for King and Kaiser, South Africans in German East Africa 1916" by James Ambrose Brown and came across the following passage that made me chuckle:

"Indeed, never before in the history of that vast territory had such armies been ranged against each other. Tribal warriors of East Africa, now fully trained and masters of the bush, German machine gunners and artillerymen and the most polyglot mixture of British Imperial troops ever assembled on one battlefield. Stocky Lancashiremen of speech all but unintelligible to the settler soldiers of the 2nd Rhodesians; Baluchis from the North West frontier, long enemies of the British; King's African Riflemen from subjugated Kenyan tribes; fighters from the mystic hills of Kashmir - Punjabis who had fought with fanatical courage in the Indian Mutiny; Royal Fusiliers with their mixed bag of scoundrels, remittance men, alcoholics and heroes and adventurers."

He meant of course the 25th (Frontiersmen) Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) amongst whom was the great Frederick Selous.

Incidentally I didnt know whether to post this in the British section but with it's dealing with South Africans specifically, so I thought I'd post it here.

I am enjoying the book; great reading and it seems to me few people know of the campaign in GEA.

Iain

[Madziro]

It is a fascinating campaign. Another good reference book is the official government one called The South Africans with General Smuts in German East Africa1916 printed by the government printer in 1939.

Attached some of the metal shoulder titles / collars worn as the only regimental distinction by the Indian regiments deployed there, that have come my way, for interest!

[Madziro]

Helmet badge of the 2nd Rhodesia Regt in GEA. There are a few variants as many were hand made from sheet brass.

[iaindh]

Hi Dudley,

you are lucky to have such an interesting collection of badges from the GEA campaign and thanks for posting and sharing them.

regards, Iain

[Brian Conyngham]

Dudley and Iain

I have always been interested in the GEA campaign, possibly as my grandfather fought in it. The official history as mentioned by Dudley is great except very tedious reading as the author jumps backwards and forwards in time....I am trying to get through a copy myself, summarizing as I go along!

Many of the unit diaries are available at Kew.

There are a number of works on this campaign all interesting.

Brian

[Madziro]

Gents, thanks for the kind words. The campaign is fascinating for me, hence the interest. I had the opportunity of visiting Tanzania while still serving with the SANDF and got to see the areas around Kilimanjaro, Arusha and also Dar es Salaam. There is a statue of a German askari in central Dar es Salaam to this day. Here are some more titles from that campaign.