Author: Malcolm Page
Publisher: Casemate Publishing, May 2011
Binding: Softcover
ISBN: 1-84884-438-7
Synopsis
Trained & officered by the British, each country?s indigenous army became a source of both pride & cohesion in their own country, none more so than the King?s African Rifles, founded in 1902 & probably the best known of the East African forces. The first complete history of the East African forces contains much new material. Illus.;6x9 inches, 298 pgs.
More Information
Whatever one may think about the rights & wrongs of colonial rule, it is hard to deny that during the first half of the this century those African countries, which then came under British administration enjoyed a period of stability which most now look back upon with a profound sense of loss. Paradoxical though it may seem, one of the bulwarks of that stability was each country?s indigenous army. Trained & officered by the British, these force became a source of both pride & cohesion in their own country, none more so than the King?s African Rifles, founded in 1902 & probably the best known of the East African forces.
In this, the first complete history of the East African forces, Malcolm Page, who himself served in the Somaliland Scouts for a number of years, has had access to much new material while researching the history of each unit from it?s foundation to the time of independence.
Historians in several fields will be grateful to him for having put on record this very important period in the annals of both Great Britain & East Africa while the memories of many who served there were still fresh, & they themselves will perhaps be most grateful of all for this lasting tribute to the men they served & who served them, for in that shared sense of duty lay the true spirit of East African Forces.
