King's African Rifles
King's African Rifles | |
---|---|
Active | 1902–1960s |
Country | British Africa |
Allegiance | British Empire |
Branch | British Colonial Auxiliary Forces |
Role | Internal security |
Size | 30,000 |
Engagements |
The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a
Uniforms
Until independence, the parade uniform of the KAR comprised
In 1898, good conduct stripes were also introduced, carrying an extra shilling (from originally 5 shillings a month) for those who had not been sentenced for imprisonment, confined to barracks for seven days, to a fine of more than five shillings, or corporal punishment. In addition, they also wore brown leather equipment similar to the 1888
Formation
Six battalions were formed in 1902 by the amalgamation of the Central Africa Regiment (CAR), East Africa Rifles (EAR) and Uganda Rifles, with one or two battalions located in each of Nyasaland, Kenya, Uganda and British Somaliland:
- 1st (Nyasaland) Battalion [1902–1964] with eight companies (formerly 1CAR)
- 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion [1902–1963] with six companies (formerly 2CAR)
The 1st and 2nd Battalions were also known as the 1st and 2nd
- 3rd (Kenya) Battalion [1902–1963] with seven companies and a camel company (formerly the East African Rifles)
- 4th (Uganda) Battalion [1902–1962] with nine companies (formerly the African Companies of the Uganda Rifles)
- 5th (Uganda) Battalion [1902–1904] with four companies (formerly the Indian Contingent of the Uganda Rifles) – the senior battalion as it was the first to be raised.
- 6th (British Somaliland) Battalion [1902–1910] formed from three infantry companies, the camel corps, militia and mounted infantry of the local forces in British Somaliland.[4]
On formation, there was no regular staff system in connection with these six battalions beyond the usual regimental staff and an Inspector-General who made two annual tours and reported to the
The 5th and 6th battalions were disbanded by 1910 as a cost-saving measure by the Colonial Office and out of white-settler concern over the existence of a large indigenous armed force.
Operational history
Somaliland campaigns
During the early 1900s the King's African Rifles took part in the Somaliland campaign against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (known to the British as the 'Mad Mullah') and the Dervishes. Lt-Col. Alexander Cobbe of 1st (Central Africa) Battalion KAR, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at Erego, on 6 October 1902.[6]
The KAR were part of the British air and ground force that defeated the Dervish movement in 1920.
First World War
The KAR began the
Full strength of the KAR in 1914 was 70 British officers, three British NCOs, and 2,325 Africans. There were no organic heavy weapons (each company had one machine gun), including artillery or organised reserves and the companies were, in reality, large platoons of 70 to 80 men.
In 1915 the KAR was expanded by having the three battalions reorganised into standard four-company battalions, which were then brought up to full strength at 1,045 men each. It was not until early 1916 that the 2nd Nyasaland and 5th Kenya battalions [1916–1963] were re-raised, this being due to do with white sensitivities in Kenya about arming and training large numbers of black African troops. Later in 1916 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions were expanded into two battalions each through recruiting in their home areas. It was not until
Thus, in late 1918, the KAR consisted of 22 battalions as follows:
- Western Force: 1st KAR Regiment with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions; plus 1st and 2nd Battalions 4th KAR Regt
- Eastern Force: 2nd KAR Regiment with 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions; 1st and 2nd Battalion of the 3rd KAR; plus 3rd and 4th Battalions 4th KAR Regt
- German East Africa Garrison: 3rd Battalion of the 3rd KAR, 5th battalion of the 4th KAR, 2nd battalion of the 6th KAR, 1st Battalion of the 7th KAR.
- British East Africa Garrison: 1st Battalion of the 5th KAR, 1st Battalion of the 6th KAR
- KAR Training Force: 4th Battalion 1st KAR, 4th Battalion 2nd KAR, 4th Battalion 3rd KAR, 6th Battalion 4th KAR
Part of the KAR's expansion involved bringing up unit strengths to the same size as British and
The regiment fought in the
By the end of the Great War, the KAR comprised 1,193 British officers, 1,497 British NCOs and 30,658 Africans (33,348 total) in 22 battalions, including two made up of former German askaris, as noted above. In Armies in East Africa 1914–18, Peter Abbot notes that the KAR units recruited from former prisoners of war were used as garrison troops by the British, to avoid any conflict of loyalties. However, one of these battalions was involved in the pursuit of a force under Hauptman Wintgens from February to October 1917.
KAR casualties in the First World War were 5,117 killed and wounded with another 3,039 dying from diseases.
Inter-war period
During the interwar period, the KAR was slowly demobilised to a peacetime establishment of six battalions, at which strength the regiment remained until the Second World War. In 1938, the regiment was composed of two brigade-strength units organised as a "Northern Brigade" and a "Southern Brigade."[7] The combined strength of both units amounted to 94 officers, 60 non-commissioned officers, and 2,821 African other ranks. After the outbreak of war, these units provided the trained nucleus for the rapid expansion of the KAR. By March 1940, the strength of the KAR had reached 883 officers, 1,374 non-commissioned officers, and 20,026 African other ranks.[8]
Second World War
The KAR fought in several campaigns during
Initially, KAR units were deployed as part of the 1st East African Infantry Brigade and the
The two divisions included East African, Ghanaian, Nigerian, and South African troops. The Ghanaian and Nigerian troops came from the Royal West African Frontier Force. Under the terms of a war contingency plan, a brigade each was provided from the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and from Nigeria for service in Kenya. A Nigerian brigade, together with two East African brigades (the KAR brigades) and some South Africans, formed the 11th African Division. The 12th African Division was similarly formed, but with the Ghanaian brigade instead of the Nigerian brigade.
In 1941, during the East African Campaign, Sergeant
The 11th African Division was disbanded in November 1941 and the 12th African Division was disbanded in April 1943. In 1943, the
By the end of the war, the regiment had raised forty-three battalions (including two in British Somaliland), nine independent garrison companies, an armoured car regiment, an artillery unit, as well as engineer, signal and transport sections.
After the Second World War
The regiment played a major role in operations during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya (1952–1960). In 1952, the 7th (Kenya) Battalion was reformed; it was renumbered as the 11th (Kenya) Battalion in 1956. 2nd/3rd Battalion, a reserve unit, was raised during the military phase of the emergency in Kenya and was under consideration for disbandment by 1957.[10] A company of the regiment perpetrated the Chuka massacre in June 1953.[11]
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions saw service in the Malayan Emergency, where they were heavily involved in fighting Communist rebels, suffering 23 dead.
The regiment was retitled the East African Land Forces in 1957. The last
When the various territories from which the KAR was recruited became independent, the regiment began to break up:
- 1st Battalion – 1st Battalion, Malawi Rifles
- 2nd Battalion – 2nd Battalion, Northern Rhodesia Regiment (subsequently Zambia Regiment)
- 3rd Battalion – 3rd Battalion, Kenya Rifles[12]
- 4th Battalion – 1st Battalion, Uganda Rifles (later formed basis of the Ugandan Army)
- 5th Battalion – 5th Battalion, Kenya Rifles[12]
- 6th Battalion – 1st Battalion, Tanganyika Rifles
- 11th Battalion – 11th Battalion, Kenya Rifles
- 26th Battalion – 2nd Battalion, Tanganyika Rifles
The extent to which KAR traditions influence the modern national armies of the former East African colonies varies from country to country. In Tanzania, a mutiny in 1964 led to a conscious decision to move away from the British military model. In Kenya, on the other hand, the title of Kenya Rifles survives and the various campaigns in which the KAR distinguished itself in both World Wars are still commemorated. On the island of Mauritius which is located off the eastern coast of Africa, a detachment of the King's African Rifles was present until 1960. It was gradually replaced by the newly formed Special Mobile Force (SMF) and Police Riot Unit (PRU).
Only the
Battle honours
The regiment's battalions were not awarded colours until 1924, as colours were not traditionally carried by rifle regiments. The colours had many of the regiment's battle honours emblazoned on it. The old colours were replaced in the 1950s.
- Ashanti 1900 (awarded 1908 for services of The Central Africa Regiment), British Somaliland 1901–04
- The Great War (7 battalions): Kilimanjaro, Narungombe, Nyangao, East Africa 1914–18
- The Second World War: Afodu, Burma 1944–45
List of commanders
- Inspectors-general
- October 1901 – 1907 Brigadier-General William Henry Manning[13]
- John Gough
- 1909 – 1913 Colonel George Thesiger
Notable servicemen
- Gen. Sir George Giffard (1886-1964)- Served K.A.R. 1913–1919, British Army officer
- Lt. Gen. Tito Okello Lutwa(1914-1996)- Served K.A.R. 1940–1962, Uganda National Liberation Army (1979–1986), President of Uganda (1985)
- Lt-Gen. David Musuguri (b.1920)- Served K.A.R. 1942–1957, Tanzanian People's Defence Force officer
- Maj-Gen. Sir Freddie de Guingand (1900-1979)- Served K.A.R. 1926–1931, British Army officer
- Maj-Gen. John Butler Walden (1939-2002)- Served K.A.R. 1957–1961, Tanzanian People's Defence Force officer
- Brig-Gen. Shaban Opolot (1924-2005)- Served K.A.R. 1945–1962, Ugandan Army officer
- Brig-Gen. Henry Walker DSO (1874-1953)- Served K.A.R. 1900–1910, British Army officer
- Col. Richard Meinertzhagen (1878-1967)- Served K.A.R. 1902–1906, British intelligence officer and ornithologist
- Lt-Col. Colin Mitchell (1925-1996)- Served K.A.R. 1960s, British soldier and politician
- Lt-Col. Eric Wilson VC (1912-2008)- Served K.A.R. 1937–1946, British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Cpt. Tracy Philipps MC (1888-1959)- Served K.A.R. 1913–1917, British public servant
- Cpt. David Gordon Hines (1915-2000)- Served K.A.R. 1939–1942, British accountant and colonial administrator
- Lt. Idi Amin (1925-2003)- Served 1946–1962, President of Uganda (1971-1979)
- Lt. Roald Dahl (1916-1990)- Served K.A.R. 1939, British novelist and children's author
- Lt. Peter Hopkirk (1930-2014)- Served 1950s, British journalist and historian
- Lt. George Shepperson (1922-2020)- Served 1943–1946, British historian
- 2-Lt. Cyril Taylor (1935-2018)- Served 1954–1956, British educationist and social entrepreneur
- Sgt. Nigel Leakey VC (1913-1941)- Served 1939–1941, British soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Cpl. Waruhiu Itote (1922-1993)- Served 1942–1945, leading figure of the Mau Mau rebellion
- Robert Fraser (1937-1986)- Served 1950s, British art-dealer
- P. J. Marshall (b.1933)- Served 1950s, British historian
- John Nunneley (1922-2013)- Served 1941–1945, British Army officer and businessman
- John Seymour (1914-2004)- Served 1939–1945, British author and activist
See also
- African Distinguished Conduct Medal
- Bikaner Camel Corps
- Gold Coast in World War II
- History of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
- Kenya in World War II
- Kenya Regiment
- KiKAR – Swahili pidgin spoken in British colonial East Africa
- King's African Rifles Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
- Nyasaland in World War II
- Order of Battle, East African Campaign (World War II)
- Rhodesian African Rifles
- Somaliland Camel Corps
- Southern Rhodesia in World War II
- Sudan Defence Force
Notes
- ^ Ebbs. "Uniforms of the KAR". TheAntiqueStores.
- ISBN 978-0-297-85266-7.
- ^ Period images also depict KAR uniforms post 1914 wearing 1908 Pattern Webbing but the exact date this was established has not been verified. Barnes, Major R.M. Military Uniforms of Britain and the Empire
- ^ Moyse-Bartlett, 1956, p. 129
- ^ "The Somaliland Operations". The Times. No. 36906. London. 23 October 1902. p. 6.
- ^ "No. 27517". The London Gazette. 20 January 1903. p. 385.
- ^ See 1939 two-brigade structure at http://niehorster.org/017_britain/39_colonial/39_african.html.
- ^ Andrew Mollo, The Armed Forces of World War II, p. 133
- ^ Playfair 1954, p. 176.
- ^ Percox, 90. (Book ref at Kenya Defence Forces)
- ^ Anderson, David; Bennett, Huw; Branch, Daniel (August 2006). "A Very British Massacre". History Today. 56 (8): 20–22.
- ^ a b Kenya Yearbook 2010
- ^ "No. 27376". The London Gazette. 12 November 1901. p. 7294.
References
- Mills, T. F.; Buyers, Christopher (12 September 2006). "Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth at Regiments.org – King's African Rifles". Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- Mollo, Andrew; McGregor, Malcolm; Turner, Pierre (1981). The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia, and Organization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54478-4.
- Moyse-Bartlett, Lieutenant Colonel H. (1956). The King's African Rifles: A Study in the Military History of East and Central Africa, 1890–1945. Aldershot: OCLC 1971184.
- OCLC 494123451. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
External links
Further reading
- Malcolm Page, King's African Rifles: A History (Hardcover), Pen & Sword, 2006