Table Of ContentFighting for Britain
JamesCurrey
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Copyright©DavidKillingray2010
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Killingray,David.
FightingforBritain:AfricansoldiersintheSecond
WorldWar.
1.WorldWar,1939-1945—Participation,African.
2.WorldWar,1939-1945—Personalnarratives,African.
I.Title940.5’36-dc22
ISBN978-1-84701-015-5JamesCurrey(Cloth)
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Contents
ListofMaps,Tables&PhotographicEssays vii
Acknowledgements viii
Abbreviations x
Introduction
1
1
Africa 1939
11
2
Recruiting
35
3
Army Life
82
4
Indiscipline, Strike & Mutiny
121
5
War
141
6
Going Home & Demobilisation
179
v
Contents
7
Ex-servicemen & Politics
203
8
The Social Impact of War Service
236
Postscript
256
Bibliography 261
Index 281
vi
List of Maps, Tables & Photographic Essays
Maps
1. Africain1939 10
2. BritishmilitaryforcesinAfrica,September1939 26
3. AreasoftheworldwhereAfricanforcesserved1940–1945 142
Tables
1. Africancolonialmilitaryforces1938 25
2. Wartimerecruits:BritishcolonialandSouthAfricanforces 44
Photographic Essays
1. GoldCoastfamilylisteningtotheradio 37
2. Africanslookingatawartimerecruitingposter,Accra,GoldCoast,
1942 48
3. WestAfricanrecruitsswearingtheoathofallegiance 49
4. TheAsantehene,NanaSirOseiTutuAgyemanOtuumfuoPrempehII,
KBE,inspectingtheKumasiHomeGuard,October1942 51
5. TheEmirofKanoenroutetoamarch-pastoftroops,July1943 52
6. GoldCoastrecruitsatbayonetdrill,late1942 56
7. AdamuSokotointrainingwiththeNorthernNigerianRegiment,1943 57
8. CaptainSethAnthonyinBurma,1944 87
9. TrainingdriversfortheEastAfricanArmyServiceCorps,Nairobi,
Kenya 92
10. EastAfricantroopsseeingthesightsofColombo,c.1943 104
11. BlackSouthAfricantroopsonleaveinJerusalem,1942 105
12. AbyssinianPatriotleader,1941 149
13. ParachutelandingamongapartyofAfricansoldiersbathinginthePi
chuang,Burma 161
14. 1991SwaziSmokeCompany,1944 166
15. WhiteSouthAfricantroopsenteringAddisAbaba,Ethiopia,6April
1941 167
16. Africansoldiershavingtheirphotographtaken 250
vii
Acknowledgements
Theideaforwritingthisbookemergedfrommyresearchforadoctoratemore
than25yearsago.ItwasfurtherstimulatedbyworkwiththeOxfordDevelop-
mentRecordsProjectonBritishsoldiers’experienceswiththeAfricanColonial
Forces,andthengivenaddedspurwhenIwasadvisortoaBBCAfricaService
series broadcast in 1989 that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the
outbreakofwar.Inthemakingofthatprogramme‘stringers’indifferentparts
ofAfrica recorded for the BBCthevoices ofAfrican ex-servicemenwho had
servedwiththe British colonial forces duringthe SecondWorldWar.Among
thosewholistenedtothebroadcastswereagoodnumberofformersoldiers,and
someof theirchildren,whorespondedbysendingtheBBCproducer,Martin
Plaut,accountsofwartimeexperiences.Theresultwasasubstantialquantityof
neworalandwrittenmaterialthatdescribedtheAfricanexperienceofwartime
recruitment,ofarmylife,serviceonbattlefrontsfromAbyssiniatoBurma,and
ofdemobilizationandpost-waremploymentandpolitics.Theseaccounts,often
writteninasimpleanddirectform,wereattimesvividandgripping,sometimes
reflectingthepainofmisfortune,inothercasesthenewopportunitiesbrought
asaresultofwarservice.
That collection of unique material served asthe basis forthis book. It has
beensupplementedbyoralmaterialthatIrecordedinGhanamanyyearsago,
similarextensivematerialcollectedbyfriendsandcolleaguesfromotherpartsof
Africa,andoralandwrittenrecordsinvariousarchivalcollections,mostnotably
the ImperialWar Museum, London; Rhodes House Library, Oxford; andthe
LiddellHartArchiveatKing’sCollegeLondon.
Thetextofthebookhasbeenwrittenbymeratherslowly,butthroughoutthe
overlonggestationperiod Martin Plaut has chivvied, encouraged and harried
meto keep at it but only as a kindly friend can.And he has performed other
important taskswhich merit the ‘with Martin Plaut’ attribution, as part co-
parent of the book. Martin has read and helpfully commented on the text,
frequentlychallengingloosestatementsandunsubstantiatedideas.Hehasalso
helpedchooseandassembletheillustrations.Webothwantedphotographstobe
includedbutweweredeterminedthattheyshouldnotbetreatedasmereillus-
trationbutbecriticallyinterrogatedwithawrittentext.
Writingabooklikethisreliesheavilyontheworkandeffortsoffriendsand
colleagues.Insomeinstancesthedebtsareobvious,arisingfrompublishedwork.
In many instancesthe debt is hidden,with ideas being sparked from reading
textsthathavelittletodowithAfricansoldiersintheSecondWorldWar.Many
ideashavealsocomeasaresultofseminarpapersandsubsequentdiscussions,
conversations,andcorrespondence.ForallofthisIammostgratefulparticularly
viii
Acknowledgements
tomycolleaguesintheUniversityof London,atmyowncollegeGoldsmiths,
butalsoattheSchoolofOrientalandAfricanStudies,theInstituteofCommon-
wealthStudies,King’sCollege,andattheInstituteofHistoricalResearchwhere
theweeklyImperialhistoryseminarhasmetformanyyears.
Itwould be impossibleto mention allwho have helped shape my historical
thinkingovertheyears,althoughImustmentionthesustainedintellectualstim-
ulationprovidedbytwofriends,RichardRathboneandAndrewPorter.Others
towhomIoweagreatdeal,listednotinorderofsignificancebutinalphabetical
order,are:DavidAnderson,StephenAshton,JimBrennan,AnthonyClayton,
FestusCole,thelateMichaelCrowder,JohnDarwin,MyronEchenberg,Kent
Fedorowich,AlbertGrundlingh,LouisGrundlingh,thelateRobinHallett,John
D. Hargreaves, Robert Holland,Wendell P. Holbrook,Ashley Jackson,Tony
Kirk-Greene,DickvanGalenLast,NancyLawler,EricLanning,JoannaLewis,
JohnLonsdale,TimLovering,WmRogerLouis,ShulaMarks,PeterMarshall,
BillNasson,DavidOmissi,MelvinPage,JohnParker,TimothyParsons,Andrew
Roberts (formerly of SOAS), David Rooney,Terry Ranger, Deborah Shack-
leton,George‘Sam’Shepperson,AnthonyStockwell,SarahStockwell,Martin
Thomas,GardnerThompson,MichaelTwaddle,KennethVickery,SukiWolton,
andPeterYearwood.
I am also grateful for the help and guidance of numerous librarians and
archivistsparticularlyinLondon,Oxford,andCambridge.Abigdebtgoesto
TerryBarringerandhercolleaguesattheLibraryoftheRoyalCommonwealth
Society, for many years in Northumberland Avenue, London, and then at
Cambridge.
MygreatestdebtistomywifeMargaretwhoseclarityofthoughtandpreci-
sion of expression has frequently rescued me from ill-thought-out ideas and
grievousgrammaticalandfactualerrors.Thankyouforloveandtherichdiscus-
sionsthathavetakenplaceonmostdaysoverthepast50years.
ix
