 Posted Wednesday, September 05, 2007
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| I am like most, familiar with the conflict in France & Flanders and also Gallipoli, but I have recently been a reading another excellent book about the Beechey brothers 'Brothers in War'. One of the brothers killed died in the conflict in East Africa which I was not aware of. The book gives sources of information at the end, but can anyone give me any more info on this conflict. From what I can gather the fighting seems to have been mostly in what we now know as Kenya and Tanzania (Tangyanika) and also mention of Kilimanjaro which until the early 1960's 'belonged ' to Kenya until given as a birthday present to the President of Tanzania as Kenya already had Mount Kenya ! The brother Charles Beechey was serving in the 25th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. They started out in September 1917 with 250 men and ended in November with only 17 remaining. Also the loss of more than 59,000 out of 60,000 horses and ponies sent out to Africa. The troops were supported by the K.A.R. (Kings African Rifles). What was the significance and purpose of this part of the First World War ? Any info gratefully received. Thanks RMA
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Posted Saturday, September 13, 2008
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| In response to your question about the purpose of the campaign in East Africa, I'm going to boldly suggest my book: Britain, South Africa and the East Africa Campaign, 1914-1918: the Union comes of Age, published 2005 by IB Tauris. It is, in my opinion, very expensive so would suggest trying your local library. It's recently been brought to my attention that there might be some military errors within it, however, the argument still holds - the Great War Forum has a review, if you're interested.
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