East African Campaign

[marmi01]

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know where I could find a list of books (general campaign and regimental histories) of the British/African units who were in the East African Campaign.

Regards,

Mick

[bushfighter]

Mick

The easiest thing to do would be to obtain a copy of "Tip & Run - the untold tragedy of the Great War in Africa" by Edward Paice and photocopy the extensive bibliography section.

Two good books are downloadable free from the internet:

The Gold Coast Regiment by Clifford

The Story of the 1st Cape Corps by Difford

Good Luck

Harry

[marmi01]

Thanks Harry!

[Ken Lees]

Mick,

I asked a similar question some time ago on another forum and received the following suggested reading list:

Battle For the Bundu, The First World War in East Africa; by Charles Miller, Macdonald and Jane's, London, 1974, 353 pages.

The Great War in Africa ( 1914 - 1918 ); by Byron Farwell, W.W. Norton and Company, N.Y. & London, 1986, 382 pages. ( Note book contains several factual errors. Schuckmansburg was captured by the British South Africa Police not the South African Police. Union of South Africa formed in 1910, not 1911. Winston S. Churchill served in France with an infantry battalion, not a Yeomanry unit. Etc. )

The East African Force 1915 - 1919; by Brig-Gen. C. P. Fendall, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., H.F. and G. Witherby, London, 1921, 238 pages.

Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O.; by J. G. Millais, F.Z.S., Longman's, Green & Co., London, 1919, 387 pages. ( Section covering Great War is very well done. )

Frontier Patrols, A History of the British South Africa Police and other Rhodesian Forces; by Col. Colin Harding, C.M.G., D.S.O., G. Bell & Sons Ltd., London, 1937, 372 pages.

The Story of the East African Mounted Rifles; by Capt. C. J. Wilson, M.C., The East African Standard Ltd., Nairobi, ca. 1938, 136 pages. ( Very scarce book about the history of a locally raised unit. Very well written. )

The 2nd Rhodesia Regiment in East Africa; by Lt-Col. A. E. Capell, D.S.O., Simson & Co. Ltd., London 1923, 132 pages. ( Another scarce book on East African campaign. Well written and covers from March 1915 until mid 1917. )

Three Years of War in East Africa; by Capt. Angus Buchanan, M.C., John Murray, London, 1919, 247 pages.

And for a view from the other side:

My Reminiscences of East Africa, The Campaign for German East Africa in World War I; by Gen. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Battery Press, Nashville, n.d., 336 pages.

Almost all of the above books have been reprinted so if you find one you like it should be possible to obtain a copy for your own library.

[Martin Bennitt]

For a lighter and fictitious but very readable account you could try William Boyd's

An Ice-Cream War

cheers Martin B