Table Of Content(cid:64)(cid:53)(cid:57)(cid:59)(cid:64)(cid:52)(cid:69)(cid:22)(cid:54)(cid:36)(cid:22)(cid:63)(cid:64)(cid:45)(cid:60)(cid:56)(cid:49)(cid:64)(cid:59)(cid:58)
(cid:64)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:22)(cid:62)(cid:83)(cid:90)(cid:79)(cid:80)(cid:94)(cid:84)(cid:76)(cid:22)(cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:95)(cid:84)(cid:97)(cid:80)(cid:22)(cid:62)(cid:80)(cid:82)(cid:84)(cid:88)(cid:80)(cid:89)(cid:95)(cid:22)
(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:79)(cid:22)(cid:95)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:22)(cid:49)(cid:76)(cid:94)(cid:95)(cid:22)(cid:45)(cid:81)(cid:93)(cid:84)(cid:78)(cid:76)(cid:22)(cid:47)(cid:76)(cid:88)(cid:91)(cid:76)(cid:84)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:22)
(cid:90)(cid:81)(cid:22)(cid:95)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:22)(cid:50)(cid:84)(cid:93)(cid:94)(cid:95)(cid:22)(cid:67)(cid:90)(cid:93)(cid:87)(cid:79)(cid:22)(cid:67)(cid:76)(cid:93)
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no insignificant part
The Rhodesia Native Regiment and the
East Africa Campaign ofthe First World War
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Rhodesia German Tanga PIselmanbda
Native Tabora East Africa
(Tanzania)
Regiment Zanzibar
Area of Kilimatinde Dodoma Island
Operations
Kilosa
(1916–1918) Kitunda
Dar es Salaam
Iringa RufigiRiver MIslaafniad
Bismarckburg
Madibira
LTaankeganyika LRaukkewa Malangali Mahenge Kilwa
St. MoritzNew Utengule Mpepo INDIAN
Abercorn Itaka New Langenburg Ifinga OCEAN
Fife Mwaya Old Langenburg Liwale Lindi
Northern Kitanda Mahiwa
Rhodesia Karonga Gumbiro
(Zambia) Weidhofen Likuyu
La Sonyea Nyam- Tundutu
ke Nya M bBaamyba tumRobvoumaRiver
sa
(M MtengulaMwembe
(MalawNyasala alawi) MtarikMaahKuNoaraenwPuanogrutugAuPmeoserletioa
i)nd Namwera East Africa
Lake Mutuali (Mozambique)
Amarambu
Malema
(EPMoaosrztta umAgfburiqeiucZsaeameb)eziRiverBlaShnirmteyiRuvCrerlehaLinmlawjkteLaeiciroRNeaMgLmIoiloonlIaecmneruarabgoiuiMLoilgooknwALyNielagtuooMmnyuiarrruuCpehualalamubMaiqouçea mCbhiaqnuneel
SRohuotdheesrian Namacurra M oza
(Zimbabwe) Quelimane
Rail
Road 100km 200km
Border [approximate scale]
River
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no insignificant part
The Rhodesia Native Regiment and the
East Africa Campaign ofthe First World War
Tim Stapleton
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This book has been published with the help ofa grant from the Canadian Federation for the
Humanities and Social Sciences,through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Programme,using
funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council ofCanada.We
acknowledge the financial support ofthe Government ofCanada through the Book Publish-
ing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Stapleton,Timothy Joseph,1967–
No insignificant part :the Rhodesia Native Regiment and the East Africa Campaign ofthe
First World War / Tim Stapleton.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-0-88920-498-0
ISBN-10:0-88920-498-5
1. Great Britain.Army.Rhodesia Native Regiment. 2.World War,1914–1918—Regimen-
tal histories—Zimbabwe. 3.World War,1914–1918—Participation,Black. 4.World War,
1914–1918—Campaigns—Africa,East. 5.World War,1914–1918—Zimbabwe. 6.Zimbabwe—
History,Military. i.Title.
d547.r458s72 2006 940.4'1608996891 c2006-901352-7
Cover design by Sandra Friesen.Text design by Catharine Bonas-Taylor.Photographs on pages3
and4courtesy ofTim Stapleton.Photograph on page 133provided by Dr.Alec Douglas.All other
photographs courtesy ofthe Zimbabwe National Archives.
©2006Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Waterloo,Ontario,Canada
www.wlupress.wlu.ca
Printed in Canada
Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in
this text,and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately.Any errors and omissions called
to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.
No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system or transmitted,
in any form or by any means,without the prior written consent ofthe publisher or a licence
from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright).For an Access Copyright
licence,visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
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for
Mavis and Fungai
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contents
Acknowledgements ix
List ofAbbreviations xi
List ofTerms xii
Introduction 1
1 Setting the Stage:Colonialism and Zimbabwe:The First World War
and Africa 9
2 Africans in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and the First World War 19
3 Soldiers in the Rhodesia Native Regiment:Their Profile and
Daily Life 31
4 The Road to Songea 53
5 The Sieges ofMalangali and Songea 67
6 The Siege ofKitanda 79
7 Disaster at St.Moritz 93
8 Mpepo:The Place ofWinds 105
9 Portuguese East Africa 119
10 Demobilization and Life after the War 135
Conclusion 147
Appendix:Short Biographies ofSome African rnrSoldiers 151
Notes 159
Bibliography 177
Index 181
vii
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acknowledgements
i would like to thank the social sciences and humanities research
Council ofCanada and Trent University for funding the research for this book.
The staffofthe Zimbabwe National Archives,where most ofthe research was
conducted,was extremely helpful and professional.The Department ofHis-
tory and Centre for Defence Studies at the University ofZimbabwe provided
me with an institutional base during research trips.Various people at Wilfrid
Laurier University Press,particularly Jacqueline Larson,provided important
guidance through the publication process.I would like to offer special thanks
to two sons of Rhodesia Native Regiment soldiers;Chief Kaisa Ndiweni,a
well-known figure in Zimbabwean politics whose father was killed in action
in German East Africa during the First World War,and Dr.Alec Douglas,an
eminent historian whose father was a Boer War veteran and rnrsergeant.I
would also like to thank Dr.(Lt.Col.Retired) Martin Rupiya ofthe Institute
of Security Studies in Pretoria,Dr.Sean Morrow and Prof.Roger Southall,
both ofSouth Africa’s Human Science Research Council,Prof.John Laband
of Wilfrid Laurier University,Mr.Frederick Sadomba of the University of
Zimbabwe and the two anonymous reviewers of this manuscript for their
useful comments.Ms.Grace Maziriri helped make arrangements for my
research permit in Zimbabwe.Mr.Pascals Mrewa gave me a thorough tour of
Harare’s Anglican Cathedral and explained the controversy surrounding war
memorials in that church.Mr.Joseph Muduka ofMary Mount Teachers’Col-
lege guided myself,my wife,and my sister-in-law up the steep slope ofCross
ix
Description:No Insignificant Part: The Rhodesia Native Regiment and the East Africa Campaign of the First World War is the first history of the only primarily African military unit from Zimbabwe to fight in the First World War. Recruited from the migrant labour network, most African soldiers in the RNR were ori
