Paul Kipchumba
October 2008
"By early 1940s we were quite contented as part
of the colonial administration. There were no expectations for another system
of administration to be run by the Africans, although the colonial
administration at Tambach had demonstrated a systematic attempt at transferring
power to Africans.
When the Second World War broke out it took a while
before we were directly involved. Mobilization had been happening in other
regions amenable to the colonial administration. The mobilization was meant to
save the empire from invasion and brutality of the Germans, Italians, and
Japanese. My age-set generation were actively mobilized, and we liked it. We
were fighting on behalf of the King. We were a reasonable number of young men.
After recruitment we were taken to Nanyuki for
training and orientation. I was put in the transport corps.
From Nanyuki base we crossed to Ethiopia through
Moyale. We did not get any fighting there. We crossed to Sudan then to Libya
where we fought and defeated the Germans. Then we took a warship at Alexandria
in Egypt to the Indian Ocean where we crossed Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and through
Calcutta we entered Burma (Myanmar), where we fought and defeated the Japanese
using swords and panga. The war ended while we were in Burma. Then we were
taken to Singapore, where in 1946 we boarded a plane to Nairobi. Then we were
discharged with a little cash compensation. Many of my colleagues died and
their bodies have not been repatriated."
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