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Great Wars: Who remembers Africa’s dead?

Thursday March 12 2015
war cemetary

The Nairobi War Cemetery, inset, Columns with memorial plaques with names of African soldiers who died in World War 1 and were buried elsewhere in unmarked graves. PHOTOS | JENNIFER MUIRURI |

As the world marked the centenary of the First World War last August, there has been renewed interest in the history of the wars from both Europeans and East Africans, as more people trace the history of their loved ones who fought and who died in the Great Wars.

East Africa may have not seen battles on the scale of Verdun or the Somme, in France in First World War, or the landing at Normandy during the Second World War, it was nevertheless the theatre of some of the fiercest battles between the British and the Germans and the Africans fighting on either side. Kenya in particular, in present day Taita-Taveta County, still bears the scars of the Great Wars.

But unlike in Europe, where war commemoration is part of the political discourse, generally in East Africa, despite the Commonwealth graves dotting the region, the rare and unnoticed token statue of an “askari” and the historically named Kariakor (corruption of Carrier Corps) neighbourhoods in Nairobi and Voi town in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, there has been no effort to keep alive the spirit of the sacrifice made by East Africans who lost their lives in these “foreign wars, until last year, that is.”

Nairobi, not so surprising however, has enough reminders of the wars for those interested. But don’t expect a government tour to show you around memorial parks dedicated to the thousands of East Africans who died.

I was interested enough and I was directed to the Nairobi War Cemetery.        

Located at the end of a loose gravel road off Nairobi’s Ngong Road, south of the city, lies the war cemetery’s, the largest of 36 cemeteries in Kenya that date from the First and Second World Wars.

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Because of its history as the capital of British East Africa, Nairobi served as the operational headquarters for several campaigns during the Great Wars, as well as hosting a number of hospitals for convalescents and the wounded.

Two military hospitals shared the site of the cemetery — No. 87 British General Hospital, which was set up in June 1943 and stood there through to the end of the war, and No 150 British General Hospital, which operated in the area for a period in 1943.

The site has 1,941 graves of mixed nationalities, predominantly East Africans, as well as a memorial to 2,212 individuals buried elsewhere.

The site also houses the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s regional office for Central Africa, responsible for the graves of those killed fighting on the side of what was then the British Empire. The Commission manages 13 sites in Uganda and 12 in Tanzania from the two World Wars, with their location reflecting their involvement in the Great Wars.

Rod Carkett, the Commission’s regional manager, notes that the relatively large number of graves and memorials is because of the scale of operations that took place in East Africa.

“East Africa was a major theatre of war in the First World War, with the British fighting the Germans in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. There was also some fighting between the British and the Italians who occupied Ethiopia and held territory in Somalia in the Second World War. As such, there was massive recruitment for the two wars in East and Central Africa. These people would go on to be soldiers, porters, signalmen and many other positions of service, and they would be deployed in the various campaigns in different corners of the British Empire,” says Mr Carkett.

The Commission maintains a record of all the individuals buried in the various cemeteries, facilitating contact with the next of kin where possible.

“With the centenary of the First World War, there has been an increase in overall interest in the World Wars, and along with that, battlefield tourism has started to pick up in Kenya,” said Mr Carkett, adding that many of these tours incorporate a visit to the cemeteries where the actual combatants are buried, providing an interesting insight into just who these people were, and where the battles were actually fought.

The Nairobi War Cemetery itself is a large, grassy expanse, dotted with identical grave markers. Its layout is similar to other cemeteries from the Great Wars period all over the Commonwealth, with a Cross of Sacrifice to representing the enormous loss that is associated with war, and a Stone of Remembrance, which serves as a memorial to all who lost their lives in war. The identical grave markers are all made from Portland stone from the UK, and are engraved with the national emblem or regimental badge under which the soldier served.

Additionally, the graves are marked with the soldier’s rank, name, unit, date of death and age. Based on their religion as listed in military records, the stones could also have a religious symbol. Some of the stones have personal dedications chosen by relatives, which provide an interesting insight into the relations that the soldiers had with their families.

On the eastern side of the cemetery is the East Africa Memorial, a series of 12 pillars on which are engraved the names of men of the land forces who lost their lives in the advance from Nairobi towards Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia and during the occupation of those territories, and who have no known graves. The pillars are designed to look like soldiers standing at attention while in formation.

As is the case in other war cemeteries managed by the CWGC, the graves are too close together, as Mr Carkett explains, to enable visitors to move around easily. A team of gardeners tends to the vegetation with great care, watering and mowing the grass, and tending to the low bushes planted in front of each marker. 

Local flowers and plant life are an integral part of the cemetery design. As a result, it looks more like a public park than a cemetery. Because of this, the Cemetery is popular for wedding photo shoots because of its flowers, especially the beds of bougainvilleas at the Cross of Remembrance. 

Not all the persons buried in the Cemetery died in actual fighting. Training accidents and disease were also responsible for a number of deaths, showing just how chaotic the situation was.

“The Commission aims to promote reflection, so the cemeteries offer a snapshot of the harsh reality of the war”, Mr Carkett adds. “All these people gave their lives towards a cause that they may or may not have understood, and so it’s clear that war has a massive, real cost”

The Commission also facilitates educational trips to the Cemetery, particularly for those learning about the World Wars. “We get school groups who come to learn about the wars, particularly students doing projects, and a walk through the Cemetery provides a great learning experience.”

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