1 KAR East Africa WWI.
A selection of photos of my 1 KAR asakari WWI East Africa from Underfire Miniatures, 28mm miniatures. I have made these up with the fez head gear as apparently some companies or battalions were still wearing the black fez on occasions as late as 1917. In the main the units would wear the pillbox hat with neck flap which you can get with Underfire Miniatures. These figures sculpts are made by Richard Kemp and are excellent.
Just received my 3D Printed wooden bridge, rafts and assorted dugout canoes for my WWI East Africa campaign.
1st bn Kings African Rifles cross a river in pursuit of German forces heading for Portuguese East Africa.
3D Printed items by David Michael Freemantle
Contact is freemantledavid@yahoo.com.au
David Freemantle models produce high quality 3D Printed models of the Rhodesian Bush War, Arab Israeli War 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, WWI East Africa and others1/72 and 28mm scales. Open to new project ideas. Prices are good too.
See his superb models on his facebook site Rhodesian Bush War Models.
A mix of figures mainly Underfire Miniatures KAR IN 28mm scale.
Bridge with extra extension pieces which I hope to get next. There is a plan to provide African figures to paddle the canoes and pull the rafts over the river. Also carriers may be introduced as well.
Many thanks to Johan Muller for these photos of 10 Bn RR in 1974, from one of his 6 week call ups in Mweru with a bunch of farmers.
Great photographs of the period.
Note the Bren Gun probably rebarreled to 7.62 as it has a straight magazine. Weapons are unpainted as painting of weapons did not come in until about 1976 with the regular battalions and the RR battalions.
Note the Bedford RLs with sand bagging in the rear cargo tray to stop mine blast. At a later stage conveyor belting would be used.
Some new items from David Michael Freemantle for my WWI East Africa gaming table. Dugout canoes, dugout canoe rafts, a barrel raft for carrying vehicles and a bridge made by the South African Engineers. All in 28mm scale and more interesting items follow.
Contact is freemantledavid@yahoo.com.au
David Freemantle models produce high quality 3D Printed models of the Rhodesian Bush War, Arab Israeli War 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, WWI East Africa and others1/72 and 28mm scales. Open to new project ideas. Prices are good too.
See his superb models on his facebook site Rhodesian Bush War Models.
Contact is freemantledavid@yahoo.com.au
David Freemantle models produce high quality 3D Printed models of the Rhodesian Bush War, Arab Israeli War 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, WWI East Africa and others1/72 and 28mm scales. Open to new project ideas. Prices are good too.
See his superb models on his facebook site Rhodesian Bush War Models.
David covers the whole range of vehicles and also aircraft.
The RL’Pig’ was an early mine protected version of the Bedford RL. A steel bucket to protect the driver and sand bags and later conveyor belting were used to protect the cargo area where the troops sat facing outwards.
This was photographed at Essexvale Battle School in 1978 or 79 showing that they were still being used by certain units.
Rhodesian Bush War.
David Michael Freemantle has produced this 1/43 scale ‘Pig’ for a customer but can do in other scales as requested, just contact him. Excellent service and David’s models are always of the highest quality.
freemantledavid@yahoo.com.au and you can find his models on his facebook site. Rhodesian Bush War Models. He can send you a list which I put together but he is expanding quicker than I can make the list.
Contact is freemantledavid@yahoo.com.au
David Freemantle models produce high quality 3D Printed models of the Rhodesian Bush War and Arab Israeli War 1948, 1956 and 1967 in 1/72 and 28mm scales.. Other periods are catered for WWI East Africa or contact him to see if he can help. Prices are good too.
My build up for the Karonga action WWI Nyasaland. The second German 37cm revolver gun completed. Note the British crew I have made up but could be used for late war Germans in East Africa as they were wearing a lot of captured British kit wars end.
the German forces are said to have had a 37mm revolver gun, but I could not find one. I cobbled together a Victorious Miniatures Krupp C73 artillery piece and I found a 37mm revolvergun barrel and naval stand with the honourable lead boiler suit company. I cut away the mounting from the resin stand and with greenstuff attached the revolver gun to the artillery trail. On this one I did not cut away the braking system from the artillery trail as I misread the original photograph of the weapon on the artillery trail. I also have German artillery crew from Victorious Miniatures but added Wolseley helmets to the hatless gunners also available from this range. Later in the war Germans would wear captured British Wolseley helmets. I will have to get some German helmets from Underfire Miniatures when they come available or maybe a British Zulu war cork hat?
A batch of interesting photographs from Guy Lynn during his service in INTAF and taken in 1979. Guy was in Binga and also in the Wankie district. Photographs of the camp some where off the Bulawayo Vic Falls road near the Kamativi turn off.
Many thanks to Guy Lyn and the Fighting Men of Rhodesia facebook site. INTAF (Internal Affairs) carried out their duties running the districts and protecting the protected villages on the front line, were invariably way out in the bush in isolated and dangerous areas.
North Eastern Rhodesia 1895 the last slave traders.
(The Long Grass -T.W. Lawman, P112-117.)
Fort Rosebery was established by H.T. Harrington but Harrington was universally known by the tribesmen of the day as “Chiana” the “Little Master”.
“Chiana” arrived in Northern Rhodesia in 1895 as a police trooper in an expedition led by Major P. Forbes who later became the Administrator of Northern Rhodesia. “Chiana” was transferred from the police to the civil service. He was first posted at Choma (on Mweru Wantipa) and later the Kalungwishi Boma near Lake Mweru. It was from here that he conducted his operations against the Arab slave-traders. On his arrival at Kalungwishi he found the graves of the first officials of the Boma.
While at Kalungwishi he succeeded in capturing the infamous Arab slave-trader, Nasoro Bin Suliman who for many years had terrorized the region. Nasoro would continually avoid Harringtons ambushes.
T.W. Lawman in his book The Long Grass mentions that he met an old African called Chiunkani who as a young man had served with “Chiana” and he knew about the operations to capture Nasoro Bin Suliman.
Harrington had received word that Nasoro Bin Suliman was taking refuge in the village of Mporokoso in the north of the territory. Together with W.R. Johnstone, Mr. Hector Croad (of Kilwa Island fame) and Mr Andrew Law and their respective police forces. Harrington surrounded the village.
There had been many occasions when Harrington had nearly captured this wily old slave-trader from Zanzibar, but now Harrington with a large force of police had the stockaded village surrounded and had dug in on the perimeter. Some slave women escaped from the village and informed Harrington that there was a gap in the stockade which had not been completed and was not defended.
“The rifle fire was heavy both from within the village and from the attackers,” said old Chiunkani.
From platforms in the trees just outside the stockade snipers were picking off the police who were endeavouring to position themselves ready for the assault. The bugle sounded and with battle cries the assault began and the stockade stormed.
Harrington followed by Law and Croad, led his force to that part of the stockade which had not been completed. At the same time Johnstone who was leading an Abercorn contingent went to the right of the village to make a diversionary demonstration.
The assault on the stockade was made with little loss. The native police put their snider rifles through the poles of the wooden defenses and kept up a heavy fire until part of the outer wall gave way when they pushed it.
The village was taken but to Harringtons dismay Nasoro Bin Suliman had escaped yet again through another gate at the rear of the village.
The buildings were not entirely destroyed but all the cattle were taken and many slaves were released from bondage.
All the forces returned to their respective stations and left Harrington to brood over his failure to capture Nasoro Bin Suliman (“Chisesa”). It was two months later that Harrington received the word that Nasoro Bin Suliman “Chisesa” the slave trader was back in the area. Within an hour Harrington was on his way with a force of 60 police.
(Authors note, the police must be of the North Eastern Rhodesian Constabulary and thus wore a khaki uniform, with green facings, fez and were equipped with leather equipment and snider rifles.)
Harrington received word that the old Arab slave trader was travelling very slowly and many of his men were deserting him. A scout came to “Chiana” Harrington to tell him that Nasoro had no heart to continue running. At first “Chiana” Harrington was sceptical but three hours later Nasoro Bin Suliman came riding along the path on a white muscat donkey.
The Arab was very polite and all he said was “Bwana Chiana, ni me Kwisha” (young master I am finished) It was thus that “Chiana” Harrington was responsible for capturing one of the last Arab slave-traders in North-Eastern Rhodesia.
“Chiana” Harrington held Nsoro Bin Suliman for several months at Kalungwishi Boma and in their discussions Harrington asked Nasoro why he persisted to fight the Government. Nasoro replied that his people had been turned out of Nyasaland and they had decided to form a Mohammedan kingdom along the Luapula river and in the country which is now the Copperbelt of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
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Authors notes: – The sequel to the defeat of Nasoro is that the tribes of the North-Eastern Provinces wanted to come under the protection of the British Government as they could do nothing about the Arab slave-traders and their followers and thus further operations to drive out the Arab slave-traders would commence in 1899.
In 1899 Chief Milambo of the Ba Ushi tribe asked of “Chiana” Harrington “Now that you have turned out all the Arabs what am I going to do with the bad men in my country?” He added: “I have no prisons like you have and no askari to guard them. When any of my people got troublesome before I sold them for calico to the Arabs.” For once Harrington had no answer.
Authors note:- What I find interesting about this date is that my family only arrived in Northern Rhodesia in 1954, when I was 5 weeks old. So, my family arrived in Northern Rhodesia only 55 years after the Arab slave-traders were finally driven out of the region by the British. From Lake Mweru to Lake Tanganika was the infamous slave route in Northern Rhodesia of the Arab slave-traders taking their caravans of slaves to the East coast of Africa. I remember being shown the slave tree in Ndola and the slave trails which were lines of ilala palms crossing the country.
The sequel to this article will be the final defeat of the other Arab slave-traders in Northern Rhodesia region by the Central African Rifles of Nyasaland and the North-Eastern Rhodesian Constabulary.
Books:-
The Long Grass -T.W. Lawman.
Rhodesian War Games 