William Lloyd-Jones

Lloyd-Jones provides a great survey of the King's African Rifles history from 1890-1925. While the majority of this regimental history covers the pre WWI-era, the anecodtes provided are an interesting departure from the traditional regimental narrative.
The narrative covers the anti-slavery and punitive operations of the period, the campaign against von Lettow Vorbeck (WWI campaign) and the 1920 campaign against the "Mad Mullah".
Lloyd-Jones also makes a point to note the European settlers' attitudes towards the enlistment of African troops for security purposes, which is frequently unflattering towards the Europeans. Lloyd-Jones believed that by and large, the African troops enrolled in the K.A.R., were of the highest caliber, and laments the point that the K.A.R. was unable to prove itself in the eyes of London by fighting on the Western Front.
Lloyd-Jones coverage of operations against von Lettow Vorbeck could be stronger, but then again, there is not a lot written about this campaign in East Africa, so any addition is helpful to the study of this forgotten front. The book also includes a useful bibliography for further study on the subject of the K.A.R.… (més)