START 10:24:30 Scenes showing artillery training in bush country: an Observation Post (OP) from which three European officers survey the countryside, two Ordnance QF 25-pound field howitzer positions set up in the bush, two African signallers and a British artillery officer inside their troop or battery command post screened from the sun overhead and African gunners operating their 25-pounders (the ones seen here are Mark III/1 versions fitted with muzzle brakes). Two shots purport to show shells bursting during the artillery training; the explosions seen here were probably produced by electrically-detonated charges.

10:27:07 African sappers assemble Bailey Bridge sections which, with the assistance of rollers, they push across a 250 feet-wide river crossing in bush country (River Tana ?) and make it secure.

10:29:54 Manoeuvres in the Kenyan bush: a battalion of infantrymen from the King's African Rifles (KAR) advances in open order over arid ground, accompanied by several jeeps and one Universal carrier being driven in low gear. Senior British officers including Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth Anderson, Commander-in-Chief East Africa Command (seen here wearing sunglasses), in charge of the troops taking part in the manouevres hold a meeting around a jeep. The vehicle carries a small unit or formation flag bearing the symbol of two crossed 'kukhri' daggers.

10:31:23 At an army camp at Nanyuki, about 120 miles north of Nairobi, a European NCO supervises a team of African sappers as they construct sheerlegs from three logs which they bind securely together with rope. They dig holes to support the sheerlegs, haul it upright and make it secure with guy ropes (?). The sappers then demonstrate its lifting power by using it to lift a heavy tree trunk.

10:33:23 Record of a visit to East Africa Command establishments in Kenya by King Freddie Edward Mutesa II, Kabaka or King of Buganda, a shy-looking young man in a sharply-cut, light coloured double-breasted suit: he is seen briefly inspecting a Guard of Honour provided by men of the King's African Rifles (KAR), getting into an American Dodge staff car and, accompanied by a retinue of senior British army officers and colonial officials, inspecting men from a KAR battalion drawn up on parade and afterwards addressing them as they stand before him in a hollow square.

10:34:31 A sign board in Swahili (?) and a display of an assortment of tools used by army sappers at a training camp for African engineers. The Kabaka of Buganda is shown around the Motor Transport depot and sees Africans being trained as motor mechanics (very poor light in shots taken in deep shade). A long column of African soldiers heads back to camp past the Kabaka and senior British Army officers. King Freddie is driven away to his next appointment in the Dodge staff car.

10:36:14 Sign posts at a road junction, including one for military traffic. Close-up of an NCO in the King's African Rifles. A view of a pool in a wooded Kenyan settting. The small convoy of army staff cars conveying the Kabaka and senior British Army officers and colonial officials heads along a winding stretch of dirt road. The party arrives at another army establishment, which King Freddie and his entourage proceed to inspect.

10:37:14 Wearing a light-coloured double-breasted coat over his suit, the Kabaka of Buganda inspects a unit of the King's African Rifles and takes a ride in a Universal carrier. Askaris watch two British soldiers demonstrate how to operate a two-inch mortar in the prone position. King Freddie and senior British Amy officers watch a tactical demonstration involving the use of smoke shells and two Universal carriers being driven at high speed and emitting a smoke screen from their exhausts. Along with two other members of his entourage, he tries his hand shooting at targets on a rifle range with an SMLE No. 4 rifle.

END 10:39:58

East African soldiers train for active service in Kenya. The Kabaka of Buganda inspects African troops.

Notes

Summary: John Wernham recorded audio commentary over this film on 14 May 1992, DVD Reel 2-3 from 22.45 to 1.55.

Born on 19 November 1924, Sir Edward Mutesa II, KBE was the Kabaka (king) of Buganda from 1939 until his death on 19 November 1969 in the UK. From 1963 to 1966, he was President of Uganda until he fell out with the prime minister, Milton Obote, and was driven into exile.

Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth Anderson, formerly 1st Army commander in Tunisia 1942-43, served as Commander-in-Chief East Africa Command from January 1945 to October 1946. It was his last army command before becoming Governor of Gibraltar.

Remarks: The question of raising local units of combat troops during the Second World War was a politically-charged issue for the British colonial authorities throughout Africa, especially in Kenya where the European settler community feared the consequences of allowing Africans to receive military training. In Kenya, a ceiling of 60,000 men was set for their recruitment.