THE BURMA INFANTRY 1942

World War II and Political Foundation in Tanganyika, 1939-1945

The Burma Infantry, 1942 Right: Abdulwahid Sykes and Ally Sykes in Burma 1942

Abdulwahid-the name means the ‘servant of one and only’ meaning Allah-was the grandson of Sykes Mbuwane, a lone wanderer who laid down his life in Tangayika, serving the Germans. In school Abdulwahid was always on top of his class. After completing his lower primary education at Al Jamiatul Muslim School he was selected to join Dar es Salaam Government School where he was taught by Mwalimu Mdachi Sharifu. Sharifu was the President of Tanganyika Territory African Civil Services  Association (TTACSA). Abdulwahid completed standard ten, did his qualifying examination for Makerere College and passed. On considering his father’s political background, the colonial government refused to recommend Abdulwahid for Makerere entrance on the pretext that the candidate was under age. Abdulwahid was at that time seventeen years old. He was considered underage to pursue studies at Makerere but old enough to be conscripted into the King’s African Rifles (KAR).

Military tradition was continuing in the family. Abdulwahid’s father, Kleist, had joined the German army in 1906 at the  age  of twelve. The Germans had by then pacified Tanganyika. Chief Mkwawa had killed himself rather than be captured by Germans and Abushiri was captured and hanged. The Maji Maji War was coming to an end with terrible loss of African life. There was also a loss of community leaders who were rounded up and hanged because of their participation in leading their people to revolt against German rule; hanged in public as a lesson to deter others from ‘rebellion’. When World War I broke out in 1914, Kleist, then twenty years old, fought against the British under German command. He was in the army together with Effendi Plantan’s son Schneider. Kleist  was wounded and was never to recover until the end of the war. Schneider was also wounded in one leg and he was to remain with a limp throughout his life. After the war, Kleist wrote his memoirs of the campaign. The passion in the memoirs were captured by Daisy’s biography of her grandfather.  The biography reveal the inner feelings and bitter experiences of an African.  Kleist considered himself as a tool of exploitation in the hands of European powers.

In 1941 Abdulwahid was compulsorily conscripted in the KAR to fight overseas. This was a big blow to Kleist. His son was on the admission list of Makerere College. Kleist had high ambition and great expectations for his son. This shattered his dream. He did not know if his son would survive the war. In 1933 he wrote a will in which he poured his heart out to his sons. He told them it was his wish, if God permits, to educate them to the highest level, to Makerere and abroad. But should he die before he accomplished the task, then they should fulfil that ambition themselves by supporting each other. Kleist was not a person of empty words. He made sure that he left his children with enough resources to accomplish the task. When this will was read after his death in 1949, the political climate in Tanganyika was rapidly changing-and so was the fate of Abdulwahid and his young brothers.

Another blow was soon to follow.  After Abdulwahid’s conscription, Ally ran away at the age of fifteen  to volunteer for the war. Ally ran away from home because he knew his parents would not allow him to join his brother in the KAR. He envied his elder brother for being away from home, far from the control of Kleist who was a strict disciplinarian. Kleist ruled his house as if it was a military barrack. Ally was under age and Kleist thought the government would disqualify him. But since Ally had volunteered out of his own free will he was accepted with open arms. Ally, like his elder brother, was sent to Kabete for training.

When Ally joined the KAR, Abdulwahid had already left for Nairobi, Kenya, to undergo military training in the infantry. By then Abdulwahid had already left for Ceylon (Sri Lanka) after being given leave of absence to come home to bid farewell to his parents. Kleist travelled to Nairobi to see Ally before his departure for Ceylon but was barred from the camp. A double tragedy had struck Kleist, as he had two sons in the war fighting for his enemy, the British. Kleist had no blood relations apart from his three children. He had tried to make contact with his relatives in Mozambique but to no avail. If his two sons were to die... the thought was unbearable. Kleist and his wife Bibi Mruguru Mussa were left only with young Abbas to comfort them.

Unlike her husband Bibi Mruguru Mussa could not contain her anguish.[1] She had been married to Kleist when she was thirteen years old and bore her first son Abdulwahid when she was fifteen. For her sons to join the war meant sure death. Reports were being received in Dar es Salaam every day from overseas of soldiers dying in combat. Bibi Mruguru considered her boys as good as dead.  She could not eat or sleep and she cried most of the time, at times flinging herself to the ground in anguish. Neighbours and friends comforted her by reminding her that the children were not dead and that to lament over them was to court misfortune. Kleist suffered silently and went about his business as if nothing mattered. He was too proud a man to show his true feelings.  Every morning Bibi Mruguru used to go to the recruiting center to enquire about her children.

Abdulwahid and Ally went abroad to serve under the Military Labour Service. [2] This was formed in July 1940 when Italy under Mussolini joined the war. The purpose of military labour was to help the Allied forces in the war effort, the recruits drawn from civilian population being put under military discipline. The recruits enjoyed the privileges of military personnel as regards rations, accommodation, medical attention, pension and compensation for wounds or death. A depot was established at Kabete near Nairobi to give basic military training. Basic pay was twelve shillings per month including ration and uniforms. The highest rank open to Africans was sergeant, who was paid more than the ordinary askari.

African askaris were transported overseas from Mombasa escorted by the Royal Navy to ward off attack from deadly Japanese submarines. Africans were first sent to Ceylon for jungle war training to form the famous Burma Infantry to fight the Japanese. The Burma Infantry was formed by Africans from many countries including Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Nyasaland (Malawi), Belgian Congo (Zaire), Nigeria, Gold Coast (Ghana), Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika.  Some of these African askaris had seen action in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Somaliland (Somalia) where the British and South Africans had engaged the Italians.  Owing to the successful campaign of this unit in Abyssinia there was an urgent need for pioneers. This was the reason behind the colonial government’s call for volunteers. African volunteers to the war effort were effective and decisive in the outcome of the war.

In 1943 Ally left the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in a convoy of ships heading for Ceylon escorted by the Royal Navy. The ship which Ally boarded was an ocean liner meant exclusively for whites on holiday during peacetime. The vessel was not meant to carry Africans let alone askaris. It was not even built to ferry poor whites. It was a luxury ocean liner for rich Europeans. Under normal conditions, an African who by the very remote chance sailed on that ship would have been a steward to serve drinks, wait on the English gentlemen and their ladies having dinner under candlelight, sweep and scrub the floor, make the beds and clean the toilets. But now Britain was engaged in a fierce war against powerful enemies, Germany, Japan and Italy. Its very existence and survival as a nation was at stake, let alone the survival of its colonies scattered all over the world. Britain could not afford the luxury of the master-servant relationship during the war. If the ocean liner could take English gentlemen to the Caribbean for holidays it could also take African askaris to war to die for the King and country.

While Ally’s convoy was sailing towards Colombo one of the ships was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The vessel sank, killing all African askaris and their white officers on board. Only one askari from Tanga known as Magembe escaped.   African askaris were not informed about the tragedy until when they arrived in Colombo. The white officers thought if Africans were to be informed about the tragedy while still in the high seas there would be general panic and that was bad for morale.

When Ally arrived at Kurnegala camp outside Colombo, Abdulwahid had already been there for more than a year with the Service Corps. His unit dealt with transportation and communication. Abdulwahid was fluent in both English and Arabic; and because of this he was promoted  from corporal to sergeant.The army bulletin Second Echelon, published weekly and circulated among military camps of the allied forces, published Ally’s name and number by mistake as among those who had perished at sea. Abdulwahid learnt of the ‘death’ of his young brother from the bulletin and he in  turn communicated the sad news to his father back home.

It was only when Ally arrived at Kurnegala and talked to Abdulwahid on the phone that he realized that his brother was very much alive. Ally remembers that it was in the evening when he arrived at the camp and the night curfew was on. Nobody was allowed to be out of the camp. Abdulwahid was in another camp nearby and was so anxious  to see his young brother that he drove to the camp with the curfew still  on to see Ally. Abdulwahid had at that time been promoted to Quarter Master Sergeant. Because of his position, camp rules were not binding on him and was allowed out of the camp at night. Although he was normally chauffeur driven, on that night he decided to drive himself in his jeep to see his young brother and to get news from home. In a strange twist of fate, Abdulwahid’s driver in Burma came to be one of the top brass in the Tanganyikan Army.

At Kurnegala, African askaris underwent jungle training for four months and then sailed to Burma from Trincomalee. From there they sailed to Chittagong. All the time they were sailing in convoy escorted by the British Royal Navy and moved slowly, keeping to safe waters, always on the lookout for Japanese attack. It was at Chittagong where African askaris got the first taste of what the Burma infantry had in store for them. There was a distance of about ten km. between the harbour and the camp. The road was rough and always covered with mud which was ankle deep due to heavy monsoon rains.  The camp was dirty with mud all over the place. An askari had to carry his heavy luggage to the camp. He would have a kitbag, haversack, gun and bullets. They had also to dig trenches that very day both for themselves and their white officers. The camp gave an indication to the African askari of what they would have to endure even before they had been shot at by the Japanese.

Africans were considered ‘military labour’, while fellow whites like Americans and New Zealanders were identified as ‘allies’. These semantics were probably not lost upon African askaris. Africans were by the term reduced to muscle force without brains and  tools to be used to accomplish a difficult task.  African askaris were labelled as natives, classified into English speaking and non-English speaking. A British soldier’s salary was much higher than one drawn by an African of the same rank. Food was categorized according to race. There was a European, an Asian and an African diet; African diet being the poorest. A British soldier was provided with what was known as ‘family allotment allowance’ to support his family back home. There was no such allowance for Africans. Africans were given rum as part of their diet while whites were provided with brandy, whisky and beer.

It was only when Africans began to engage the Japanese in combat in Burma that the same diet was provided for all combatants irrespective of their race. This diet was known as the ‘K’ ration in military parlance and was dropped from the air by the British Royal Air Force.  In spite of this sacrifice, the British discriminated against Africans. The African askari, though indispensable, was looked down upon by fellow whites fighting under the same command. This discrimination aroused in them a new sense of self-examination and identity.

After reaching Chittagong and staying there for a  few days,  they were transported to Imphal, Burma, by lorries of the Indian Army. Imphal is of very great historical significance to members of the Burma infantry from Tanganyika. It was here on Christmas eve of 1945 that Abdulwahid and other askaris, including his young brother Ally and James Mkande, made a pact to found a political party when they returned home after the war.  Imphal was the command center for the Burma infantry and was a danger zone where the Japanese were in action against the British. Many African askaris including Tanganyikans died in Burma so that the sun would not set on the British Empire.  Whoever won the war would have put Africans in bondage. It really did not matter which master was to rule over them. In Burma, Ally as an English-speaking askari served in the Education Corps. He taught European soldiers Kiswahili so that they would communicate with Africans, particularly those who came from East Africa. He also taught illiterate Africans to read and write, and how to read maps in order to get their bearings in the confusing jungle terrain.

It was at Imphal towards the end of the war that Abdulwahid and the rest of the Burma infantry sat down to reflect on their own war experience and the future of Tanganyika. It was decided that the Burma infantry from Tanganyika forming the 6th Battalion should form the base for a future political party to fight for independence. This was agreed. The Burma infantry from Tanganyika should form the base for a future political party to free the country through popular mass action. The name of the political party was to be Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). Ally Sykes remembers that Abdulwahid wrote the name of the proposed party in his diary. The Burma infantry was also aware that back home there was the African Association fighting for African rights. Abdulwahid knew a great deal about the association because his own father was its founding secretary. How the intended party was to be incorporated in the African Association, was not, however, discussed.

Abdulwahid served in Kenya, Ceylon, India and Burma. Even before he was twenty-one years old he had risen to the rank of Regimental Sergeant-Major. This was the highest rank that could be achieved by an African. The other high rank which could be achieved by an African was that of honorary Captain which the British conferred upon Kabaka Edward Mutesa of Buganda and Chief Adam Sapi Mkwawa of the Hehe. But Kabaka Mutesa and Chief Adam Sapi Mkwawa [3] were awarded these military ranks because of theirs status as traditional rulers, while Abdulwahid earned his because of his courage, exemplary leadership qualities and smartness. Abdulwahid was also decorated with four medals-the Burma Star,1939-1945, War Medal, Defence Medal and Victory Medal.

At the end of the war European troops forming the Allied Forces were demobilised earlier than the Africans on the claim that they were urgently needed in Europe for post-war reconstruction. African troops were released last. The KAR from Tanganyika were regrouped at Kalieni camp outside Bombay for repatriation home. While at Kalieni, Abdulwahid met his friend from home Ahmed Rashad Ali, a Zanzibari. Ahmed Rashad was a star footballer and had gone to India for studies. As the African troops from Tanganyika sailed back for home morale was very high; the only subject occupying their conversation was how would they be able to drive the British out of  Tanganyika.

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[1]Information from Mwalimu Bahia interviewed in 1990.

[2]See Major St. J. Orde Browne, Labour Adviser to the Secretary of State for Colonies, London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1946, Colonial No. 93. 

[3]Chief Adam Sapi Mkwawa's biography appears in Baragumu, April 12, 1956. He was educated at Tabora and Makerere where he went to study medicine. He did not complete his study as he was forced to return home to become chief of the Wahehe. He was elected member of the Legislative Council in 1947 at the age of 27. In 1955 Abdulwahid and Dossa were invited by Adam Sapi to Kalenga at the ceremony of handing over the skull of Chief Mkwawa to his great-grandson Adam Sapi. Chief Mkwawa was secretly recruited into TANU by Dossa Aziz thus becoming one of the very few traditional rulers to support the Party. For information on chiefs who supported TANU see Sauti ya TANU, No. 22 of 28 th February, 1958.