For anyone interested in German photographers in southern Africa, this article https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/behind-lens-50-plus-german-born-photographers-active-south-africa-between-1846-and-1915 looks a good place to start.

A list of some Hungarians involved in the East Africa campaign are listed in https://jceeas.bdi.uni-obuda.hu/index.php/jceeas/article/download/74/version/74/71/394

If you missed this show in 2018, you can get a taste of Mimesis: African Soldier by John Akomfrah courtesy of Glasgow Life Museums (https://linktr.ee/mimesis_african_soldier)

The World War 2 name list has had another unit added to it (thanks to Gerry van Tonder), more books added to the bibliography and books for sale page (including some books available from other publishers) and the next edition of the WAFF journal.

Back in 2015 Gerry van Tonder put this helpful document together on Southern Rhodesia’s (Zimbabwe) contribution to the First World War – https://www.rhodesianservices.org/user/image/southern-rhodesia-wwi-contribution-copyright.pdf

The latest Legion of Frontiersmen History & Archives newsletter has images of Christmas ‘cards’ sent from East Africa during World War 1 – https://frontiersmenhistorian.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ha-newsletter-december-2024-final.pdf

A GWAA member is looking for maps about the German fortifications and the operations at Longido mountain (40 miles north of Mount Meru). If you are able to assist, please get in touch with me.

The next West African Frontier Force journal is now available online under WW1 Topic Links.

Finally, the memoir of Max Poppe has been published by GWAA. It is published in both German and English in the same book, the same as Ludwig Boell’s The Operations in East Africa. Various books are available for puchase through GWAA or linked to other book sellers.

Thank you to all who participated in the conference on 2 November at The Africa Centre, Southwark. It was a fascinating day pf presentations – quite diverse in coverage with good discussion and networking, as usual. I am hoping to get recordings of the talks online soon – they will be password protected (ie for members only). I’ll let you know when recordings are available.
Our next in-person conference will likely be at the same venue, on Saturday 1 November 2025. Details to follow in the new year. If anyone would like to assist with organising/on the day support, please get in touch, and also if you would like to present a paper. We’re also considering having an online event earlier in the year to enable members not able to travel to London to get together. Details to follow…
For attendees of the 2023 conference and others who knew her, it was with great sadness that I received an email, on leaving the conference on Saturday, to say that Tayo Agunbiade who presented on Nigerian women in the First World War lost her health battle two weeks before our 2024 event. Tayo had continued to work on uncovering more of what Nigerian women had been up to during the war despite her poor health and had when I last saw her expected to join us this year.

Lost World War 1 Cemetery discovered in Dar es Salaam – see CWGC report https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/news/historical-update-report-identifies-lost-cemetery-in-dar-es-salaam/

The Royal Logistics Corps Museum has an online archive which looks like it may contain information on indivuals who served with the Army Service Corps (ASC) during the First World War – including those in Africa. The role of the ASC in the war in Africa is an area hugely under-researched and written about, despite their significant contribution to the war effort.

Anyone in te Meerhof, Magaliesberg area of South Africa on 9 November 2024, Peter Terry will be talking on ‘Tumult in the Clouds’ – the role of some South Africans in the air war of the Great War. Details and booking at info[@]machbookings.co.za. Sadly these events are only in-person.

The next edition of the West Africa Frontier Force Journal has been added to the site – https://gweaa.com/royal-west-african-frontier-force-journals-contents/

Conference upate
The following speakers are confirmed for the conference on 2 November 2024 at the Africa Centre, Southwark, London, 10.15 for 10.30am – 3.30pm.
This is looking to be another interesting line up, including focus on West Africa, and also one for discussion where speakers are looking for information and feedback on their topics.
Details will be emailed to participants and attendees. If you would like to attend, the cost is £35 for the day including a light lunch and refreshments. Payment can be made via Paypal (paypal.me/GWAA) or by emailing me for alternative arrangements.

Sérgio Neto – (CITCEM/FLUP (Porto)) By the Light of the Memory Lamp. Discussing Portuguese Literary Memories of the First World War in Africa
Victoria Phiri Chitungu – (The Livingstone Museum, Zambia and International Council of Museums (ICOM)) Memories and Family Stories of the First world war in Zambia.
David Tanner – (Independent historian) Geoffrey Spicer-Simson (1876-1947) and the Diaspora of Damaging Myth.
Paul Richards -(Emeritus Professor of Technology and Agrarian Development, Wageningen University, NL) “Sierra Leone’s involvement in the Kamerun campaign, 1914-1916: was infection with Lassa Fever a consequence?”
Richard Newton – (Independent historian) Role of Air Power during the German East Africa Campaign.
David McDonald and Isatu Smith – (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) CWGC updates on Sierra Leone and South Africa remembrance.

In other ‘news’…

Martin Kyamba told Margery Perham about his East African war experience. This has been transcribed at https://www.vijana.fm/2012/09/03/the-story-of-martin-kayamba-i/. He became a German prisoner of war / internee and later interpreter for the British.

The German Colonial Archive index can be found at https://archivfuehrer-kolonialzeit.de/index.php

1934 German film of WW1 – Die Reiter von Deutsch-Ostafrika – Unter der Schirmherrschaft des Reichskolonialbundes (1h 17m, 640×480) (English summary on Wikipedia)