Royal West African Frontier Force Journals – contents

With thanks to Harry Fecitt for supplying the journals and editor/compiler Keith Steward for permission to put them on the website.
click on the journal title for the publication

July 2011, Vol 1, No 1
The Ijebu War in Southern Nigeria May 12th-20th 1892 – Keith Steward
Point 223, Time West, North Arakan, 15/16th December 1944 and Private Kweku Pong MM, 5GCR – edited extract from War Bush by John AL Hamilton, 1 Gambia Company RWAFF, pub Michael Russell (publishing) 2001
The Gambia Company WAFF in German Kamerun 1914-1916 – Harry Fecitt
“Gone for Bush”, the memoirs of a National Service Subaltern in the 3rd Queen’s Own Nigeria Regiment 1955-6 (part 1) – Brian O’Gorman BA MA
Lieutenant George AS Williams, Southern Nigeria Regiment 1901-06 – Keith Steward B (Hons) FRGS

January 2012, Vol 1, No 2
Officers of the 1st Battalion Nigeria Regiment, Kaduna 1925
“White City” Major General Orde Wingate’s Special Chindit Force, Burma 1944 – Colonel Charles Mercer, 7th Nigeria Regiment RWAFF
Corporal Osuman DCM, 2nd battalion Northern Nigeria Regiment (NRR) – Keith Steward BA (Hons) FRGS
The Campaign in Togo, August 7th to the 26th 1914 – Keith Steward BA (Hons) FRGS
Major Seth Anthony MBE (1915-2008), the first African Soldier to attain King’s Commissoned Rank in the Royal West African Frontier Force
The Cairo to Kano Aeroplane Flight November 1st 1925 – An extract from “The Journal of the Nigeria Regiment”, volume 1, no 2 January 1926
“GOne for Bush”, part 3 – Brian O’Gorman BA MA
Sergeant William Evans DCM, 1st Battalio, Coldstream Guards, attached to the 14th Company, 4th Nigeria Regiment WAFF – Keith Steward BA (Hons) FRGS based on material submitted by Major HArry Feccit MBE TD
The African Houdini – Stephen Marko, The Wide World Magazine, circa 1947-50, edited for the Journal of the RWAFF

August 2012, Vol 1, No 3
Charles Havelock Payne, Lieutenant in the Malay States Guides and an Assistant Inspector in the Gold Coast Constabulary – Keith Steward and Stephen English
A Victoria Cross for the WAFF in the Cameroons Campaign: won on 17th November 1914 – Major Harry Fecitt
“White City”, Major General Orde Wingate’s Special Chindit Force, Burma 1944, part 2 – Colonel CHarles Mercer, 7th Nigeria Regiment RWAFF
Dame Ninette de Valois 1898-2001, Principal Ballerina: O< CH DBE FRAD FISTD L d'Honneur The One Hundred & Eighty West African Soldiers attending the King Edward VII Coronation on August 9th 1902 A British subaltern attracts the attention of the Nigerian tabloid press - Peter Sturgeon, 2nd Nigeria Regiment 1949
Captain Humphrey Darell Tupper-Carey, 5th King’s African Rifles & Colonial Service, Northern Nigeria

January 2013, Vol 1, No 4
2nd West African Infantry Brigade Association 1946
Major Charles Henry Green 1882-1917, South Staffordshire & Nigeria Regiments
Some photographs taken by the late Brigadier Cosby Jackson CVO CBE, who served in the Gold Coast 1927-33
“White City”, Major General Orde Wingate’s Special Chindit Force, Burma 1944, part 3 – Colonel Charles Mercer, 7th Nigeria Regiment RWAFF
The Murder of OS Crewe-Read, the attack on EC Crewe-Read and the Political Officers AA Chichester and AC Douglas who directed the reprisals against the insurgents – Keith Steward
The Polo Match between the Gold Coast Regiment and the Nigeria Regiment played on the 11th April 1934
“Gone for Bush”, the memoirs of a National Service Subaltern, 3rd Queen’s Own Nigeria Regiment 1955-6 (part 3) – Brian O’Gorman
“On the Strength”, the resolute African ladies of the RWAFF – Major EH Muldoon MC, Irish Guards, 1GCR & SBS
Kweku Pong – Lieutenant George Gladstone 5GCR
First Class up the NIger in a stern wheeler sometime during 1903 or 1904
My hilarious time post O.C.T.U. & pre RWAFF – Lieutenant Ian Morris, 1st Gambia Regiment

July 2013, Vol 1, No 5
2nd West African Infantry Brigade Association 1946
Major Charles Henry Green 1882-1917, South Staffordshire & Nigeria Regiments
Some photographs taken by the late Brigadier Cosby Jackson CVO CBE, who served in the Gold Coast 1927-1933
“White City”, Major General Orde Wingate’s Special Chindit Force, Burma 1944 (part 3) – Colonel Charles Mercer, 7th Nigeria Regiment RWAFF
The murder of OS Crewe-Read, the attack on EC Crewe-Read and the political officers AA Chichester and AC Douglas who directed reprisals against the insurgents (part 2) – Keith Steward
The Polo match between the Gold Coast Regiment and the Nigeria Regiment played on the 11th April 1934
“Gone for bush”, the memoirs of a National Service subaltern, 3rd Queen’s Own Nigeria Regiment 1955-56 (part 3) – Brian O’Gorman
“On the strength”, the resolute African ladies of the RWAFF – Major EH Muldoon, MC, Irish Guards, 1GCR & SBS
Kweku Pong – Lieutenant George Gladstone 5GCR
First Class steamer up the Niger in a stern wheeler sometime during 1903 or 1904
My hilarious time post O.C.T.U. and pre RWAFF – Lieutenant Ian Morris, 1st Gambia Regiment

February 2014, Vol 1, No 6
Lieutenant Colonel George SC Jenkinson DSO, 1st Derbyshire Regiment, the Gold Coast Constabulary & 15th Co. Imperial Yeomanry – Keith Steward
The 50th Anniversary of the crossroads shooting incident in front of CHristainsborg Castle on the 28th February 1948 (part 1) – Colonel EDF ‘Dan’ Prah, Ghanaian Armed Forces
They put us into boots, the 1st battalion the Gold Coast Regiment in the East Africa Campaign 1940-1941 – Brigadier IRGM Bruce DSO MBE; Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders & 1GCR

July 2014, Vol 1, No 7
The Christainsborg demonstration of February 28th 1948 (part 2)
The Kissi punitive expedition in Sierra Leone January to July 1905 (part 1) – Lieut Ranulph PM Davis, Royal Fusiliers and Sierra Leone Battalion RWAFF
Major Jack St Aubyn 3rd Nigeria writes to the Editor: Respect for the African soldier in the RWAFF
Lieutenant Edwin Morris 3GCR, a Rhodesian, his MC citation in full
The trip of a lifetime, National Service officer RWAFF artillery (part 1) – Peter Duggan
AC Douglas, AA Chichester and the Crewe-Read brothers (part 3) – Keith Steward
The Efficiency Medal to the Gold Coast Regiment (part 1)
Honorary Captain Chari Magumeri BEM MM 3rd Nigeria Regiment
Polish officers serving in the RWAFF 1941-3 (part 1)

February 2015, Vol 1, No 8
White City (part 4) – C Mercer
Captain Lord Esme Gordon Lennox, Scots Guards & WAFF 1903
Kissi 1905 punitive expedition (part 2) – HPM Davies
A Burma veteran’s nephew studied at King’s College London
The Polish officers who joined the RWAFF 1941-43 (part 2)
British Officers & BNCOs in 2GCR 1941-44
Colour Sergeant George Williams DCM, 1/3 King’s African Rifles
Christainsborg Castle riot February 28 1948 (part 3) – Prah
Captain WM Harrington OBE MC MM, Gold Coast Regiment
Major H Rayne MBE MC, formerly 1/5 King’s African Rifles; an anecdote
BQMS John Mitchell, Nigeria Regiment

July 2015, Vol 1, No 9
Royal Guard of Honour 1956, 3QONR
Major Mackenzie VC DCM, North Nigeria Regiment
‘The fall of a stronghold’ Captain EFG Haig
The journey of a lifetime – Peter Duggan (part 2)
Sierra Leone’s contribution to World War 1 (part 1)
Operations around Nyala September 1921-January 1922 (part 1)
‘Bengal Sapper’, a reprint from Blackwood’s Magazine by Lieut Col MCA Henniker, DSO OBE MC RE
Photographs of: RSM Bukari Moshi DCM BEN MM GCR; Southern Nigeria 1905; Coronation 1902

January 2016, Vol 1, No 10
Lieutenant Colonel CJ Elkan DSO OBE, Royal Irish Fusiliers and Gold Coast Regiment, RWAFF
Southern Rhodesia Force orders, 2 October 1939
Captain George Howard Fanshawe Abadie CMG FRGS FRZS, late 16th Lancers, North Nigeria Regiment and Resident Colonial Service (1873-1904)
British officers, African officers, BNCOs and NCOs of the 4th Battalion, the Nigeria Regiment at the presentation of new colours, Government House, Lagos Nigeria 6 August 1952
Captain Muldoon MC and the Sea Reconnaissance Unit
British officers and NCOs who served in Gold Coast Constabulary, Royal Nigeria Constabulary; Sierra Leone Frontier Police, West India Regiment, Merchant Marine, Royal Marines, Colonial Office in West Africa 1887-1910
The Comedy Page
He would have been at home in the WAFF: Lieutenant Colonel & Commander Sir Alfred Rawlinson Bt, CMG CBE DSO, Royal Garrison Artillery and RNVR
The Kissi punitive expeditions of the 27 March to 28 June 1905 (part 3)
Major Harold Cecil Russell MC DCM, 1GCR
Colour Sergeant George Williams DCM and Clasp, the 1/3 battalion King’s African Rifles, was not awarded the Victoria Cross due to politics between the War Office & the Colonial Office (part 2)
Would you jolly well Adam n’ Eve it? Kumasi Regional Committee, Gold Coast Legion 1953
‘Obedience’ by Captain Edwin Felix Grey Haig
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Gilbert Hill MBE DCM, (3 Nigeria Regiment)

August 2016, Vol 2, No 1
The inauguration of the WAFF: ‘Confidential File’
The Indian Mountain Battery & the WAFF/RWAFF in two World Wars
The presentation of new Colours to 2NR in 1956
Sierra Leone’s contribution to WW1 (part 2)
Governor Charles Arden-Clarke GCMG & a heavy weight boxer
‘How to play Polo cheaply in Africa’, Lieut Col IRCGM
Bruce MBE, 1GCR & an Anglo/African Polo team
Should juniors covering for seniors on European leave, receive extra remuneration; some notes from 1882
Colonel AH Morris CMG DSO
‘A matter of Chance’, the sinking of the SS Khedive
Broken Sword, the Tumultuous Life of Brig.General Crozier, a review
Photographs of: CSM Belo Akuri DCM MM 4NR (1925); Staff Sergeant Mitchell’s WW2 photos of West Africa; more details of persons in the Kumasi photo of 1953

January 2017, Vol 2, No 2
HM Queen Elizabeth II inspects 5QONR in 1956
The Officers of the Royal Niger Constabulary 1886-1900
Lieut-General Sir A Carton de Wiart VC KBE CB CMG DSO, 2 anecdotes
Some advice for a Subaltern
Lieut A Rawlinson CMG CBE DSO, an anecdote
A contemporary poster of Lieut-Colonel von Lettow Vorbeck
Major KGF Collins MC, Dorset Regiment & 3NR
Review of: A Call at Dawn, Colonel EDF Prah

July 2017, Vol 2, No 3
Lieut-Colonel A Hlawaty OBE, 82nd (WA) Recce Regt
Attempted poaching of the RWAFF rebuffed
Major Jack St Aubyn’s company 3NR in 1945
Three WAFF officers & a KAR officer with a DSO
Gold Coast Volunteers pistol bullet pouch
Some less academic material
Peter Watkins RWAFF cartoon
Post WW1 photographs from a parade in Kumasi
Major Wallace Blake, Colonial Service in Jubaland & Prison Governor
Dadland, review of the biography by Tom Carew DSO, Jedburgh
Inspector Joshua Ajayi, DCM, South Nigerian Police in 1924
Colonel WIllcocks request for a Pol Roget for treating casualties

January 2018, Vol 2, No 4
Captain Lewis 21st Lancers & North Nigeria Regt
The Cameroons campaign from the London Gazette 31st May 1916
Sultan Fademulla Murjan, ex Uganda Rifles & KAR
A Court Messenger & a Sierra Leone Policeman in 1910
The Gold Coast Constabulary Officers in 1887-9 were a mixed bunch
The protest at Christainsborg Castle 28th Feb 1948 (part 4)
1st WA Infantry Brigade in the Arakan 1944-5 (part 1)
Group photograph taken at Dufile in Uganda in 1898
The passenger list of SMV Accra December 1935
Commissioning List of Africans into the Nigeria Regt 1946-1957
Gone for Bush, National Service with 3QONR (part 4)
Lieutenant Commander Leif Andreas Larson DSO DSC CGM DSM*, Royal Norwegain Navy

July 2018, Vol 2, No 5
Photograph: Base Depot, Nairobi 1941: attrib. Sergt Reg Howard, 2 GCR
The 1st WA Infantry Brigade in the Arakan 1944-45 (part 2)
Major WD Byrne, Lagos Battalion WAFF 1898-1914 (part 1)
Gold Coast Regiment veterans assemble in Kumasi 1933 (photograph)
Life in West AFrica (pre WW2), Brigadier IRCGM Bruce DSO MBE, 1 GCR
The Knights in the Bush; Japanese atrocities WW2 (part 1)
Colonel ‘Digger’ Hague-Holmes: West Yorks, RWAFF, Int Corps
Karaga 1898, a generally unrecorded patrol, TNA (UK) CO 879
Major FR Ewart DSO, Liverpool Regt & Lagos Battalion WAFF
A RAMC sergeant performed a procedure, the PMO was not impressed & the patient did not survive: South Nigeria 1902
WAFF officer’s servant Awudu Komli was a former Kroo boy, eventually received his medal for Witu 1893 & Mwele 1895 in East Africa
The Australian Light Horse in WW1 (photograph): did not serve in Sub Sahara West or East Africa
The phantom Australian brigade in East Africa 1941
Plinchi Juju, Captain EFG Haig, Colonial Office South Nigeria
An Officer group photograph of 4th Nigeria Regiment
Major General Wilkinson Dent CB CBE DSO, Indian Army
Illustrated London News, July 26th 1873: disembarking for Cape Coast

December 2018, Vol 2, No 6
A distinction for Captain JW Carroll, Royal Niger Constabulary
1st WA Infantry Brigade in Burma 1944-45 (part 3)
Photo Major Eric Lanning MBE FSA, Major Denis Arnold MC and Ed
Colonel Digby ‘Digger’ Hague Holmes (part 2)
A Nigeria Regt silver salver from the mid 1930s
The Lagos military veterans 1863-1900
The Knights of Bushido (part 2)
The Kenya Police were used as military in the Northern Frontier District
Lieut General Baron Rudolf Carl Slatin Pasha, Egyptian Army, GCVO KCMG CB Osmania 1st class, Medjida 1st class
Paris after liberation 1945-1949
Captain Kendal DFC, RA Nigeria Regt RWAFF
The Gold Coast Police 1844-1938, Gillespie: facsimile reprint
The Kenya Police, a living history written by those who served, 3 volumes

December 2019, Vol 2, No 8
Major Blakeney, Sierra Leone Frontier Force – Steward, Keith
A Solo Flight, Croydon to Accra – 5 December 1928 to 31 January 1929 – Rattray, CS
Remember and be glad, Sierra Leone Official Treks up country 1935 – Imray, HG
The Marksman – LA
Officers of the 1st Btn, The Sierra Leone Regt April 1957
A Review of Spidermen, Nigerian Chindits & Wingate’s Operation Thursday Burma 1943-1944, John Igbino – Steward, Keith
David Bernard Fox medals & 2 Senior NCOs from early 20th century – Steward, Keith
Retrospect – on Malaya (official history?) – Anonymous