Nyasaland in World War II
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The involvement of the Nyasaland Protectorate in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
began with the declaration of war on
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
by the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
in September 1939. Though no combat occurred in Nyasaland itself, it remained an economic asset for the
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and also contributed a significant number of soldiers to fight in the British Army.


Background

The Nyasaland Protectorate, a successor to the British Central Africa Protectorate, was formed in 1907. The colony, despite possessing unexploited mineral resources, had an economy based majorly around agriculture, most of which was on a subsistence-only level, with coffee, tobacco, tea and cotton as important cash crops for export. Famines were common among the indigenous Africans, and there was ample tension between the "natives" – who unlike Europeans of British origin did not hold British citizenship, instead possessing the lesser status of
British protected person A British protected person (BPP) is a member of a class of British nationality associated with former protectorates, protected states, and territorial mandates and trusts under British control. Individuals with this nationality are British na ...
– and the European settlers. Nyasaland became heavily involved in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
– some 19,000 Nyasaland Africans served in the King's African Rifles, and up to 200,000 others were forced to be porters for varying periods, mostly in the East African Campaign against the
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
in
German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
, where disease caused many casualties among them. This, together with other sources of conflict, resulted in the failed
Chilembwe uprising The Chilembwe uprising was a rebellion against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi) which took place in January 1915. It was led by John Chilembwe, an American-educated Baptist minister. Based around his Church in the village ...
in January 1915, led by the pastor
John Chilembwe John Chilembwe (June 1871 – 3 February 1915) was a Baptist pastor, educator and revolutionary who trained as a minister in the United States, returning to Nyasaland in 1901. He was an early figure in the resistance to colonialism in Nyasaland ...
.


Outbreak of war

Two days after the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany. Due to the Imperial German loss in the previous war, the country possessed no African colonies. German East Africa, the source of Nyasaland's main involvement in World War I, had been divided between the victors, the main portion becoming the Tanganyika Territory under British colonial rule. Nyasaland still came to have an involvement in the war. Already on 4 September 1939, the Acting Governor in Zomba requested immediate aid, fearful that the German settlers may organize a pro-Nazi uprising. The European expatriate community in Nyasaland was always small, numbering only 1,948 in 1945 (as compared to over two million "native" Africans), a significant number of which were German in origin. In response 50 soldiers from the Territorial Army arrived in Nyasaland by air, the first
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
n troops to be sent abroad during the war. They were under the command of Captain T. G. Standing. They returned to
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
after only a month, having found there to be no risk of a possible rebellion. As in many other British colonies in Africa, a number of
camps Camps may refer to: People *Ramón Camps (1927–1994), Argentine general *Gabriel Camps (1927–2002), French historian *Luís Espinal Camps (1932–1980), Spanish missionary to Bolivia *Victoria Camps (b. 1941), Spanish philosopher and professor ...
were constructed in Nyasaland intended to house
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
war refugees. Additionally, perceived "enemy aliens" – primarily members of the aforementioned German community, but also Italian settlers – were brought to Southern Rhodesia for internment during the war.


Military involvement

Many Nyasas came to fight for the British during the war, primarily as – just like during World War I – soldiers of the King's African Rifles (KAR). The Nyasas were not conscripted outright – instead, the colonial authorities threatened the local aristocracy with a reduction in privileges if they failed to provide sufficient numbers of men. As a result, many recruits either deserted or were rejected on medical grounds. Nonetheless, by August 1942 a total of 16,400 Nyasas were serving in the KAR, as compared to roughly 2,000 at the war's start. Out of a total 43 KAR battalions, 12 hailed from Nyasaland. Others were recruited into the Artillery, Engineers, Service Corps and Medical Corps, placing the total number of enlisted Nyasas at around 27,000. They would go on to fight in a number of theatres, first of all the East African Campaign, where Nyasas fought Italian troops. Initially expected to disappoint in combat, the success of the 1st Battalion KAR in defending the Kenyan town of Moyale – where a hundred soldiers from Nyasaland held out against 3,000 Italians – rapidly changed the British opinion. In 1940 the 2nd Nyasaland Battalion participated in the failed defence of
British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...
against an Italian invasion. The following year Nyasa troops participated in routing the Italian forces from Somaliland and
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. In 1942 a battalion from Nyasaland participated in the Battle of Madagascar, capturing the island from
Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
. In 1944 four Nyasaland battalions (out of a total of 17 from the King's African Rifles) fought in the Burma Campaign, opposing the
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
, the State of Burma, the Azad Hind and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. Over the course of several months they experienced harsh jungle warfare, fighting their way down the
Chindwin River , , image = Homalin aerial.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Chindwin at Homalin. The smaller, meandering Uyu River can be seen joining the Chindwin. , map = Irrawaddyrivermap.jpg , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption ...
against hard Japanese resistance.


Aftermath

After World War II, thousands of recently demobilized soldiers returned to Nyasaland in 1945 and 1946. These troops had lived in as many as a dozen different countries over the last few years, fighting alongside many people of different religion, ethnicity and culture, and been exposed to a wide array of new ideas and experiences. The colonial authorities were reportedly unsettled by this, viewing the demobilized soldiers as a threat, fearing them due to their advanced military training and their possible openness to radicalism – such as
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and anti-colonial thought. Many of them did indeed participate in such activities, with many ex-soldiers participating in the conferences held by the nascent Nyasaland African Congress. Economically, Nyasaland benefited from the end of the War. New expertise arrived in the form of the returning soldiers – around 3,000 askaris had been trained as lorry drivers in the army, and many of them joined civilian transport companies. With the wartime blockades and trade disruptions ceasing, import and export could again flow, and the tea and tobacco industry recuperated from its losses.


See also

*
Kenya in World War II The involvement of the British Colony of Kenya in World War II ( sw, Vita vya Pili vya Dunia) began with the declaration of war on Nazi Germany by the British Empire in September 1939. Though some fighting with Italian troops occurred in Kenya ...
* Southern Rhodesia in World War II


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * *Moyse-Bartlett, The Kings’ African Rifles (KAR): A study in the military history of East and Central Africa, 1890–1945


Further reading

* {{Authority control 1940s in Nyasaland Military history of Malawi Wars involving Malawi World War II by country World War II national military histories