The Blantyre Raid was an attack carried out by the rebel leader

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 ...

and his followers on the

African Lakes Company The African Lakes Corporation plc was a British company originally set-up in 1877 by Scottish businessmen to co-operate with Presbyterian missions in what is now Malawi. Despite its original connections with the Free Church of Scotland, it operated ...

depot in Blantyre on 24 February 1915. The rebels failed to capture the depot, although they were able to seize a small number of rifles from the depot.

Background

The rebels cut the Zomba–

Tete Tete may refer to: * Tete, Mozambique, a city in Mozambique *Tété (born 1975), a French musician *Tetê (born 2000), a Brazilian footballer *Tete Montoliu (1933–1997), Spanish jazz pianist **''Tete!'', an album by Tete Montoliu *Tete Province ...

and

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

– Mikalongwe telephone lines, delaying the spread of the news of their revolt to the government and Governor of Nyasaland.

The Raid

The African Lakes' Company weapons store in

was raided by a force of around 100 rebels at around 02:00pm on 24 January, before the general alarm had been raised by news of the

Magomero Magomero is an estate and a village in Malawi. It is situated south of Zomba. History Although Alexander Low Bruce never visited Nyasaland, he obtained title to some 170,000 acres of land there through his association with the African Lakes Comp ...

and Mwanje attacks. The defenders mobilised after an African watchman was shot dead by the rebels. The insurgents were repulsed, but not before they had captured five rifles and some ammunition, which was taken back to Mbombwe. A number of rebels were taken prisoner during the retreat from Magomero.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{refend Chilembwe uprising