A fascinating personal account of one soldier’s adventurous life in Southern Africa, serving with a unique and often forgotten regiment: the King’s African Rifles. Perfect for fans of John Nunneley, Malcolm Page, Graham Greene, and Mary H. Kingsley.
About the Book
From his early days of reading childhood adventure books and first-hand accounts from returning soldiers, and later devouring every detail of Von Lettow’s campaign in the First World War, Sir Francis de Guingand had been obsessed with Africa.
As a young officer, de Guingand followed his heart and joined the King’s African Rifles. This was a time of great pride and adventure for young men of spirit who wanted to make their fortune and serve their sovereign in far-flung corners of the empire. Lured by the freedom and independence of a posting far from the normal restraints and routine of regular soldiering, it was everything he dreamed of.
His vivid depictions of Africa, his life, and experiences leap off the page and are full of joy, camaraderie, adventure, danger, exploration, and plenty of leisure time for hunting big game and general high jinks. There are hard marches and lean times with difficult decisions that have to be made. It is a time of great schemes for colonial development, with new regions still to be mapped, all done on foot with pencil and paper.
This memoir has come together from happy reminiscence, old diaries, letters, and tales from friends and former comrades. It is a treasure trove of information about a happy band of brothers in days gone by.
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