#german east africa
From the Great War Forum, a fantastic photo of Countess Mountbatten’s Own Frontiersmen who saw action in German East Africa 1915-1917.
Post link
A painting showing WW1 Imperial German Askari charging forward.
The German empire recruited natives from German East Africa (now Tanzania) to serve in the Askari units.
They were commanded by European officers, and fought a highly effective campaign against the Allied forces in Africa, fighting against a much larger British force until the end of the war in 1918.
Askari units were all given a army pension, but due to the turmoil at the end of the war this was never carried through. In 1964, the Federal German government attempted to make good on these promises and pay the entire back-log of payments to any surviving Askari who could be found.
A payment station was set up for the men to travel to, seeing as postage to the many unnamed villages was unfeasible. 350 men turned up, but many had lost the papers issued to them at the end of the great war. The banker who had brought the money came up with a simple way to sort the real soldiers from fakes. As each man stepped forward he was handed a broom handle and asked (in German) to perform rifle drill movements with it. Not one man failed the test.
Post link
In yet another example of colonialism gone awry, the Kingdoms of Ruanda and Burundi were stitched together as the co-territory of Ruanda-Urundi, claimed as part of German East Africa, passed on to the Belgians after the Great War, administered by the United Nations post-WWII, and finally gaining independence in 1962 as the Kingdom of Burundi and the Republic of Rwanda. As perhaps you recall, this artificial federation did little to coalesce the distinct cultures and history of the two, and things were very bad in that tiny region of Sub-Saharan Africa for many years.
Stamp details:
Stamp on top:
Issued on: August 25, 1931
From: Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi
MC #44
Stamps on bottom:
Issued on: December 18, 1961
From: Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi
MC #183-185
Recognized as a sovereign state by the UN: No
Claimed by: Republic of Burundi; Republic of Rwanda
Member of the Universal Postal Union: No
Post link
