Obscure matters of history... two Kenyans looking for help

The British government recently apologised for failing to honour some 350,000 African, Arab and Asian soldiers who died fighting for the Allies in World War Two. That was only part of it.

Burying these men without tribute in unmarked graves was symptomatic of a wider discrimination, as Clement Amolo of Nairobi discovered when he researched the history of his late grandfather, Augustinus Ogimo Ajode.

Clement believes his grandfather was a member of the 11th (East Africa) division of the British 14th Army, which left Kilindini harbour around February 5, 1944, and sailed via Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to Burma (now Myanmar). There, soldiers from East and West Africa and units of the Indian Army fought the occupying Japanese forces on fronts across the country.

The loyalty of those troops to the then British Empire is remarkable in view of the racism they endured.

Accounts of the voyage of convoy KR8 to East Asia, which Clement discovered, state that African soldiers were crowded onto the lower decks next to the cargo while white soldiers enjoyed the fresh air of the upper decks; that white troops were paid Sh10 a month and Africans Sh3.50; that an upper rank limit of Warrant Officer was imposed on Africans; that black soldiers could be whipped, but not whites.

Research indicated that Clement’s grandfather was nicknamed “Gap-toothed,” that he was among several African soldiers who found the air in the troopship so foul that he vomited. This account said Gap-toothed wondered why racism should exist in a fighting force whose members faced the same dangers and hardships, whatever the colour of their skin.

Augustinus survived the war and took some kind of security job at Thompson’s Falls. However, his behaviour later in life became erratic and his grandson Clement believes he might have been traumatised by his war experiences. Today his condition would likely be categorised as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Personally, I congratulate Clement on digging out this touching story of a brave ancestor. What he really needs, he says, is to access any official list that contains his grandfather’s name. He wishes to confirm his research. “I have combed the internet like crazy,” he says, but without success.

If any expert out there is ready to point him towards a solution, Clement’s email is: [email protected]

Another Kenyan looking for help is Jimmy Whitehouse, a registered herbal medicine doctor in Mombasa.

Jimmy says he was born on July 3, 1961 in the then whites-only Lady Grigg Hospital in Mombasa, his father being a British police officer from the English Midlands named Sid Shorthouse, and his mother a Luhya lady.

According to Jimmy, his father abandoned him and he was brought up in an orphanage.

Now he wants his parentage to be honoured, to be put in touch with his father’s British family and to be confirmed as a British citizen.

Jimmy hopes to do this by means of a petition to the British Parliament. If such a petition is signed by 100,000 people online, then it can be debated in Westminster.

As a non-expert in such matters, Jimmy is looking for help in this area. His telephone is +254 720 176 668 and his email is [email protected]

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This column last week referred to financial scandals touching on Prime Minister Boris Johnson and asked if time could be running out for Britain’s top politician.

If the results of a wide spread of municipal and mayoral elections on May 6 are anything to go by, the answer must be No.

Control of many town and city councils was seized from Labour by Johnson’s Conservatives, with long-standing socialist mayors defeated in areas that were traditionally anti-Tory. Durham County Council, for example, yielded control to the Conservatives for the first time in 100 years.

Equally or more devastating for Labour was the only Parliamentary election on the day, when Tory Jill Mortimer defeated Labour’s candidate, physician Dr Paul Williams, in Hartlepool in the northeast of England, by nearly 7,000 votes.

This was a port town, which had elected a Labour MP in every general election since the constituency was formed in 1974.

North of the border, the Scottish Independence Party trounced all-comers, prompting renewed calls for a referendum on whether Scotland should break away from the United Kingdom.

Opponents of the move pointed out that whatever the success of the SNP, a previous nationwide referendum showed Scots stood fifty-fifty on leaving the UK.

Johnson is firmly opposed to any breakaway, but this is a problem that is not going away.

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The thief stuck his gun into the ribs of a well-dressed man and demanded, “Give me your money.” Said the victim, “You can’t do that, I’m a Member of Parliament.” Said the gunman, in that case, give me my money.”

Boy 1: My dad is a politician.

Boy 2: Honest?

Boy 1: No, just the usual sort.

[email protected]