Description
Object description
British civilian district officer with Colonial Administration Service in Northern Rhodesia, 1938-1940; officer served with Headquarters, 11th (East Africa) Infantry Div in East Africa, 10/1940-5/1941; served as military governor of Wollega Province, Ethiopia, 5/1941-2/1942; served as administrator with Military Government in British Somaliland, 1942-1945; served with Government of Gold Coast in Gold Coast, 1946-1955
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1915-1937:family; education; obtaining employment with Colonial Administrative Service at Oxford, 1937. Aspects of period as district officer in Northern Rhodesia, 1938-1940: posting to Abercorn; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; degree of political aspiration amongst Africans, 9/1939; Italian threat from 6/1940 and his release for military service. Recollections of operations as cypher officer with Headquarters, 11th African Div in East Africa, 10/1940-5/1941: background to becoming cypher officer; advance into Italian Somaliland, 1/1941; factors effecting Italian morale; composition of British military forces sent from Kenya; question of political meddling during liberation of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; deception plans and Italian fear of Australian troops; story of being first into governor's palace at Harar, Ethiopia; cypher work.
REEL 2 Continues: liberation of Addis Ababa; how Ethiopians distinguished between Italian fascists and settlers; treatment of Italian prisoners of war; degree of Italian resistance during campaign in East Africa; posting to position of military governor of Wollega Province, 15/5/1941; how speed of British advance outran supplies; capture of group of Italian prisoners of war; attitude of King's African Rifles personnel to campaign. Recollections of period as Military Governor of Wollega Province, Ethiopia, 5/1941-2/1942: his work as administrator; return of Emperor Haile Selassie and his reception; arrest of Ethiopian who wanted to take over from British representative; attitude of Ethiopians' to foreign presence. Recollections of period as administrator with Military Government in British Somaliland, 1942-1945: initial resistance of Somalis to education; incident of district officer being besieged by Somalis, 1945.
REEL 3 Continues: possible cause of Somali hostility towards district officer; methods of locust control; reconnaissance to investigate if Mount Kenya would be a suitable jungle training area, late 1944; question of difficulty of substantiating claims by historians that participation of African soldiers in Second World War stimulated post-war independence. Recollections of period as administrator with Government of Gold Coast in Gold Coast, 1946-1955: various roles and duties; his work on plans for Volta River Scheme and Tema Port Development; memories of Kwame Nkrumah; his rescue after being attacked by mob during riot in Accra, 28/2/1948; question of why riot occurred.
REEL 4 Continues: influence of events of 28/2/1948 on African Independence; Kwame Nkrumah's avowed Marxism and co-ordination of events, 28/2/1948; opinion of Ghanaians; prosperity of Gold Coast pre-1955.