Mombasa African Memorial
- Country Kenya
- Total identified casualties 0 Find these casualties
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: -4.05697, Longitude: 39.67034
About Mombasa African Memorial
The First World War (1914-1918) left little of the world untouched. The Mombasa African Memorial is one of three memorials that honour East Africans who died while serving with British forces in the war against Germany.
During the conflict, more than 55,000 soldiers and 650,000 non-combatant labourers were raised from across East Africa to serve alongside British Empire forces in fighting centred on present day Tanzania. Nearly 10,000 of those soldiers served in Kenyan units and over 186,000 Kenyans served as carriers. More than 5,100 soldiers died during the conflict, including over 1,400 in Kenyan units, but it was the porters of the Carrier Corps who suffered the worst hardships. Overburdened, ill-provisioned and often serving in unfamiliar climates, their casualty rates were considerably higher. It is believed more than 83,000 died during the war, the majority from disease. At least 31,900 of this number came from Kenya.
IWM Q67823 Ammunition column of King's African Rifles crossing the Lurio River, Mozambique.
Mombasa played a critical role in the conflict, sitting at one end of the Uganda Railway and home to Kenya’s principal seaport. Vast quantities of supplies and tens of thousands of men flowed through the city on their way to the fighting fronts to the south. Many of the men were later repatriated via the same route, with the sick and injured tended to by the military hospitals also based here.
The grave locations of East Africans who died in Mombasa during the First World War are largely unknown, but it is believed that many lie unmarked at sites like Manyimbo Municipal Cemetery. This memorial honours their memory, alongside those East Africans who died across the region whose graves and names are not known.
Regimental Serjeant Major George Williams DCM and Bar
George Williams was born around 1874, likely in the Frere Town area of Mombasa. He first enlisted in the King’s African Rifles in 1898 and served continuously until he was killed in action on 22 July 1918 at the Battle of Namirrue in what is now Mozambique.
A respected and experienced soldier, he was commended for his leadership and repeatedly recognised for acts of gallantry. Unlike many commemorated by this memorial, his name is known to us.
Location information
Mombasa is an island city off the Kenya coast. The Mombasa African Memorial is situated in the centre of town, in the Kikowani district, near the new Mosque, at the junction of Mombasa Road (the A109) and Mackawi Road.
Visiting information
Mombasa African Memorial is open every day between 06:00 and 18:00.
History information
At the outbreak of the First World War Tanzania was the core of German East Africa. From the invasion of April 1915, Commonwealth forces fought a protracted and difficult campaign against a relatively small but highly skilled German force under the command of General von Lettow-Vorbeck. When the Germans finally surrendered on 25 November 1918, fourteen days after the European armistice, their numbers had been reduced to 155 European and 1,168 African troops.
The African troops and followers who died with the Commonwealth forces during the East African campaign of the First World War are for the most part commemorated by three memorials, one at Nairobi, one at Mombasa and one at Dar es Salaam. The backbone of the combatant force in East Africa were the King's African Rifles, organised in seven regiments, of which three (the 1st, 3rd and 4th) existed in 1914. The whole force eventually numbered 22 battalions. The officers and necessary technical troops were from the United Kingdom, the other ranks Sudanese, or men from the East African protectorates. They were later reinforced firstly from India, South Africa and in 1917 from West Africa. The Arab Rifles, mainly Yemeni and Hadramouts, served with distinction throughout the war and the Intelligence Corps, represented by the Askari, played an important and dangerous role as scouts.
The African combatant troops raised for the East African campaign numbered 34,000. The non-combatant porters, stevedores and followers of the Military Labour Corps 600,000. Almost 50,000 of these men were lost, killed in action died of sickness or wounds, but as no complete record of their names exists, no names appear on the memorials.
The statistics are quoted only within the commemoration figures for Tanzania.