East Africa: The Rise of the Rifles

In their maroon tarbooshes and crisp khakis, the King's African Rifles stood tough and tall in the front rank of Britain's far-flung battle line. Whether the enemy was a spear-swinging Somali shifta or a Japanese marine behind a clattering Nambu machine gun, the well-disciplined askaris of the K.A.R. could be counted on to attack as ordered. Last week, from the headwaters of the Nile to the beaches of the Indian Ocean, the Rifles were barking again. But this time their muzzles were trained on British troops and their own recently independent governments....

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