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It fell to Henderson and Ruck to meet the Mau Mau chiefs and escort them, under safe conduct, to talks with Major General George Heyman, the British chief of staff. The two policemen drove their jeeps deep into murderland. One big parley was ruined by sheer heavyhandedness. Major General Heyman arrived, but as the army communiqué put it, "the Mau Mau representatives came within a few hundred yards but something frightened them off." The "something" was 1,800 British and African infantrymen, poured into the area to protect the British brass.
Silence in the Rain. Henderson and Ruck persisted, and their patience paid off. To Karatina barracks one day last month came "General" Kareba, with an offer to join China and help to end the war. Later to Nyeri stockade, riding in Henderson's jeep, came two representatives of scarfaced "Field Marshal" Russia, alias Dedan Kimathi, and four more from Mt. Kenya. The British released General Kareba to go back with Kimathi's men as a token of British good faith.
By last week a truce of sorts had been arranged. British Commander in Chief Sir George Erskine ordered his troops to avoid clashes, give the enemy a chance to surrender. For the first time in a year, the rain-drenched forests lay silent: no bombs dropped, no rifles were fired.
What would happen next depended on the Mau Mau leaders. They apparently disagreed. In the Aberdares, prisoners reported afterwards, Field Marshal Russia warned of a white man's trap: "Those who surrender . . . will be massacred by an atom bomb." But into General Gatamuki's camp came Truce-Talker Kareba, whom the British had released. He persuaded Gatamuki to give himself up.
"Nothing but Satisfaction." At midweek the decisions were made. Down from their fastnesses the Mau Mau came in hundreds. Chief Gatamuki's band headed for a wooded hill overlooking the village of Gathuini. They were forbidden by the truce agreement to enter the Kikuyu reserve, but assembling after dark, Gatamuki's men pitched their camp about 350 yards inside the tribal boundary. They were spotted there by elements of the 7th Battalion, King's African Rifles, commanded by Brigadier John Reginald Orr.
Orr's young British officers and Negro soldiers were spoiling for a fight. They had seen too many mutilated corpses to have faith in the surrender plan, and since Gatamuki was camped illegally, he was technically still fair game. During the night, the African riflemen were moved into position. In the morning, they opened fire with Sten guns, mortars and grenades. The Mau Mau fought back, but it was all over in a matter of minutes. Most of the Mau Mau fled, but behind them they left 25 dead, many wounded and General Gatamuki a prisoner. Protested Gatamuki: "We were on our way to surrender." Said Brigadier Orr: "I regard the action with nothing but satisfaction."