KAR in Peace and War (Pic Heavy and Contains Nudity)

[Plynkes]

For various practical reasons lately I have been (and still am for a bit yet) mostly unable to pursue this great hobby of ours (well I think it's great, but I'm not sure about you lot, judging by all the whinging going on in that thread of Hammers' - anyone would think somebody had forced you into it - can't wait to get back to whinging myself soon!  ). Anyway, got to fill the designated hobby time up with something, so I've been surfing the net for inspiration, and have found some. Hope you find these pics interesting.

Peace
Some scenes of pre-war KAR in training...








Ugh! Brings back "happy" memories of those bastard petty despots called PE teachers, and circuit training at school.
(Actually, I quite liked circuit training, it was just the bastard petty despots I hated.)




Note the rifles are Martini-Enfields. No Lees for thee.






The band. You can tell by the look on their faces that they don't do requests.

[Plynkes]

[Plynkes]

A day at the beach...



"Righto, Staff Sergeant. Get the men to strip orf and fall in. And then I want some healthy frolicking in the surf.
It's good for the constitution, what?"

"Ndiyo, Effendi."

"Meanwhile, I'll, er, just stand here and... ah, take some... pictures. Okay?"

"Ndiyo, Effendi. Whatever you say, Effendi..."


Aye, it's a man's life in the King's African Rifles all right!

Next: War!

[Blackwolf]

Good stuff Plynkes,however I hope our wives don't get a look in at the last two,life would never be the same,very healthy looking lads......

 PS I assume the MHs would be .45?

[Plynkes]

Martini-Metfords or Martini-Enfields. Rechambered (and/or factory built) to take .303 ammo.

[Plynkes]

War
The Rifles go to war.


"It'll all be over by Christmas, chaps."


Artillery and MGs.






Detail of above pic. Note the MGs are older Maxims, rather than Vickers.


On the move.


Detail. Note the askari wearing a Wolseley, and the Union flag in the background. Can use those Brigade standard bearers after all!
Not a man of them wearing a neck curtain. Why do figure makers always put their black KAR troops in neck curtains?
You almost never see them worn in photos taken on campaign during the war.


Wonderful caption. Sums up the East African campaign for many of the allied troops involved, I suspect.
I read an account of the Gold Coast Regiment's time in East Africa, and they remembered it as simply chasing the Germans
from one colony to another for two years (would have been less of a trial if they had had the Benny Hill music to accompany them).

Close ups of the "Following Kraut" pics follow...












Friendlies.


I shall refrain from commenting on the caption, lest anyone accuse me of political correctness gone mad.






Maxim in action. A neck curtain! Finally! Forget what I said before. 


Resting after the above action with the enemy.


Baclground detail from above pic.


Another view of the above scene.


A motley gang of askari.


Certainly a diverse bunch. Long Lees, one SMLE and a Martini. Several different styles of smock, jersey, shirt and hat.
Wonder if they're all from the same unit?




The end in sight. German prisoners in the bag.



Well, we've finally caught up with him. At last we can all fucking go home.

Hope you enjoyed them. 

[answer_is_42]

Really fantastic stuff, thanks Plynkes. All the better with your comments.

Certainly a diverse bunch. Long Lees, one SMLE and a Martini. Several different styles of smock, jersey, shirt and hat.
Wonder if they're all from the same unit?

Is the chap on the far left an Indian?

[Plynkes]

Could be. Looks like he is. Somali battalions of the KAR wore turbans, so that is another possibility. Not sure if he looks Somali or not though. KAR had Indian troops too, but I thought the last of them left in about 1907. Could be attached to them from an Indian unit for whatever reason, or simply a sepoy who happened to be hanging around the place when that photo was taken.

In short, I don't know.  

[answer_is_42]

In short, I don't know.  

Could've fooled me! 

How do you know so much, Plynkes?

[kidterminal]

What an interesting thread!

[Hammers]

One can't but reflect that this is a most strapping set of lads. 'Toned' is just the start of it. Also, I can't but notice that the shorn, 'chicken club' look was all the rage back then to.  Fashion moves in circles, eh?

http://www.shaveeverywhere.com/deforestation.html

[carlos marighela]

Dear Plynkes,

Hopefully the parole board will see reason, release you and you can rejoin the ranks of the whingers. Of course by now you have will have seen the error of your ways and will now acknowledge that defacing the Queens coinage is indeed a serious offence with serious ramifications.

 

[Blackwolf]

Martini-Metfords or Martini-Enfields. Rechambered (and/or factory built) to take .303 ammo.

 I suspect they were factory built. It is almost impossible to rechamber a firearm to a smaller calibre ;ie .45 equates to 10mm whilst .303 is 7mm. This would require a whole new breechblock and barrel,might as well give them a new rifle. However I may be wrong.........I usually am

[Plynkes]

I meant converted. New barrels. Might sound like more trouble than it was worth, but somebody thought it was worth it, as they churned out something approaching half a million of the things. They were used by local forces such as the KAR and Imperial Service troops in India. The Egyptian army also had them. Many of the arms shipped to the Arab revolt were these converted Martinis, too.

The Martini-Metford was the first conversion done (in the late 1880s, I think) and used the old black powder .303 rounds, while the Martini-Enfield used the newer smokeless ones. While I think most examples were conversions, some of the later rifles were newly factory-built.

[Blackwolf]

Cheers Plynkes,you are an Oracle

 Guy