The Askari

An askari is an African soldier in a regiment raised during colonial rule in East Africa. They were recruited by both the Germans and the British, and fought in several campaigns, the most notable of which was the German campaign between 1914 and 1918 in what was German East Africa, later Tanganyika, and now Tanzania. Called the Schutztruppe, this small army along with some German troops fought a famous guerrilla campaign and only surrendered after hostilities ceased in Europe.

My parents were given the carving as a wedding present when they married in Zanzibar in 1940. It's just under 40cm high and carved from ebony.

I had always assumed that it was a British King's African Rifles askari but it's far more likely to be a Schutztrupper because it was given to my parents by a Miss Green and a Miss Gunn of the Universities Mission to Central Africa, both of whom had been prisoners of the Germans during World War I.

That it is a German askari is further supported by the uniform. The hat is a 'tarbush' - the K.A.R. tended to wear Australian-type slouched hats. The two ammunition pouches at the front are also of German pattern, as are things like the water bottle and bayonet carried at the back.

The Schutztruppe preferred to go barefoot but they also wore short leather boots and puttees, and the rifle resembles the Mauser Jägerbüchse 1871 issued to them. This soldier is wearing long trousers while the K.A.R. often wore shorts.

There are some touching details on the statue, such as the tribal scars on its cheeks. One wonders whether the carving depicts an actual trooper of the First World War.

A website - here - describes Schutztruppe equipment.