Honoring Kenya’s Forgotten World War II Soldiers

One day about 85 years ago, Mutuku Ing’ati left his home in southern Kenya and was never seen again.

Mr. Ingaty, in his 30s, disappeared without explanation. For years, his family desperately tried to track him down, chasing after leads that would eventually run out.

As the decades passed, memories of Mr. Ing’ati faded. He had no children and many of those close to him had passed away. But some 80 years later, his name reappeared in British military records.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which works to commemorate those who died in both world wars, contacted Mr Ing’ati’s nephew, Benjamin Mutuku, after mining old documents.

He learned that the day his uncle left his village, Syamatani, he had traveled about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west to Nairobi, the seat of the British colonial government that ruled Nairobi at the time.

There he enlisted as a private in the East African Reconnaissance Corps, a British Army regiment that fought in World War II. Britain recruited millions of men from its empire to fight two global conflicts of the 20th century in theaters around the world.

Records unearthed by the CWGC show that Mr. Ingatti responded to a call for recruits (the exact details are unclear) but was killed in combat on June 13, 1943. It is not known where or how he died.

Like thousands of Kenyans who served in the British army, he died without telling his family and is buried in an unknown location to this day.

Decades later, Britain still celebrates Remembrance Day to honor those who contributed to the war effort, but the sacrifices of many Kenyan soldiers like Mr Ingati still go unrecognized.

The world knows little about their service and they were not celebrated like their white counterparts before.

After so many years, Mr. Mutuku was happy to know where his uncle had disappeared to and when he died. Despite being born after Mr Ingati left the village, Mr Mutuku feels a strong connection to his namesake uncle.

“I used to ask my father where there was someone named after me.” Mr Mutuku, now 67, told the BBC:

Although he welcomes the new information, Mr Mutuku is angry that his uncle’s body is not buried in Shamatani but is elsewhere in the world.

His family is from the Akamba tribe, and they believe it is very important to rest close to home.

“I never had a chance to see the grave where my uncle was buried,” Mr Mutuku said. “I would have loved to see that.”

CWGC is working to find out where Mr Ingati died, where his body is, and details of other forgotten Kenyan soldiers.

Details are also being sought about East Africans who fought and died during World War I.

With the help of the Kenya Defense Forces, CWGC recently unearthed a treasure trove of rare colonial military records related to that conflict in Kenya. As a result, researchers were able to recover the names and stories of about 3,000 soldiers who served at the time.

The records, thought to have been destroyed decades ago, relate to the King’s African Rifles. Made up of East African soldiers, this regiment fought against the Germans in what is now Tanzania during World War I and against the Japanese in what is now Myanmar during World War II.

George Hay, a historian at the CWGC, told the BBC: “These are not dusty files, these are personal stories. For many African families, this may be the first time they are learning about their relative’s wartime service.”

For example, there is decorated Major George Williams of the Kings African Rifles. Mr Williams, described as 170cm (5ft 8in) tall with a scar on the right side of his chin, received several medals for bravery and was recognized as a first-class marksman. Died in Mozambique at age 44 Just four months before the end of the war.

There are also records of Abdulla Fadlumulla, a Ugandan soldier who joined the King’s African Rifles in 1913. He was only 16 years old. He died just 13 months later while attacking enemy lines in Tanzania.

Patrick Abungu, a historian at the CWGC’s Kenya office, said the records show how the war “affected every fabric of Kenya.”

“Because the story is that they went away and never came back, and now we are answering the questions of where they went and where (their bodies) could be,” he added.

The historian wants to answer these questions for thousands of families across Kenya, including his own.

his My great-uncle, Ogoyi Ogunde, was conscripted into the British army during World War I and never returned home.

“It’s very shocking to lose a loved one and not know where they are,” he told the BBC.

“No matter how many years go by, people will always look at that door and hope that he will walk through it one day.”

Mr Abungu and the CWGC hope to finally build a monument to commemorate the thousands of soldiers identified in the newly discovered documents.

The group also wants the records to inform school curricula in Kenya so that new generations understand the huge but overlooked role Africans played in the world war.

“The only way this matter matters is if people like me don’t say, ‘This is your history,’” says CWGC’s Hay.

“It’s about people saying, ‘This is our history,’ and using the materials we work with.”

CWGC will continue to recover details of Kenyan individuals who served in the British Armed Forces until all fallen soldiers have been remembered.

“There is no end date. I mean this could last 1,000 years,” says Abungu.

“The process that is happening now is to keep the memory of the thousands of people who left and never returned… so that we do not forget.”