The border area southeast of Victoria Nyanza in January 1915
Since the German withdrawal from Kisii in September 1914 area of
the border between British East Africa (BEA, now Kenya) and
German East Africa (GEA, now Tanzania) had been quiet. Ross’s
Scouts had dominated the region down to the Mara River, but the
unit was disbanded probably for disciplinary reasons in mid-
January 1915. However Captain J.J. Drought and 18 others
transferred from Ross’s Scouts into the East African Mounted
Rifles (EAMR) and stayed on as mounted scouts in the eastern
Victoria Nyanza (Lake Victoria) area. The resident infantry sub-
units in the area were ‘E’ and ‘G’ Companies of the Uganda based
4th King’s African Rifles (4KAR). Other sub-units from other
regiments were moved into and out of the border area as required
but the 4KAR Askari were the backbone of the British presence in
the region. Above: Karungu Port The landing at The local British
commander in Nairobi was the Indian Army Brigadier General J.M.
‘Jimmie’ Stewart. He dec