A soldier from the East African Reconnaissance Regiment, checking a machine-gun, Burma, 1945

Photograph, World War Two, Far East, 1945.

The East African Reconnaissance Regiment, part of 11th East African Division, was equipped with armoured cars and light tanks. In this image a soldier checks a Browning machine-gun. His division incorporated battalions of the King's African Rifles and other forces from Kenya, Uganda, Nyasaland (now Malawi), Somaliland (Somalia) and Tanganyika (Tanzania). The Africans proved extremely hardy and tenacious in several battles, both as combatant soldiers, medical staff, and carriers.

From album of 147 photographs associated with Brigadier M W Briggs and the 11th East African Division and the King's African Rifles, 1941-1945.