General Slim presenting awards to the African soldiers of the 14th Army, 1944 (c)

Photograph, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945), 1944 (c).

The awards ceremony took place during a parade by the 1st Northern Rhodesian Regiment and the 2nd Nyasaland Battalion, The King's African Rifles. Over 90,000 soldiers from Britain's West and East African colonies fought in Burma, as opposed to some 100,000 British troops, yet their actions, never widely publicised, have been largely forgotten. This is despite the fact they proved to be among the Allies' best jungle fighters.

From an album of 608 photographs compiled by Colin Campbell of the King's African Rifles.