Kit bag straps used by Captain Alexander Wallace, British South Africa Police, 1916 (c)

Two leather straps with metal buckles.

Captain Alexander Wallace served as a medical officer with the British South Africa Police during World War One (1914-1918).

Wallace's unit advanced from Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) into German East Africa in May 1916, fighting several skirmishes in the mountains and forests until withdrawn in 1917. Medical provisions were basic, Wallace wrote: 'I have 20 serious cases, mostly askaris. Their wounds are all septic and it takes a long time to dress them... There is difficulty in getting carriers…The flies and mosquitoes are simply swarming.'