King's African Rifles

The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from the various British possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within the East African colonies as well as external service as recorded hereafter. Rank and file were Africans called askaris, while most officers were seconded from British Army regiments. When raised there were some Sudanese officers in the Uganda-raised battalions and towards the end of British colonial rule African officers were commissioned in the various battalions.

Read more about King's African Rifles:  Uniforms, Formation, Operational History, Battle Honours, Notable Servicemen

Famous quotes containing the words king, african and/or rifles:

    Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George and continue the slaves of King Prejudice? What is it to be born free and not to live free? What is the value of any political freedom, but as a means to moral freedom? Is it a freedom to be slaves, or a freedom to be free, of which we boast?
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The writer in me can look as far as an African-American woman and stop. Often that writer looks through the African-American woman. Race is a layer of being, but not a culmination.
    Thylias Moss, African American poet. As quoted in the Wall Street Journal (May 12, 1994)

    Oh, God, why do they do this to us? We only wanted to live, you and I. Why should they send us out to fight each other? If we threw away these rifles and these uniforms, you could be my brother.
    Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)