Word: africanism
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...death cell at Nairobi one day last February, China convinced his captors that the Mau Mau, reduced to dispirited remnants, were ready to surrender if the British would give a sign. On the order of the governor of Kenya, he was smuggled out of jail, disguised as an African policeman and flown to Nyeri, where he set to work to write letters to his Mau Mau colleagues. China's letters offered safe conduct to Mau Mau representatives if they would meet British officers to talk over a truce...
...policemen drove their jeeps deep into murderland. One big parley was ruined by sheer heavyhandedness. Major General Heyman arrived, but as the army communiqué put it, "the Mau Mau representatives came within a few hundred yards but something frightened them off." The "something" was 1,800 British and African infantrymen, poured into the area to protect the British brass...
...hill overlooking the village of Gathuini. They were forbidden by the truce agreement to enter the Kikuyu reserve, but assembling after dark, Gatamuki's men pitched their camp about 350 yards inside the tribal boundary. They were spotted there by elements of the 7th Battalion, King's African Rifles, commanded by Brigadier John Reginald...
...young British officers and Negro soldiers were spoiling for a fight. They had seen too many mutilated corpses to have faith in the surrender plan, and since Gatamuki was camped illegally, he was technically still fair game. During the night, the African riflemen were moved into position. In the morning, they opened fire with Sten guns, mortars and grenades. The Mau Mau fought back, but it was all over in a matter of minutes. Most of the Mau Mau fled, but behind them they left 25 dead, many wounded and General Gatamuki a prisoner. Protested Gatamuki: "We were...
...nearly came off . . ." At week's end, British aircraft equipped with loudspeakers swanned low over the forest with a new message for the Mau Mau: "This was the day set for your surrender. Your emissaries failed to show up. Now our major offensive begins." British troops and African Home Guards swarmed onto Mt. Kenya, driving the startled Mau Mau into ambush after ambush. Many did not know the truce had ended, and they died without knowing what hit them. But the Mau Mau accepted the challenge. "The white man tricked us," one terrorist said. "Our brothers were lured...