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Shepperson Memorial

Sam’s love of poetry and literature was moved by these and many other songs
from both military and traditional life. He was a perceptive and sympathetic man who
saw the injustices of colonial life through his own experiences and the stories of his
askari. His wartime service and three years’ service in the KAR was to influence him
strongly for the rest of his life; even after the passage of fifty years, he could still sing
marching songs in Chichewa and remember his soldiers by name. He treated them as
individuals and with respect unlike some of his European contemporaries. In turn, he
was clearly respected by his soldiers as they looked to him for assistance and support
on a number of occasions. This enabled him to understand their aspirations for a better
life and independence before many others; it certainly helped to launch the career of a
remarkable historian and writer. Shepperson’s wartime service in the KAR would be
to the lasting benefit of Malawi and indeed of us all.

Ross Anderson, PhD has had a long career as an infantry officer in the Canadian
and British armies and is now an independent historian. With degrees from the
Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Glasgow, his publications
include two books and several articles on the First World War in East and Central
Africa. He is currently working on a study of the colonial-era King’s African Rifles
during that conflict which will highlight the very substantial role played by
Malawians.

Archive Images No: 1

A wartime Ordnance Survey map of the Kabaw Valley & Chindwin River in
Burma (Myanmar) which Lt George Shepperson, KAR, annotated with the
planned route of the proposed Ticky Force patrol.

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