大象传媒

One of the lesser known front lines in World War One was in East Africa. That's where a solicitor from Lancaster fought, died and now rests in a Kenyan cemetery.

As well as being a lawyer, John Douthwaite was a keen golfer and even represented his county. But in his mid-30s, he joined up to do his bit; first, serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps, and then joining the Royal Army Service Corps.

The German strategy in East Africa was to divert allied forces from the Western Front. The campaign took in the modern countries of places like Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In January 1916, he was sent to East Africa. In a letter home to his sister, he vividly describes a soldier's life in the jungle. He talks about a river "full of crocodiles" and trees "alive with monkeys."

Like many other soldiers serving in East Africa, Private Douthwaite succumbed not to enemy fire - but to disease. The local newspaper reports he died of malarial fever aged 37, leaving behind his wife Lily.

His name is included on a memorial at the headquarters of the Law Society in London to all lawyers who fell in the Great War.

Location: Belle Vue Terrace, Lancashire LA1 4TY
Image: John Douthwaite, courtesy of Lancaster Guardian (1916)

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