Some details from the Kenya module I am working on

[Olefin]

Thought I would put up some details from the Kenya module just to give some flavor (remember the base came from inputs that Frank Frey put up a while ago here as to what his notes were on his unpublished module)

Hope you like it

2nd Bn/228th Aviation Regiment(fixed wing)
• Manpower: 218 men
• Aviation: three OV-10 Broncos, ten A-1J Skyraiders, one P-51, two O-2A

The Army fixed wing battalion was a reserve formation that was sent due to an initial lack of Air Force assets for Kenya. A scratch force, it was armed with O-2A, OV-10 Broncos and A-1J Skyraiders either bought from private collectors or found at AMARC.

It was then augmented by seven Skyraiders from Chad that were in the process of being shipped to the USA from Mombasa to collectors when the war broke out. The P-51 is the commander’s personal aircraft which he had added to the unit after it was rearmed and made operational.

Its pilots are, to say the least, a colorful batch of men who in many cases are veterans of Vietnam and fire fighting air units and thus are very good at what they do. After the USAF detachment arrived the Army fliers went to considerable lengths to show off their skills especially after several comments about them flying “relics and flying junk heaps” were made at a local bar by a very drunk Air Force Captain, followed by a bar fight that has now become a local legend.


His Majesty’s Kenyan Lions (Elizabeth is dead remember so its a King now)

• Manpower: 425 men
• Vehicles: 6 Land Rovers, 4 gun trucks

A group of former British soldiers and expats, most of them grey beards, who were living in Kenya and who decided to form their own unit to fight under AFCOM command in 1998.

While seen initially as a bunch of old men trying to regain past glories this changed in 1999 when the unit, defending a missionary church in western Kenya near the Tanzanian border, destroyed utterly a group of over 200 marauders in a two day fight. They are considered part of the Mombasa Area Defense Group (Provisional) as to reporting structure.

Originally armed with a large variety of civilian weapons they now are equipped with military weapons, although many of them retain civilian side arms and sniper rifles.

[simonmark6]

I like the colour, some nice ideas here. Just a few suggestions:

425 seems like a large number for the ex-pats to all have had military experience. Perhaps the core is a group of "Grey beard" ex-military and maybe some ex-Rhodesians thrown into the mix. The rest could be younger Brit ex-pats who have been trained up by their elders. There are about 32,000 British ex-pats living in Kenya and having nearly one in 64 of them being older ex-military might be stretching it. In the UK the number of veterans to civilians is about 1 in 120. Considering that soldiers often do settle abroad to let their pensions go further it might be feasible though so it's no biggie.

The unit may just call itself the British Lions to the local populace. This might be more acceptable to a country that forcibly separated from the crown than an overtly royal title. It also adds colour as the British Lions is a composite rugby team that is made up of selected international rugby players from the Home Nations and the Republic of Ireland and there is a thriving rugby culture in Kenya. Either that or mention how their bravery has overcome initial scepticism about their chosen title.

[Olefin]

Thank you very much for the input - its greatly appreciated!

And love the information about the British Lions - thats a great detail! Maybe could even have some of the members be either an ex-member of that team or he was on travel to Kenya and got stuck there by the war.

[simonmark6]

That would be a great detail. Several internationals were in the Army, especially ones who might be getting on in years.

[Rainbow Six]

I think British Lions is a great suggestion for that group.

And as Simon has said, several international rugby players served in the British Army, often as officers. Will Carling (England) and Rob Wainwright (Scotland) are two that immediately spring to mind. Both played in the 90's. IIRC Carling was an officer in the Royal Regiment of Wales (although he was English) and Wainwright was an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

[simonmark6]

Or to go real old school, Mike Campbell-Laverton, born in 1933 and Captain of Scotland and the British Lions in their 1966 tour of New Zealand. He became a Colonel in the Army and commanded Sandhurst for a time. He retired in 1988 and could feasibly have been in Kenya as a tourist or visiting academic.
He was an interesting chap and there's a potted bio of him on wiki.

[Tombot]

Thats interesting! Can you tell more about that unpublished module ? (Or did you do that in another thread?) Please show us, when you ´re done!

[Olefin]

there are other threads here where Frank Frey put up his notes on his unpublished module - and I have taken that and so far am 20 pages into a Kenya module/sourcebook that I hope to put up here soon - that has Frank's canon notes and then expanded from there