Diary of Sir John Ponsonby, relating to a military expedition in Africa (microfilm)

Scope and Content

Diary of military expedition through British East Africa to the Congo, 1898-1899, with a march through Naivasha and Mumias to Unyoro where Ponsonby commanded Sudanese troops in the Uganda Mutiny. Microfilm.

Administrative / Biographical History

Major-General Sir John Ponsonby (1866-1952) began his career in the army in 1887 and served in Matabeleland (1893-1894), Uganda (1888-1889), and South Africa (1899-1900). During the First World War he served as Brigadier-General commanding the 2nd Guards Brigade (1915-1917), temporary Major-General commanding 40th Division (1917-1918), and Major-General commanding 5th Division. In the 1920s and 1930s he served as General Officer commanding Madras District (1922-1926), and Colonel of the Suffolk Regiment (1925-1939). During the Second World War, Ponsonby commanded the 7th Cumberland Battalion of the Home Guard (1940-1941). He was awarded the DSO (1900), CMG (1915), CB (1918) and KCB (1927).

Access Information

Bodleian reader's ticket required.

Note

Collection level description created by Marion Lowman, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House.

Administrative/Biographical History compiled with reference to Who Was Who .

Other Finding Aids

Listed as no. 933 in Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford, Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996).

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