How a sinking ship brought war and misery to Kenya

African soldiers firing artillery during the First World War. [File, Standard]

When a British passenger ship carrying 1,400 passengers sank near Hebrides, Scotland, the cries of the drowning women and children reached Nairobi.

The incident involving the German soldiers on September 4, 1939, had far-reaching consequences for some villagers who had possibly never seen a ship.

When the Kenya Colony governor, Robert Brook Popham, summoned the Legislative Council for a session in Nairobi, later that morning,...