The Labour politician Dick Crossman was in Kenya to gather information about the Mau Mau rebellion. The uprising was an attempt by a loose coalition of indigenous tribes to overthrow British rule and was marked by vicious atrocities and reprisals. Crossman found a fractured response by the British authorities and local defence forces under their control. Too many Home Guard troops and reservists were unreliable, too few British commanders understood the Kikuyu people or spoke the local languages. Repression seemed a blunt and counterproductive influence. White Kenya “can only save itself from destruction”, thought Crossman, “by abdicating its privileges while there is still time.”
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