BEASTS OF BURDEN (1914–1918)

"We carried the War on our backs."

📜 Forced Into Service

During the Two Great Wars (Especially WWI), colonial officers across Africa used force, fear, and coercion to conscript Africans as military porters. Known as the Carrier Corps, their job was to move weapons, supplies, and food across difficult terrain. These conscripts—many unwilling—became known as Tenga Tenga, a term that described someone who carried heavy loads.

By 1917, over 80,000 African carriers had been conscripted by the British, including 14,000 from Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Though officially classified as "unarmed civilians," many Tenga Tenga wore military fatigues and were trained to use weapons, as enemy forces often attacked supply lines.

⚒️ Work Beyond War

Tenga Tenga did more than carry loads. They built camps and roads, cooked, washed, and cleared brush. At the height of the war, every British soldier in the field needed at least six porters just to survive. Some carriers became drivers, stretcher-bearers, or medical assistants. Women were not spared either—they were pressed into service to carry food, water, and fuel, especially to resupply steam engines around Lake Tanganyika. 

It is also reported that when times were critical, some Tenga Tenga were given weapons to fight as infantry. 

🛶 Canoes, Rivers & Roads

Tenga Tenga also manned water transport. Thousands of canoe paddlers ferried war supplies along rivers like the Luapula, into Fort Rosebery (Mansa) and across Lake Bangweulu to Kasama. From there, land-based porters took over. During the war, 12,000 paddlers operated 2,000 canoes, feeding supply depots just 48 km from the frontline.

👑 Chiefs, Loyalty & Propaganda

Colonial reports often described these recruits as "volunteers," supposedly offered by their chiefs. Indeed, King Lewanika of Barotseland claimed to send 2,000 carriers led by his son Mwanawina, who served in East Africa and was later knighted. Some chiefs, like those in Fort Jameson (Chipata), even contributed money for British warplanes—perhaps to display loyalty to the Crown.

But volunteerism was rare. In truth, propaganda, fear, and taxation were key tools. High wages and military uniforms lured some. Others joined to pay off the colonial Hut or Poll Tax. Many were coerced or kidnapped. In extreme cases, colonial officers imprisoned the wives of those who refused to serve, holding them until their husbands volunteered.

✉️ Lewanika's Loyalty Letter

In one letter, King Lewanika wrote to a British official:

"We express our sympathy with the Empire and our loyalty to His Majesty the King... It is a great honour to bring forward young men to stand with the Government in defence of the territory."

While this letter reflects loyalty, it also shows the political pressure and performative allegiance demanded of African leaders under colonial rule.

💣 Forced Labour, Brutal Conditions

Despite any rhetoric of honour or patriotism, many Tenga Tenga were conscripted by force. British officials used threats, intimidation, arrests, and beatings to meet recruitment targets. Chiefs who hesitated were pressured. A district officer in Sierra Leone admitted:

"As long as chiefs assist in recruiting, the carriers are not strictly volunteers."

Military rules claimed porters would carry only 23–30 kg, march no more than 25 km per day, and never be abandoned when sick. But in practice, these rules were widely ignored. Overburdened and underfed, many died from exhaustion, pneumonia, dysentery, or malaria, especially on the treacherous Lealui–Broken Hill route.

Further, few carriers received medical attention. Those who fell ill were often left to die in the bush. Missionaries sometimes offered help, but care was sporadic. Others tried to escape, but in foreign lands, without kin or knowledge of the terrain, few succeeded. Desperate, some carriers feigned illness, looted, or threw away their loads.

Tenga Tenga were seen by many as "Beasts of Burden", and their work—essential as it was—was held in contempt by colonizers and locals alike. They were never awarded medals or pensions. For them, there was no glory—only fatigue, pain, and silence. Moreover, tactics during WWI included attacking logistic tails and often the carriers were the most lucrative targets of war.

From Foot to Lorry

By the 1920s and 30s, the arrival of motorised transport reduced the need for human porters. Yet even during World War II, in Burma and other jungles where roads failed, African carriers again proved indispensable. They marched where machines could not, carrying war on their backs—just as they had done decades before.

📍 Remembering the Forgotten

The story of the Tenga Tenga—men and women, volunteers and victims—is a story of resilience, brutality, and erasure. They built the supply lines that sustained the Empire, yet their names and sacrifices rarely appear in the war memorials of Europe or Africa.

In every way but name, they were soldiers without guns, conscripted into a colonial war that promised little but hardship. They carried the war—and its burden—on their backs.