With a childhood spent in Malaysia where his father was a Government
Servant in the Straits Settlement, it was to be expected, perhaps, that H. H.
Marshall would join the Colonial Service from University. He took a post on the
West Coast of Africa in Nigeria where he progressed from the rank of Cadet to
become a District Officer.
With an attention to detail the author describes some of the entanglements
‘enjoyed’ with the local Chiefs and the Native Courts. Nevertheless the extremes
of climate allied to an extended tour because of the Second World War were
bound to take their toll of the European staff and resulted in his being invalided
back to England.
H. H. Marshall tells in intimate detail some of the physical and mental
extremes encountered by a Colonial Servant in the part of the world which was
known, at one time, as the White Man’s Grave!
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