Wooden walking stick, General Sir Claude Auchinleck, 1945 (wood and metal)

Walking stick presented to General Sir Claude Auchinleck by the 11th East African Division, 1945. The 11th East Africa Division, composed chiefly of battalions of the King’s African Rifles, helped defeat the Italians in Somaliland and Abyssinia in 1941 before serving in Madagascar in 1942. In 1944, together with the 5th Indian Division, it opened the road to Rangoon and established the first bridgehead over the River Chindwin from where other divisions of the 14th Army carried on the advance to re-take Burma from the Japanese. A silver collar beneath the head, which is carved in the form of an African women seated on a stool, bears an inscription dedicating the wooden stick to General Sir Claude Auchinleck from the 11th East African Division.