Guns from the Mau Mau rebellion

[Guymullins]

My old army buddy, and the best man at my wedding, has just inherited two fine six guns from his grandfather. They are Colt New Service .455 Eley's and were manufactured in 1903. The grandfather was an Australian and was mentioned in a Time Magazine article : The article reports on the quest by Australian native Stanley Davidson to capture Dedan Kimathi, who was his comrade in Ethiopia in World War II and who has become the chieftain of Kenya's Mau Mau terrorist group. Davidson offered his services to the Kenyan authorities and for four months, he pursued Kimathi. He was later wounded and hospitalized and later received a letter from Kimathi saying that he would be traveling to other countries as leader of the Land Freedom Army.
From Time 16 Nov 1953
Unfortunately, I don't have access to the whole article as it is not available on the web.

[JJ_BPK]

Those pistols look pristine, considering he carried them in open holsters.. Funny he had one with gold bead and one with patridge front sight.

I would write to Colt and see if they could get a history on the serials. They are uniquely historic and might have significant value.

Found a site on the story. This one considers Kimathi a freedom fighter and father on Kenya?

http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2014/01/dedan-kimathi-iconic-kenyan-freedom.html

I found the Time article, but you need to a subscription.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819246,00.html

[Flagg]

Wow! Did your mate's grandfather keep the letter and pass that on as well?

That combination would make for an awesome presentation case.

[Guymullins]

Those pistols look pristine, considering he carried them in open holsters.. Funny he had one with gold bead and one with patridge front sight.

I would write to Colt and see if they could get a history on the serials. They are uniquely historic and might have significant value.

Found a site on the story. This one considers Kimathi a freedom fighter and father on Kenya?

http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2014/01/dedan-kimathi-iconic-kenyan-freedom.html

I found the Time article, but you need to a subscription.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,819246,00.html

Thanks a lot for those two sources. I will try to find someone with a Time subscription to read that one.