Frederick Njilima, M.M.: An Unlikely African Hero of the Western Front

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Frederick Njilima, was born in Nyasaland, today's Malawi, a small country of some 48k square miles; slightly smaller than England. It is about 520 miles long by 100 miles at its widest point. Lakes comprise some 20% of the surface area of the country with the largest Lake Nyasa - now called Lake Malawi - being some 360 miles long by about 50 miles at its widest point. It is the third largest lake in Africa and the fourth deepest in the world. At the time of the First World War, Nyasaland shared a border to its north east with German East Africa, today's Tanzania, to the west with Northern Rhodesia, today's Zambia, and with Portuguese East Africa, today's Mozambique to the south west, the south and the east.