7 - Legacies

Summary

Chapter Seven, Legacies, draws the stories of some of the central characters to a close and following them home. The Armistice could not reverse the disruption of the First World War; the webs of empire were further tangled by these encounters experienced by these colonial troops. Through mutiny, migration, war marriages and memorialisation, I explore the consequences of these interactions in the years after the war’s end to show how the networks of the First World War endured beyond the end of the conflict. The experience of encounters, much like the experience of combat and frontline labour, was newly acquired ‘cultural baggage’ and part of being a veteran in the interwar colonies and dominions.