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Ian Henderson
IAN HENDERSON (1927 - 13 April 2013) was brought up on a farm in Kenya at the edge of the Aberdare Forest. His first playmates were Kikuyu boys. In 1945, just before his eighteenth birthday, he joi...view moreIAN HENDERSON (1927 - 13 April 2013) was brought up on a farm in Kenya at the edge of the Aberdare Forest. His first playmates were Kikuyu boys. In 1945, just before his eighteenth birthday, he joined the Nairobi police force, bringing with him two valuable assets: a rare talent for detective work and a rare (among Europeans) familiarity with the Kikuyu people and their language.
As the Mau Mau movement gained momentum, Henderson became one of the few links between the terrorists and the Kenya government—a negotiator who understood the strange complexities of the terrorist mind. His activities with the Special Branch detachment of the Kenya police earned him two George Medals, the highest award for bravery to non-military personnel, as well as the respect of the Kikuyu tribe, who nicknamed him “Kinyanjui” after one of their elder statesmen. Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Lathbury has said: “Ian Henderson has probably done more than any other individual to bring the emergency to an end.”
He received further top class honours from Bahrain in 1982, 1983 and 2000 respectively, and was awarded a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 1984. Henderson died in 2013.view less