ABSTRACT
Williams probably arrived back in London from Liberia just in time to see the Naval and Military Tournament, which for 1908 was called ‘Devil Dance'. According to The African Mail this was to be an ‘exhibition of bush fighting' by 100 men from the West Africa Regiment of Sierra Leone. The men would also show ‘column on the march with guns and a maxim and rest for “chop” (ie, meal), and advance into the enemy's country, and an attack on a stockade, made of timber and strengthened by “medicine” of various kinds such as fetish ornaments and devices, which will be an exact reproduction of the fortification of bush towns', it advised readers. In later issues the paper noted that the men slept on the floor ‘in blankets', smoked pipes and cigars, were invited to see a show at the Coliseum and would be going to Buckingham Palace to be inspected by the King. The paper assiduously noted that only six men from the Regiment had been to a theatre previously—but then how many British ‘Ordinary Ranks' were theatre buffs? 1
