ABSTRACT
Britain’s African policy, as enunciated in 1947, provided an awesome task for the Colonial Office. ‘Nation-building’ had to be undertaken in conditions that were unpropitious. Despite increased recruitment to the Colonial Service, important posts remained vacant. Creech Jones revealed in July 1949 that 1,395 positions were unfilled:
We are sometimes in despair as to when some of the work in the Colonies can be proceeded with at all, because of this shortage of the necessary skill and technical knowledge on the spot.1
