ABSTRACT
Omer Bartov introduced the term barbarization in The Eastern Front, 1941-45, German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare, arguing that it resulted from conditions at the front, the social and educational background of the junior officers, and the political indoctrination of the troops. This chapter considers how far the Army command actually controlled the behaviour of the troops and in what ways the troops enforced their own vision of the war onto the command. It analyzes the indiscipline within the Army with reference to the weaknesses in the military criminal justice system, Erskines struggle to impose discipline, the types of crimes which took place, and the local reasons for them. This constitutes the first official admission that the security forces, including the Army, participated in widespread murder and torture for an eight-month period during the Kenya Emergency. According to Clough, security forces were notorious for this crime, and Elkins documents several cases, without identifying the units, places or dates involved.
