Maktau, where British Empire fighter planes launched attacks on Germans

James Willson (right) the author of Gorillas of Tsavo with journalists at Sarova Taita Hills and Salt Lick Lodge where artifacts used during the First World War are kept. [Renson Mnyamwezi, Standard]

As Kenyans joined the world to commemorate the end of the First World War, many are not aware of the role a dusty town in Taita Taveta County played in the conflict.

Maktau, in Taveta sub-county, is believed to be a corruption of the military command "mark time" and was a garrison town held by the British when the Germans, then in charge of Tanganyika, tried to storm it.