K. C. Gandar Dower

Kenneth Cecil Gandar Dower was a versatile British author, photographer, and sportsman. He served with the British forces in East Africa and was tasked with documenting the work of the military administration in the newly liberated territories. Most of the photographs in the book were taken by Gandar Dower himself.

Gandar Dower had a reputation as an adventurer, having previously explored and written about other parts of the world. Tragically, he is referred to as "the late" in the book’s acknowledgments because he was killed while performing military duties later in the war. His work in The First to be Freed was published posthumously in 1944.

His writing is admired for its ability to capture the "hardships and excitements" of the early years of the occupation. His first-hand observations provide a unique historical perspective on the "recovery" of Eritrea and Somalia during the global conflict. He is remembered as one of the significant voices documenting British military history in Africa.