Mau Mau Uprising Kenyans, though again this number excludes the many additional hundreds who 'disappeared', whose bodies were never found. Thirty-two European and twenty-six Asian civilians were also murdered by Mau Mau militants, with similar numbers wounded. The best known European victim was Michael Ruck, aged six, who was hacked to death with pangas along with his parents, Roger and Esme, and one of the Rucks' farm workers, Muthura Nagahu, who had tried to help the family. Newspapers in Kenya and abroad published graphic murder details, including images of young Michael with bloodied teddy bears and trains strewn on his bedroom floor. In
Operation Anvil (Mau Mau Uprising) in the process. Erskine intended on relocating all Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru people from Nairobi, but the colonial government rejected the plan, citing potential harm to the local economy and administration. The operation was based on one British security forces had conducted in Tel Aviv, Palestine. Its legality was assured by the Emergency Regulations and the Control of Nairobi Regulations of 1954, the latter of which permitted the colonial governor to issue "Evacuation Orders" to remove and detain individuals from the city so they could be screened for connections with the Mau Mau. Four battalions were earmarked for the action.