My Reminiscences of East Africa

by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

Fig i. and iii. Kilima Njaro.
Fig. ii. German East Africa. The Central Railway.

On my first journey of reconnaissance and inspection, commenced in January, 1914, I went by sea from Dar-es-Salaam to Tanga, thence to Usambara, and then on into the country round Kilima Njaro and Meru Mountain. At Usambara I met an old friend whom I had known well since our military college days (Kriegschule), Captain von Prince (retired). He was an enthusiastic supporter of the idea that, in case of a war with England, we East Africans should not remain idle spectators, but should take a hand if there should be even a trace of a prospect of relieving the pressure in Europe. At the same time, he was in a position to inform me that in the Usambara country, round Kilima Njaro, and near Meru Mountain, Volunteer Rifle Corps were being formed, which in a short time would probably include all the Germans capable of bearing arms in these northern territories. In view of the density of the settlements in those parts, this was a fact of great importance. The main contingent of the three thousand Europeans whom we were able to enrol in the Protective Force during the course of the war was furnished from these very territories lying along the Usambara Railway. It was, indeed, difficult to introduce a workable military organization among these voluntary associations, and to make effective use of their abundant good will. Still, it was, on the whole, successfully arranged that all, even those not legally obliged to do so, should be ready in case of war to act under the orders of the Protective Force. The District Commissioners also manifested the greatest sympathy; but they also expressed the, unfortunately well-founded, doubt whether, in a universal war which could certainly cut us off completely from the home country and leave us to our own resources, such voluntary organizations would possess the requisite cohesion. The armament was also in a bad way; although almost every European possessed a useful sporting rifle, the variety of patterns and the consequent difficulty of ammunition supply had not yet been remedied. The proposals for arming these rifle clubs with a uniform military weapon were still pending, and remained undecided until the outbreak of war.

At Wilhelmstal I found a detachment of native police under an efficient sergeant-major, who came from Ditmarschen. Whereas the Protective Force proper was under the Commandant, the various police detachments were under the civil authorities, and so each District Commissioner had under his orders a detachment of one hundred to two hundred men, for the purpose of collecting taxes and supporting his authority. There prevailed a constant tendency to increase this police force more and more, to the detriment of the Protective Force. In this manner, alongside of the latter, a second force of the same strength had come into being which was in its very nature a travesty of a military organization, and could hardly be anything better. The District Commissioner, a civil official, often understood little of military matters, and handed over the training and command of his Police-Askari to a sergeant-major of police. The latter often worked zealously, with the old non-commissioned officer’s usual devotion to duty; but he seldom received any guidance from a military superior, since the police inspector, an officer, could only visit each district from time to time. So the Police-Askari often became slack, and lacked the strict discipline necessary to keep them fit for their duties, which demanded reliability. To this was added a further defect which ought to have been avoided. The police were partly recruited from the native N.C.O.’s of the Protective Force. The latter was thereby deprived of its best elements, who, after joining the police, lost their good military qualities. This, of course, did not obtain in all cases. But, generally speaking, it was the case that, in order to obtain a police force of inferior military value which in the circumstances could never be of any real use, the quality of the Protective Force was steadily impaired.

From New Moshi, the terminus of the Usambara Railway, I proceeded via Marangu, where an English planter lived and where I met the English Consul King, of Dar-es-Salaam, to the Kilima Njaro country, and thence to Arusha. Several German planters, some of them former officers, whom I visited at their estates during the march, assured me that the German settlers in those parts formed a valuable source of military power.

At that time I made the acquaintance of the charming estate of Commander Niemeyer (retired), whose wife entertained us with excellent home-grown coffee. Later on she rather hindered us on one occasion: when, during the war, her husband was in Engara-Nairobi Camp, north-west of Kilima Njaro, we had temporarily lent her a telephone, so that she could call up her husband. Immediately afterwards the whole telephone service stopped, and after a long, long search, we at last discovered that our kind former hostess had not switched off her instrument and displayed no intention of doing so.

Close by was the plantation of Lieutenant-Commander Schoenfeld (retired), who hospitably offered us a glass of very fine Moselle wine, and did so with a military tone like a word of command which even then characterized him as the energetic leader who was later to defend the mouth of the Rufiji River against a superior enemy with such stubbornness. Just short of Arusha we came to the coffee-plantation of my old brother-cadet Freiherr von Ledebur, where at table I met the charming old retired Lieutenant-Colonel Freiherr von Bock. We talked about the Volunteer Rifle Corps which were being formed near Meru Mountain, and I did not dream that a few months later this old gentleman of over sixty would be one of our toughest patrol leaders on the east side of Kilima Njaro, and would often with his few men, who were mostly recruits, successfully engage several companies of the enemy. His true chivalry and fatherly care soon won him the hearts of his black comrades, to such a degree that he was in their eyes the bravest of all Germans, and they clung to him with touching loyalty.

At Arusha the first inspection of a company of Askari was held. The spirit and discipline of the black unit revealed the admirable education they had received at the hands of my predecessor, Colonel Freiherr von Schleuntz; but, in accordance with the hitherto accepted principles of their employment, their training for fighting against an enemy with modern armament had been developed to a lesser degree. Like the majority of the Askari companies, this company was still armed with the old 1871 pattern rifle, using smoky powder. The opinion was widely held that for black troops this was more suitable than a modern rifle with smokeless powder, for they had hitherto never been employed against an opponent with modern armament, but only in native warfare, where the larger calibre is an advantage, while the disadvantage of smoke is of no consequence. After the outbreak of war, indeed, the enthusiastic supporters of the 1871 rifle changed their minds. Against an enemy provided with modern smokeless equipment the smoky rifle was, not only at the long ranges obtaining in the open plain, but also in bush-fighting, where the combatants are often but a few paces apart, decidedly inferior. The man using smokeless powder remains invisible, while the cloud of smoke betrays the enemy with rapidity and certainty, not only to the sharp eye of the native Askari, but even to the European accustomed to office work. Thus, at the beginning of the war, the greatest reward which could be earned by an Askari was to give him a modern captured rifle in place of his old smoky one.

In distributing the force by companies throughout the country it had been necessary to accept the disadvantage that in many cases it was impossible to employ them in large formations, or to train the senior officers in this respect. It was evident that in war the movement and leading in battle of forces greater than a company would be attended with great difficulty and friction. According to my view, the force had the double duty of preparing to meet an enemy from outside with modern armament, as well as a native enemy within our borders; their training for battle had therefore to take account of two distinct sets of conditions. The exercises in native warfare presented a spectacle which differed widely from our European inspections. At Arusha, on this occasion, the company marched through thick bush, the “Pori,” and was in native fashion surprised on the march. The enemy was represented by Meru warriors, who, arrayed in full war-dress, with spears and head-dress of ostrich feathers, remained concealed, and then at only a few paces distance fell upon the Safari, the column of route, with loud war cries. A fight at such close quarters, like the one in which Zelewski’s expedition had been overwhelmed in 1891 at Iringa, is decided at short range and in a very few minutes. The troops quickly rally round their leaders and rush the enemy. In accordance with this whole character of native warfare, careful and thorough musketry training in the modern sense had hitherto been unnecessary. It was, indeed, at a pretty low level, and it may interest the soldier to hear that in some companies the average at two hundred yards standing without rest barely attained Ring 3, and that only a few companies got beyond Ring 5. Neither did the nature of native warfare provide a sufficient inducement for thorough training with the machine gun. Fortunately, however, I soon discovered among all Europeans of the force a complete understanding of the importance of this arm, in particular in modern battle. In spite of this not particularly high standard of training, the results of field-firing, even at long ranges, were not unsatisfactory, and in this the Askari profited in a high degree by his sharp eyesight, which enabled him to observe his fire and correct his aim accordingly.