My Reminiscences of East Africa

by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

I thought it better to abandon our previous march direction. Yet in view of the total absence of news it was very difficult to say where I ought to make for. Only one thing appeared to be clear—that the enemy was not directly on our heels. At any rate our rearguard and the patrols they had sent out behind them were not being pressed at all by the enemy. It seemed probable that if hostile bodies were following us at all they were engaged in trying to overhaul us on some route parallel to that we had taken. If I were right in that view—and it seemed to be confirmed by such reports as the natives brought in—we could assume that the enemy was insufficiently informed of our presence at Namacurra and further that the Portuguese soldiers among our prisoners whom we had turned off could give him no clear or trustworthy information.

We had, therefore, to devote all our efforts to making those fellows believe we intended to fortify and put up a stiff defence of Namacurra and, further, that we had our eye on Quelimane.

The unexpected disaster at Namacurra was bound to speed the steps of the pursuing enemy. It was probable that his columns, advancing on a parallel line to us, would overshoot the mark, especially as they must be anxious about the important port of Quelimane. I therefore decided to wait at Namacurra until the pursuing enemy columns had actually shot ahead of me and then turn about to the north-east. What chiefly influenced me in this decision was that a march in this direction, leading towards Mozambique, on the main line of communication, would cause the enemy anxiety, and as soon as he became aware of it he would at once turn about to protect the neighbourhood of Mozambique with its wealth of stores. If he did not do so we should have a free hand at Mozambique. As the position would then develop the enemy would be forced to undertake marches that would exhaust his troops, while we gained time to recuperate our strength and allow our sick and wounded to recover.

It was difficult to decide on the most favourable moment for our change of direction north-east; we should have to rely to some extent on the fortune of war. Even if I made the movement too soon and encountered one of the enemy columns there was always a chance of defeating it when cut off from the rest. The first thing, however, was to get safely across the Likungo river again. The available information as to the fords was very unreliable. In order not to use the same fords as before I marched with my main body on the evening of 4th July to a crossing further to the south. Lieutenant Ott, however, ascertained by personal reconnaissance that no ford existed at the place of which we had been informed. On the other hand, it was apparent from native information as well as from tracks discovered that on the same day an English patrol had halted in this neighbourhood. The position might become awkward. In order to lose no time in investigation I marched along the west bank of the Likungo to our previous ford. Unfortunately I had withdrawn the covering force that had hitherto been left there and I did not know whether it was free. I was therefore very relieved when on 5th July the crossing was effected without further interference. Koehl’s detachment was still at Namacurra and followed as rearguard.

When we were again marching as a single column through the bush, the great length of the column was unwieldy and, in the event of an encounter with the enemy, would be a source of danger. We therefore tried to shorten the column and to march in two, and later in several parallel columns through the bush. The disadvantage of this arrangement was that instead of one head of a column having to cut a way through the bush this had now to be done by several. But the advantages of the shorter length outweighed this disadvantage.

Information from our patrols and from the natives indicated that the march of the enemy columns to the south-west had not been pressed so far as I had anticipated. Enemy troops were reported both between the Moniga and the lower Likungo and also at Mujebain; in some cases they were ascertained to be marching south-west. This brought about the extraordinary situation that the enemy troops were marching in several columns south-west while we were passing between these columns in the contrary direction, north-east. This fact could not long remain hidden from the enemy, especially as the patrols soon began to come in contact, and the enemy troops, marching along the line of telephone communication from Mulevalla to Murubella, crossed our track. We continued our march to Oriva, threw back a weak Portuguese detachment west of this place, and occupied Oriva itself on 14th July. Unfortunately the abundant stores of supplies and ammunition that we had expected to find at this station were not forthcoming; apparently either the numerous enemy troops had drawn heavily on the resources of the neighbourhood or the stores that had been originally left here had already been removed. A small patrol, sent out to Muatama under Sergeant-Major Hüttich, succeeded in surprising a small mixed detachment of English and Portuguese; as it was unfortunately impossible to get away the supplies found in this station the stores had to be burned.

Meanwhile our attempts to get information from the natives as to the whereabouts of supplies met with no success; it was impossible to wait for the reports of other patrols dispatched to Murua in search of supplies. Various patrol actions showed us that the enemy had meanwhile become aware of the change in the situation and had accordingly turned his columns about. Want of supplies forced us to continue our march, and the attack of a mixed Portuguese-English column on our rearguard under Captain Koehl could not be developed into a complete success as our main force was already on the march. We halted for a few days in the tolerably fertile territory between Oriva and Murua. Captured papers showed us that an English patrol had closely observed our movements.

It was interesting to notice that the English prisoners whom we took with us, for the most part, accepted as a matter of course the hardships of the long marches, the constant crossing of rivers and the countless difficulties connected with supplies and transport; they realized that we Germans had exactly the same hardships to endure as themselves and were in addition burdened with a number of further duties such as patrol expeditions, fighting, carrying of supplies and watch-keeping. They bore everything with a certain humour and it was obviously interesting to them to see the war from the German point of view. It was quite otherwise with the Portuguese officers. It is true they were in an unenviable position: for the most part they were infected with syphilis and were carefully avoided by the English prisoners. In addition they were not real campaigners. They had received a generous share of the booty captured at Namacurra, but had not learned how to make the best of it. They had at once consumed the precious oil with rice and it was too much to expect that the Germans should now share with them their own meagre ration. Marching was a burden to them, their boots were torn to pieces—in short, their spokesman, the general staff officer captured at Namacurra, was continually complaining to me of the inconveniences which with the best will in the world I could not help. He was continually asking to be released. I should have been only too glad to consent if he would have given his parole not to fight against us, but this he would not do. I could not be expected to release people without any obligation and so put them in a position to attack us again immediately.

Considerations of supply drove us on. After the failure of the Oriva neighbourhood to come up to our expectations in this respect, I planned to reach the territory east of the Ligonja, which was marked on the map as thickly populated and well cultivated. On the way the advance guard, under Captain Müller, quickly took Boma Tipa, where several days’ supplies, particularly pig-nuts, fell into our hands. The weak Portuguese garrison offered only slight resistance and then fled at once; the leader, a Portuguese sergeant, was the only prisoner captured.