My Reminiscences of East Africa

by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

In view of the lack of information I could get no clear picture of the situation. Suddenly lively firing was heard from the rear, where our carrier columns were still on the march. A strong enemy patrol had unexpectedly opened fire on our bearers. A great part of our baggage was lost. Captain Poppe, who with two companies was standing by in case I required him, was sent to attack. He could no longer find the patrol, but followed their line of retreat and came upon an entrenched camp which he immediately stormed. Sergeant-Major Schaffrath was severely wounded. These events were personally reported to me by Captain Poppe, who was brought back severely wounded in the chest. He reported that the enemy had been completely defeated, and that large captures of arms and ammunition had been made. The companies of Poppe’s detachment had pursued the fleeing enemy and come upon a fresh and larger camp. This same camp was also attacked from the north by Goering’s detachment, so that the enemy was taken under an effective cross fire. Meanwhile, a new enemy, advancing from the north-east, was held up by Müller’s detachment.

I did not get anything like a clear view of these different events until I personally reconnoitred the position long after dark. On one of these reconnaissances an enemy rifle-bullet, of which many were being fired, passed through the trousers of one of my companions (Hauter, of the Landsturm), struck my other companion, Lieutenant Besch, in the thigh and severed the artery. Fortunately we were near the dressing station. I was thus able to take leave of this officer, who had hitherto acted as Quartermaster and at the same time had undertaken the duties of orderly officer, with the knowledge that he would recover. His few possessions he gave to his companions together with his wishes for good luck for the future. I, too, was honoured with a handful of cigarettes. It was my habit to smoke continuously during serious fighting.

In the middle of the bush I met Lieutenant Von Ruckteschell with some bearers, on his stretcher which he was forced to use temporarily because of his wounded leg, which had not yet healed; he had kept the column together as far as possible during the long march and now, rifle in hand, was beaming with joy at the possibility of taking part in the engagement with the enemy patrol which appeared on the flank and in our rear. Part of our columns had lost their way in the thick bush and only found us some hours later. After nightfall the dressing station in a ravine had been filled with wounded. It was reported that Lieutenant Schroetter and Naval Lieutenant Freund had fallen. In a further patrol-attack, Sergeant-Majors Bolles and Hüttig accidentally came close to the enemy positions and were fired on suddenly; Bolles fell, Hüttig was captured, severely wounded. Sergeant-Major Thurmann had come within five yards of the enemy trenches, and being an excellent shot he repeatedly picked off from an ant-hill any of the enemy inside the camp who exposed himself, until he, too, received a mortal wound.

Captain Goering, regarding it as hopeless to storm the camp, did not attempt this and, after dark, withdrew the force, leaving only patrols in front of the enemy. The main force was thus collected in several groups north of the enemy camp, and I decided to evacuate the scene of action on the following day and march on.

Fig. xx. Through Portuguese East Africa.

By force of necessity we had to leave behind part of our sick and wounded, as well as the sick prisoners, in charge of an English medical officer, and at nine o’clock in the morning we began our march north in several columns. We had no guides; the country was quite unknown to us and I could only give the Commander of the advance guard general instructions that I intended to pass round one of the hills that lay before us to the north. Soon firing could be heard from the advance guard. It gradually became clear in the bush that our advance guard had turned against an enemy who had attacked in the rear from the left. The shooting was at close range, and from Headquarters, which was with the main body, seemed to come from a considerable force.

I sent back an Askari to lead the head of the main force to the place where I was. The position certainly invited us to catch the enemy between our advance guard and our main force, and overwhelm him. I waited, but our main force did not arrive. At last I ran back and saw from the tracks that the main force had been wrongly guided and had marched past us a long way to the side. On the other hand, I saw the head of Stemmermann’s detachment, to which the greater part of our columns and our sick belonged, in the very act of marching unwittingly straight into the enemy. There was just time to head off this detachment. I myself now joined the advance detachments of Müller and Goering, who had meanwhile continued their march further north. They were following a road which led up the hill and was then completely lost. I paid no further attention to the firing which I heard from time to time further to the rear. In the late afternoon I was astonished to notice that the rest of the troops had not followed the detachments of Müller and Goering, but were marching along the valley to our right. I had no idea that our column had meanwhile been fired on again by a new enemy from the east and that a great part of a field hospital had fallen into the enemy’s hands.

In order to bring the force together, I tried to descend from my hill. The descent, however, proved impossible; the rocks were steep, almost perpendicular. We continued along a native path, and evening was falling when Captain Müller reported that this path, too, ended abruptly in a precipice. Fortunately there was another small bypath. This we followed and succeeded in climbing down. Even here it was very steep in places, but the bare feet of the carriers gave them a good foothold and I, too, after taking off my boots, managed the descent. It was pitch dark and we had no water. At last, however, we found some, and a load fell from my heart when we came upon the rest of the force which, under General Wahle, had, on their side, been trying to join us. On the 30th and 31st of August, we had lost 6 Europeans, 23 Askari killed; 11 Europeans, 16 Askari wounded; 5 Europeans, 29 Askari missing; 5 Askari taken prisoner; 48,000 rounds of ammunition, important medical and surgical stores, a considerable number of rifle parts and the whole transport of Müller’s detachment had been lost. The enemy losses were also severe, as appeared from a casualty list of the 1st battalion 1st King’s African Rifles which was captured later. In addition to this battalion part of the 3rd battalion of this regiment and the 2nd King’s African Rifles had taken part in the fighting against us.