My Reminiscences of East Africa

by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

Our men fought brilliantly; some of the carriers, it is true, had been somewhat unnerved by the unexpected fire and more than 200 were missing. There was no news of Koehl’s detachment, but our leaders had become so experienced and skilled in bush warfare that there was no need for me to be anxious. On the next day, on arrival at our camp, we surprised an English supply column.

We then crossed the Cutea-Malema road on which enemy troops also appeared, and then crossed the Lurio river at Mtetere. An English requisitioning force fled and some supplies were captured. Here Koehl’s detachment rejoined the main force. They had followed the enemy who was following us and had ascertained that he was several battalions strong. We then marched down the Lurio to the fertile district of Mpuera. Here Sol (Sergeant-Major) Salim, who, during an earlier patrol expedition, had married a wife who had followed him faithfully, left her behind with her father, the local Jumbo, in view of her approaching confinement.

As there was plenty of food in this district, I gave our troops, who had been very exhausted by recent events, a day’s rest. It was necessary, anyhow, in the interests of our numerous invalids. Captain Koehl had been left behind with his company without transport so that he could do the enemy as much damage as possible. He reported that strong bodies of enemy troops had arrived in the neighbourhood and east of Mtetere. It was clear that for the time being the enemy was devoting his whole energies to pursuing us, and for that purpose had concentrated all his forces. On that account I did not think the moment favourable for some partial success, because it could not be exploited, and an action would have cost us wounded whom we could not take away with us. As my idea was to forage the district north of Luambala for food, I was unwilling to postpone the march thither any longer.

The day of rest, September 5th, was employed in completing our food supplies from the fertile region of Mpuera, and early on the 6th we continued our march in a northerly direction. It was to be assumed that the enemy would march downstream, and therefore in a north-easterly direction, in several columns. Our troops advanced in order of echelon through the bush, and I expected any moment to come across the most northerly of the enemy columns, but we crossed its probable course without discovering its tracks. About midday we were approaching our objective, a water-hole on Mount Hulua. Here our advance guard was shot at and before long a lively action was in progress. Captain Müller, in command of the advance guard, had stumbled on the rear of a hostile column which was marching north-east on a course making an acute angle with ours. He had immediately attacked the 2nd battalion 2nd King’s African Rifles, which was at the end of the column, and put it to flight, capturing the enemy’s field-hospital and his mule train.

I deployed Goering’s detachment on the right of Müller’s detachment, and it quickly threw back part of the opposing forces, but did not press on as the enemy deployed larger bodies—the 1st battalion of the 2nd King’s African Rifles and apparently parts of the 3rd battalion as well.

Our left wing, which had arrived in rolling, open country in its advance, and also collided with fresh hostile troops, had retired a few hundred yards and occupied a slight eminence, giving a field of fire of several hundred yards. I was not able to get a clear picture of the situation until I went from the right wing, where I had joined Goering’s detachment, back to the left.

The action was pretty violent and at length came to a standstill. We now heard the sound of trench-mortar fire coming from the rearguard, under Captain Spangenberg, whose arrival I was awaiting. The rearguard had beaten off the attack of another enemy column at Mpuera and driven part of it away in disorderly flight. In accordance with its instructions it had followed the main body at seven o’clock in the morning. It arrived on the battlefield about five in the afternoon, and I considered whether I ought not to throw in all my reserves to inflict a decisive defeat on the 2nd King’s African Rifles there and then on Mount Hulua. I gave up the idea, however. Time was very short, for there was only an hour to darkness, and I felt perfectly certain that very early next morning fresh hostile forces would appear on the scene. If we were to achieve a decisive victory it would certainly cost us appreciable losses, and I was anxious to avoid such losses in view of the small numbers—176 Europeans and 1,487 Askari—which our strength return of September 1, 1918, revealed. Lieutenant Wenig (Navy), who had been employed with his gun in Goering’s detachment, told me that he had taken over the command of that detachment, because all the other officers were incapacitated. Before long, Captain Goering, with a severe wound in the breast, and Lieutenant Boell, with one in the head, were brought to the dressing station.

Accordingly I would not commit our reserves to the confusion and uncertainty of a night battle in the bush, and determined to slip away from the battlefield in a north-westerly direction. It was soon quite dark and our progress was very slow in the thick, high grass. After going three miles we bivouacked. Our losses in the action of September 6th had been 5 Askari, 4 machine-gunners killed; 13 Europeans, 49 Askari, and 15 other natives wounded; 3 Europeans, 13 Askari, and 12 carriers missing; 3 Askari and 3 bearers captured. The enemy were seen to have some 10 Europeans and 30 Askari hit, while 8 Europeans and 45 Askari were captured; those of the prisoners who were sick or wounded, and our own more severely wounded, were left on the battlefield under the charge of English R.A.M.C. Documents captured later on at Mwembe showed that “Karturol” (abbreviation for “Column of the 2nd King’s African Rifles”) had heavy losses on the 6th September and was put out of action for a time.

The enemy did not molest our further progress. Captain Koehl had remained behind with his company to the west of Mpuera, in order to operate from the rear against the enemy and his communications. He followed our trail, having slight encounters at Milweberg with the 1st battalion of the 4th King’s African Rifles, which arrived at that point from the south on the 8th September. We moved in several columns right through the bush, a region rich in game. We even killed several buffaloes on the march. At Kanene we crossed the road that ran from Lake Amaramba to Mahua. The enemy had burnt down the store at Kanene, but we found ample supplies in the country itself, and the material condition of the troops would have been good, if only the influenza epidemic had not made such strides. About half had bronchial catarrh, and from three to six men in each company had inflammation of the lungs; as it was only possible for some eighty sick to be carried in the whole force, about twenty men suffering with slight inflammation of the lungs had to march at times. No satisfactory solution of the problem of transport of sick was to be found, short of abandoning the campaign; we could not simply leave the sick to die in the bush. This difficult position inevitably placed the greatest possible strain on the nerves of Surgeon-Major Taute, our splendid senior medical officer. It was the greatest good fortune that this officer, singularly gifted both in medicine and in organization, proved equal to his grave responsibility. We owe it to the measures adopted by him, as well as to the change of district and climate forced upon us by circumstances, that the epidemic soon abated. A number of Askari and other natives not in a fit state for heavy work followed the force slowly; many of them lost courage when they continually found our camping-places empty. A large number, however, caught up with us, especially when the force did one of its short marches, or was able (a rare occurrence enough) to take a day’s rest.