The Gold Coast Regiment in the East African Campaign

by Sir Hugh Charles Clifford

At 8.15 a.m. the advance-guard of the Regiment became heavily engaged, Lieutenant Eglon having led B Company to within a short distance of the enemy’s well-entrenched and strongly held position. Here this gallant young officer, who had done so well a few days earlier when attacking from Lingaula Ridge, was killed, and B Company suffered many casualties. Colonel Shaw had taken up an advanced position along the road behind a mound, from which he was able throughout the day closely to observe the operations he was conducting; and he now sent I Company to prolong the line on the right of the attack. A few minutes later the Pioneer Company was also sent forward to prolong the right; and at 9.30 a.m. the 33rd Punjabis, who had been held in reserve, were also sent yet further to prolong the right, while the 7th South African Infantry deployed on the left of the Gold Coast Regiment.

At this juncture orders were given for No. 3 Column to attempt a wide turning movement on the right of the enemy’s position, the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles and the 40th Pathans leading the advance, with certain water-holes as their objective. No. 2 Column was ordered at the same time to carry out a similar turning movement on the left. At 10.30 a.m. these troops began to get into position, and at noon No. 3 Column became heavily engaged. The 3rd Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles and the 40th Pathans had been pushed forward, without any preliminary scouting, into a valley on the British left, where they presently came under a devastating rifle and machine-gun fire from both forces. By this time the enemy’s fire had grown intense along the whole line; and the 8th South African Infantry, the bulk of whom still formed part of No. 1 Column and occupied ground on the left of the Gold Coast Regiment, attempted to advance, but were enfiladed by machine-gun and rifle fire from salients in the enemy’s line. They maintained their position for a while, but the troops upon their left failed to make good, and the grass all round them was set on fire by the British shells.

This failure on the left placed the Gold Coast Regiment in a highly perilous position, as its flank was now completely in the air. Moreover, by this time, the grass was well alight along the whole of the front. The men, however, were steady as a rock, and showed no signs of giving way as had the South African and Indian troops on their immediate left. As for the blazing grass, that was a phenomenon to which they had all their lives been accustomed, and they manfully stamped the flames out, in spite of the heavy fire to which they were exposed, and stolidly resumed the fight. On the left of the line, where the danger was most imminent, Colour-Sergeant Campbell very specially distinguished himself, and did much to encourage and confirm the spirit of the men, only too many of whose officers were already hors-de-combat. He fought his machine-gun until practically all its team had fallen, and in the end brought it safely out of action.

Meantime the right flank had advanced 800 yards, but at 3.30 p.m. they were strongly counterattacked by the enemy, and two platoons of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles were sent to prolong the right and to get into touch with No. 2 Column, which so far had failed to make its appearance. And all this time the enemy maintained from his defences an intense and relentless fire.

A general advance had been arranged to take place at 2.30 p.m., but the position on the left had by that time become so critical that the movement could not be carried out at the hour fixed; and at 4 p.m. orders were sent to the Gold Coast Regiment not to attempt any further advance. These orders arrived too late, and the Gold Coast Companies on the right, with the 33rd Punjabis and the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles, charged and took certain of the enemy’s trenches, but were unable to hold on owing to their left being unsupported and to their ammunition running short. They were accordingly retired, but only to a distance of 100 yards from the enemy’s trenches, where they dug themselves in and held on. The 2nd Battalion of the King’s African Rifles remained on the enemy’s flank in a patch of thick bush, and succeeded thence in getting into touch with No. 2 Column. Darkness was now falling, and the Gold Coast Regiment and the troops on its right bivouacked for the night in the rifle-pits which they had dug for themselves.

Meanwhile, the troops on the left had again been led forward into action by Major Hill of the South African Infantry and by the Commander of the Stokes Battery, thus reconsolidating the line on the left of the Gold Coast Regiment.

At dawn on the following day it was found that the enemy had evacuated his position. He had effected his object, and had made the attacking force pay a heavy price for the possession of the water-holes of Narungombe. Now, before he could be enveloped or cut off, he beat a hasty retreat toward the south. The position from which he had inflicted so much damage upon his pursuers had served its purpose, and he had nothing more to gain by attempting longer to hold it.

The casualties suffered by the Gold Coast Regiment, having regard to its strength at this time, were very heavy. Of the greatly reduced cadre of officers and of British non-commissioned officers, Lieutenant Eglon was killed, Captain A. J. R. O’Brien, M.C., of the West African Medical Staff, was severely wounded, as also were Captain Leslie-Smith, Colour-Sergeant Baverstock and another colour-sergeant. Lieutenant Bray was slightly wounded. B Company lost its sergeant-major—Awudu Bakano—a very fine soldier, and of the rank and file, 37 were killed and 114 were wounded. The total casualties were thus 158 out of about 790 men engaged, or 20 per cent. of the whole combatant strength of the corps.

Never had the men of the Gold Coast Regiment shown more grit than on this day at Narungombe. They went into action early in the morning of the 19th July after having been marching and fighting, or painfully cutting paths through the bush and high grass—labouring practically without cessation—since the evening of the 4th of that month. They were hotly engaged with the enemy during the whole day, exposed to a fierce sun, with very poor cover, with little to eat and with less to drink, and were exposed throughout to gun, rifle and machine-gun fire, mostly at fairly short range, from 8 a.m. to nightfall. In addition to the enemy, they had constantly to fight the blazing grass, which rendered their position more and more exposed; yet these Africans never wavered, but continued stubbornly to hold their positions, though more than one company had been robbed of all its European leaders and was being commanded solely by its native non-commissioned officers. When towards the end of the day, they had occupied the enemy’s trenches on the right, and running short of ammunition and being unsupported on their left, were unable to hold on, they retired only a hundred yards in obedience to orders and with perfect steadiness, and from their new position forthwith resumed the fight. It would be difficult to devise a test more searching that could be applied to native troops, and the triumphant manner in which on this occasion the “green caps” maintained their reputation as men who “never go back” is a striking proof of the Regiment’s high quality as a fighting unit.

For the services rendered by him while in command of the Regiment on this day, Lieutenant-Colonel Shaw was subsequently awarded a bar to the Military Cross which he had already earned.