As the attack developed, however, the Germans were found to be few in numbers, and while I Company continued to engage them, the rest of the Regiment pushed round the right flank of the enemy’s position to seize some high ground and to prevent any possible reinforcements from Ruwanga joining up with the little force in occupation of Ruponda. This movement was carried out, no opposition being met with, and as the position was found to be a good one for defensive purposes, No. 1 Column advanced and formed a camp upon the high ground which the Gold Coast Regiment had occupied.
I Company was still engaging a small party of the enemy, and the 129th Baluchis were sent to the village to clear up the situation. The Germans then withdrew, and the large stocks of native foodstuffs which had been accumulated at Ruponda fell, practically undefended, into the hands of the British. The casualties amounted to one man of I Company killed.
From the 10th to the 16th October inclusive, No. 1 Column remained encamped at Ruponda, sending out patrols in all directions to reconnoitre the surrounding country, digging water-holes, and performing other similar duties. At noon on the 10th October a small party of the enemy, consisting of about forty men with a machine-gun, sniped the camp for about half an hour, inflicting a few casualties; and once or twice the patrols from Ruponda came into touch with enemy scouting parties.
The German correspondence captured at this place showed that the state of things in the enemy camp was very far from happy. Von Lettow-Vorbeck appears to have inspired all his subordinates with fear, but the admiring affection with which he is believed to have been regarded by his Askari does not seem to have been shared by many of even the more senior of his European subordinates. As was to be expected in the circumstances in which the Germans had now so long been living, food bulked big in their thoughts and in their imaginations; and as a topic it filled a wholly disproportionate space in much of the correspondence captured. As the large stocks of native food-stuffs seized by the British at Nangano and again at Ruponda clearly showed, the Askari were for the most part well fed and well cared for; but cassava and maize and millet, which will perfectly content an African, form a sadly monotonous and unsatisfying diet for white men who have to make of them their staple for many months on end. The Germans waxed almost lyrical in their correspondence when at long intervals fortune sent a pig or some such infrequent luxury their way; but they devoured them in haste, like the Israelites of old, and wrote in terms of the most explicit dispraise of the disgusting greediness, the gross selfishness, and the predatory character of their Chief. No food was apparently secure when that energetic person had got wind of its existence. For the rest, the correspondence showed that all the European rank and file in the German camp were sick unto death of this protracted and, in their opinion, futile resistance; that their dread of von Lettow-Vorbeck and of the prompt and exemplary punishments to which he on occasion resorted, alone chained them to their duty; and that in spite of their Commander-in-Chief’s great influence over the Askari, the native soldiers, too, were heartily weary of the war, and had of late been deserting in large numbers. Every one concerned, except von Lettow-Vorbeck himself, appeared, indeed, to be ripe for surrender; and it is a wonderful tribute to the energy, to the force of character, and to the resolution of this man that, with such sentiments prevailing all around him and growing daily more and more intense, the campaign was maintained up to the date upon which, a year later, the Armistice was signed, purely and solely because he so willed it.
On the 16th October the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles, with a detachment of the Pioneers of the Gold Coast Regiment, left Ruponda and marched down the Massassi road, about thirteen miles to Chingwea, there to prepare a camp and develop the water supply in anticipation of the advance of No. 1 Column. No. 2 Column was at this time operating on the left of No. 1 Column, and was reported to be at a place some ten miles north of Ruwanga; and word was also received that “Linforce” had advanced down the Lindi-Massassi road as far as Mtama, which is nearly thirty-three miles from Lindi, and had expelled the enemy from the former place.
On the 17th October, No. 1 Column, to which a company of the Gold Coast Regiment, under Major Shaw, acted as advanced guard, left Ruponda and marched to Chingwea, without incident. On the following morning a start was made at 5.30 a.m., the mission station at Lukuledi, about twelve miles further down the road, being the objective on that day.
The Gold Coast Regiment formed the advance-guard on this occasion, B Company, under Captain Methven, preceding the main body, from which at the outset it was separated by a distance of about 400 yards. B Company at this time was not quite 160 strong, including 4 officers—Captain Methven, and Lieutenants Woods, Baillie and S. B. Smith—and 1 British non-commissioned officer, Colour-Sergeant Cuneen. It was accomplished by Captain Gush, a member of the West African Medical Staff. With B Company there also went the 7th Light Armoured Car Battery, which consisted of two Rolls-Royce cars, each of which was armed with a machine-gun and was manned by an officer and two men, all of whom were Europeans. These cars were surmounted by armour-plated turrets, in which the machine-guns were placed; and the driver was similarly protected, the only vulnerable spot being the narrow window through which he looked when driving the car. The bonnet was also protected by armour, but the wheels, which were furnished with pneumatic tyres, were exposed to any fire that might be brought to bear upon the vehicle. At a later date cars of this description were provided with patent tyres of a special character, which were not capable of being punctured.
At a point about three miles from the camp the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles had overnight established a post, and from here that Regiment now entered the bush on the right side of the road. Its instructions were to make a wide sweeping movement to the west and south in such a manner as to enable it to deliver an attack upon the mission station at Lukuledi from the rear and right flank of that position, which should be timed so as to synchronize with the arrival of the Gold Coast Regiment in front of it.
As soon as the 1st Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles had taken to the bush, the Gold Coast Regiment continued its march down the road, B Company being still a few hundred yards ahead. As Captain Methven advanced, he sent out patrols to the right and left to explore the numerous paths which here ran criss-cross on both sides of the main road; and after he had advanced some miles upon his way, he deployed his company, the two armoured cars keeping, however, to the main road. The country through which he was passing is for the most part open bush with low scrub, scattered trees and much grass. All the vegetation was parched and sun-dried, and there were frequent blackened patches where the grass had been burned to stubble and where the trees were charred and leafless.