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Remembered Today:

Trooper G. Simpson, Bowker's Horse


Jim_Grundy

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Found this yesterday. Thought it might be of interest.

“BRITISH EAST AFRICA.

“ROARING LIONS AND SOLDIERS’ NERVES.

“NOTTINGHAM MAN’S INTERESTING NARRATIVE.

“Trooper G. Simpson, son of Mr. H. Simpson, of Mapperley road, Nottingham, who is serving as a volunteer in Bowker’s Horse, British East Africa, in a letter from Nairobi, under date of September 28th, says:-

“A day or two after my last letter to you three weeks ago we (Bowker’s Horse) were suddenly called out at midnight, and told to entrain with our horses at once, which we did. We found that we had to catch a party of 20 Germans who were advancing towards mile 28 on the Magadi line. My squadron went down to mile 28 to get round behind them and the other squadron went to Kiu to meet them in front. We arrived at mile 28 about five in the evening, and were given two days’ rations, and told to take nothing but blanket and ground sheet on the saddle. We started off straight away, and rode until one in the morning [illegible]. We got up at six, and started off again but found from the Masai that the Germans had got a scare, and gone back.

“We went after them right down the German border, but they had got right back. It took us three days to get to the border, and we expected a provision transport to follow. By the time we got to the border there was not an ounce of food amongst the lot of us! We had to live on meat for three days. At the end of the third day the waggon arrived, but instead of putting food on it, they had put all our spare kit on, and one bag of rice and one bag of mouldy pocho which the dog refused to eat. So for the next three or four days we had to live on meat and rice; not a scrap of sugar, salt, milk, tea, or coffee, no knives, forks, spoons, or plates. We cooked, ate, and drank out of our one ration tin; bits of stick and bowie knives serving as knives and forks. You have no idea how sickening it is to live on tough meat, with not even a scrap of salt or a bit of bread. Everybody got sick to death, and cursed everybody else!

“After seven days of this we got some food, and were ordered back to mile 26 on the Magadi line, where the headquarters and whole camp had moved. We all started back with light hearts and lighter stomachs, thinking of the feed we should get when we got back there.

“All the ground we covered was in the game reserve, so we saw heaps of game, mostly giraffe and [illegible]. Every night, of course, we had to put four pickets out round the camp. These were placed about half a mile away and were not allowed fires. Each picket had four men; one watched while three slept, and, by Jove! it was a nerve-racking business. The night I was on I did not actually see any lions, but they were roaring round much too close for my peace of mind. It was a pitch dark night, and pretty thick bush, and, what with roars and noises in the bush, it was enough to raise your hair above the clouds.

“Other pickets were not so fortunate. Several times they were sent up trees by lions appearing within 20 yards of them, and one picket was chased in all directions by a huge rhino. Of course, we were forbidden to shoot, which made things ten times worse. This trip knocked up several of the Nairobi nuts; we had no tents, but slept on our ground sheets, with a blanket chucked over us.

“At midnight we were turned out, and told to get in the train at once, with kit, but no horses. Talk about a muddle; it was not in it. When we got in the train we were told we were going to be rushed straight up to Kisumu to repulse a party of Germans and niggers who were advancing on the town. I wrote that letter to you from Nakuru on the way up. We arrived in Kisumum at midnight, and found the Germans had been driven back by the K.A.R.’s and a few local volunteers. On hearing this we embarked on one of the lake steamers, and about six in the morning we started off down the east side of the lake in order to land at Kurugu (our destination) about three o’clock in the afternoon.

“When we got a mile or two off the shore we saw the German flag flying, but no notice was taken of this, as the Germans were known to have been there and gone away again a few days before, and the place looked deserted. Everybody was either dosing or eating, and we were about 600 or 700 yards from the shore when suddenly two shots rang out, and we heard the bullets sing over us. There were about 100 of us, and we all dashed to our rifles and lay on the deck; we had barely got down when three guns and a Maxim opened fire on us, the Maxim and a 9-pounder on shore and two 2½ pounders on a little boat which had been hidden in the reeds. We were all lying along the deck rails without a particle of covering. We had a Maxim and a 2½ pounder on board, and we all opened fire. I was lying just by the funnel. Their shells began to drop all around us, but did not hit.

“Suddenly we heard their Maxim rattle out, and I thought, ‘Here’s to death and glory boys,’ but we heard them sing overhead, and found out afterwards that the bullets had punched a line of holes in the awning just above our heads. Just after this we put the Maxim out of order with a shell.

“After this was over we went and picked up another boat with a nine pounder gun on board, and went back before daylight intending to blot them out, but found they had evacuated the place directly we had gone. We found out from the Indians that we had killed their commander an seriously wounded two others. We came back and trained straight from Kisumu to camp. I enjoyed the three days on the lake immensely. It is simply lovely. We may be called out again any minute, as a big party of Germans is supposed to be on the way here.”

‘Nottingham Evening Post’, 2nd November 1914

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I love these accounts, they give a good feel of the confusion and disorganisation of the activities in East Africa, semi starvation was the norm and clear direction generally lacking.

Great stuff.

Roop

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Thanks for that Jim - please keep it up!

The sub-unit involved was a squadron of the East African Mounted Rifles.

A map and background to the Lake incident can be seen at:

http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/269501.html

Harry

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Glad you liked the account, folks. I thought it was one of the more interesting ones I'd come across lately. Interesting that it is quite frank about the supply situation, which, as has been said, does appear to have been a constant problem!

Thanks for the link, Harry. Been looking at my books for references to what was happening at the time but there's nothing like seeing 'the ground'. Fascinating.

Not sure how many more of these are left to be found in south Nottinghamshire newspapers. Will keep on looking.

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  • 9 months later...

Hi My name is Mark Simpson. Good day to all.

I have signed up for the GWF to obtain information re a relative Lt Geoffrey Simpson MC KAR ex Trooper Bowkers Horse. To my surprise it seems that a thread was created by Jim Grundy early this year...Trooper G Simpson, Bowkers Horse of Mapperley Road, Nottingham is the same man........ would it possible to re open that thread. I have information to offer and seek same from the well versed on this forum..

Thanking all in anticipation.

Simpson.

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Mark

Greetings

Please just post your information and we will supplement it if we can.

Harry

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