Searching for Kibata Fort

[bushfighter]

In 1905 the very serious Maji Maji Rebellion broke out at Kibata in German East Africa.

(See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maji_Maji_Rebellion )

Kibata is in the centre of the Matumbei hills which lie south of the Rufiji River and north-west of Kilwa Kivinje.

(Refer to endpaper Southern Area map in Official History for a rough location)

The Germans constructed a large masonry fort at Kibata which they vacated as British troops arrived from Kilwa Kivinje in late 1916.

Kibata Fort during the December 1916 and January 1915 fighting

[bushfighter]

The British occupied the fort and some of the surrounding hills.

The Germans at first were content to let the British thrash around in the hills, as the access was difficult and the whole business occupied the British 1st Division (minus one brigade left on the Rufiji) operating from Kilwa, whilst the Schutztruppe crop-collected further north.

Then von Lettow saw the possibility of a major victory at Kibata and he moved troops and heavy artillery in from the north.

Serious trench fighting began around Kibata - the closest to "France & Flanders" type warfare that East Africa saw during the campaign.

Periscopes were used, saps dug, snipers were employed and trench raids were mounted.

Meanwhile the British in Kibata Fort took a battering from German heavy guns.

Kibata Fort after the fighting

[bushfighter]

Some of the hills around Kibata

But throughout the bombardment of the fort the British kept the flag flying!

On one occasion whilst under heavy fire the Brigadier himself, accompanied by his principal staff officer (did that lad have a choice, one wonders) climbed the tower to replace the flag that had been knocked down by enemy shellfire.

Enthused by this stirring tale of British valour I decided to make one last serious push into the bush before my impending 70th birthday.

I wanted to find the remains of this imposing fort.

[bushfighter]

I hired a 2WD car (a 4WD was not available) and driver plus a sturdy guide and set out from Kilwa.

We drove through extensive coconut plantations and spent the night in the Mtumbei Juu Mission Guest House (two pounds per night for a very basic room).

Mtumbei Juu Mission in centre, seen from the Kibata track.

[bushfighter]

The road into Kibata from Mtumbei Juu

It rained whilst we slept at the Mission, and as we drove up the track into the hills the car skidded and bogged in the black-cotton soil that you read so much about in accounts of the campaign.

[bushfighter]

bushfighter goes topless at a muddy stream crossing

However in Africa two things generally happen:

willing labour suddenly appears from the surrounding bush, and

the sun comes out and dries the track.

Both happened until we left the car a mile or so short of Kibata.

[bushfighter]

The hill where Kibata Fort used to stand

In tiny Kibata Village (no communications, no proper road in, no water tank - the villagers take containers to a spring a kilometre away) the only sign of government involvement was the principal villager, whose book we signed, and the busy school.

The villagers said that the fort no longer existed but young lads would take us up to the hill to where it used to be.

[bushfighter]

On a summit in the bush we found the remains.

Close-up of the visible masonry

A former stairwell or tower was just visible beneath the bush

[bushfighter]

Whilst bush will have covered much of the remains of the fort, I still had expected to see more of the masonry remaining above ground level.

The villagers mainly use wood and bush materials for their structures, so where had the masonry gone?

Enjoying a soda in Kibata Village after finding the fort site

[bushfighter]

The clue came during discussions with the villagers.

After the war the German missionaries from Mtumbei Juu left Tanganyika Territory, as the newly British-mandated country was called.

Other European missionaries took their place.

During the 1920s the new missionaries asked the British District Commissioner if they could use material from Kibata Fort to build a new church and outbuildings at Mtumbei Juu.

The District Commissioner assented.

Mtumbei Juu Mission Church - I believe that you are looking at much of the re-usable masonry from Kibata Fort.

(Today for such a project we would cost-in labour, transport, fuel, VAT etc, but in the 1920s such calculations were irrelevant, as willing labour could be so easily locally sourced.)

Standby for a future article on the fighting around Kibata.

[bushfighter]

On the way out of Kibata we reversed the route of the German advance from the north. On the road we met another interesting bush situation - a newly-fallen tree.

[bushfighter]

But the East African campaign was totally dependant on the labour, strength and fortitude of lads like these.

Their physical efforts and sacrifices solved the logistic problems that the early British commanders could never properly comprehend.

[roel22]

Wow Bushfighter (you sure deserve the name), what a trip!

Too bad there was so little left of the old fort...

But it must have been quite an experience, though.

Roel

[ShirlD]

This bush bashing is wonderful Love it!

Cheers

Shirley