Loyal North Lancashires in East Africa

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Paul

Thank you for that information, please pass on any more that you find.

Richard Baines sums up the situation well - he's likely to go down with fever before he gets hit by an enemy bullet.

I estimate that he was in Bangalore with the Bn before the war. He probably landed at Tanga.

If I can identify his company then I could provide a narrative of where he had been.

I'll PM you with an email addess as I'd appreciate a copy of the letter.

Regards

Harry

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The graves of Enock Roberts & D. Scott-King in Moshi CWGC Cemetery, Tanzania

The South African Mounted Brigade took these casualties during the action around Kahe Station:

Killed in Action 1
Wounded in Action 12
Missing in Action 4

It appears that Private Enock Roberts of the 2nd South African Horse was killed on 21 March 1916.

Private D. Scott-King of B Squadron, 4th South African Horse was severely wounded in action during a skirmish on 19 March (as noted in the diary of Private Walton Lister who served in the same squadron), & he died of wounds on the 21st March.

(Walton Lister's diary is available through the website of the South African Military History Society.)

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Rantzier Hill, looking northwest from Abteilung Kraut’s position on the Ruvu River

1st Division did not get much support from the British units on its left flank either.

As we look at Rantzier Hill in the above image Adler’s Abteilung was to the right, Schulz’s to the left & Otto’s on the far side.

Because of the lack of precise information coming back from the Soko action, General Smuts did not task the British troops on his left flank until well past noon.

Then Brigadier-General Berrange’s 3rd South African Brigade (9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th South African Infantry) at Euphorbian Hill & the 1st East African Brigade (2nd Rhodesian Regiment & 130 Baluchis) at Unterer Himo were ordered to move south against Otto & Adler.

But this was all too late – the bush was difficult to penetrate, the night was approaching & so these two brigades were soon recalled to their starting points.

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Kisangiro Station looking south.
The North Pare Mountains are on the skyline.

Lettow, who had established his HQ near Kahe, received a report that a British flanking movement was threatening the Usambara Railway line at Kisangire.

(Lettow was unsure of the location of the British 2nd Division, which in fact was occupying Taveta & Himo, with two battalions forward at Unterer Himo.)

He issued orders to all Schutztruppe units to make a clean break & withdraw south, & during the night of the 21-22 March this was achieved.

At Kisangire Lettow realized that the railway was not threatened, but by then the Schutztruppe was on the move southwards without interference from British troops.

The Germans now prepared defensive positions between Kisangire & Lembeni. Most of the Kompagnien were around Lembeni where the German railhead now was, the track north to Kisangire having been over-enthusiastically ripped up during the Schutztruppe’s withdrawal.

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The Konigsberg gun

The Schutztruppe could not withdraw their Konigsberg gun quickly & so destroyed it.

The 25th Bn The Royal Fusiliers was the first British unit to locate the gun on 22 March when the battalion seized the Ruvu River road crossing east of Kahe Station.

This became a much-photographed artillery piece.

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The British body collection point & cremation site.

The local farmers on the Soko battlefield identified this location as the British body collection point.
(The bicycle track is the original 1st Division axis.)

Funeral pyres for cremations were lit here.

The 29th Punjabis was composed of 2 companies of Sikhs, 1 of Dogras (most Dogras are Hindu) & 1 of Punjabi Musulmans. Hinduism mandates cremation & Sikhism prefers it.

Amongst the remaining debris I found red clay fragments from small pots.

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The British burial location

The local villagers also showed me this location stating that British bodies were buried here & that the stone marked the grave.
I could not identify carving on the stone, but it was a useful piece of building material & had obviously been left deliberately where it was.

(The 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis was composed of Punjabi Musulmans, Mahsuds & other Pathans.)

After the war the British European bodies were removed to Moshi but the Muslim bodies will still be here.

This area was on the rear edge of the battlefield & would have made a good location for a medical post.

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The Ruvu River running southwest from the North Pare Mountains

The Long Rains now started & General Smuts decided to halt British Forces on the Ruvu River.

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…and the rains came – a flooded camp.


The GOC left a holding force on the Ruvu & withdrew the bulk of his troops to Arusha, Moshi, Himo, Taveta & Mbuyuni.

Having a campsite on high ground with good drainage was the priority now.

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Mbuyuni Camp during the rains.
No 5 Bty South African Field Artillery in the image.

The 2nd Bn The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment had been garrisoning Taveta & the Latema-Reata Nek during 1st Division’s action on the Soko River.
The Bn had prepared the Latema-Reata position for all-round defence.

On 29 March the Bn marched to camp at Mbuyuni for the rainy season.
Fever & debilitation was now incapacitating the majority of men in the battalion.

As supply difficulties increased revised scales for weights of clothing & equipment that could be carried in the Bn’s 2nd Line Transport were issued.

(Each soldier carried a full water bottle & 150 rounds in pouches on his belt or in a bandolier, a dry ration & a few personal items in his pack, & usually a blanket tied around the pack.
1st Line Transport followed immediately behind the troops & carried vital supplies such as reserve ammunition, food & drinkable water.
2nd Line Transport followed later with items such as the soldiers’ kitbags.)

The revised scales for 2nd Line Transport on 17 March 1916 were:

Officers: 40 pounds
Warrant Officers & Sergeants: 30 pounds
Soldiers: 11 pounds (greatcoat, waterproof sheet, sun helmet, 1 pr socks)
Armed Scouts: 10 pounds
Indian & African followers: 5 pounds

1st line Transport usually was mules & African porters.
2nd Line Transport at this time was two ox-carts per company.

However transport created its own logistical problems as fodder had to be carried for the animals & food carried for the porters.

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Kahe Junction

During the Long Rains the Indian Railway Companies kept pushing the Voi railway line west from Mbuyuni through Taveta & then across country southwest to Kahe.

Within a distance of 20 miles 17 rivers & streams had to be bridged. This was a considerable engineering accomplishment, but during the rains the supplies for the forward troops began to fall short of the needs & demands – a foretaste of what was to become the biggest British problem of the campaign.

Kahe Station saw fighting again during Nauman’s Raid (see Post #531).

Fifty of Nauman’s men attacked Kahe Junction (as it was now named because of the junction of the Voi & Usambara lines) on 29 August 1917 & found two trains in the station.

The station master was shot & wounded, a few African passengers killed, rail wagons carrying ammunition & stores burned, telegraph wires cut & three British officers taken prisoner.

This was a considerable shock to the British rear-echelon system as nearly all the best British troops were deployed far to the south of GEA near the Portuguese East African border.

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Arusha German Boma with Mount Meru on the skyline

On 22 March 1916 the East African Mounted Rifles were ordered to move the 70 miles to Arusha by forced march.

They rode from Store Camp at 1530 hours, taking just three mules as their 1st Line transport allocation.

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Entrance to Arusha Boma, showing the moat

The British authorities thought that a “serious native disturbance” was imminent in the Arusha region.

In fact some of the South African troops now in GEA were alienating the Masai by treating them as black Africans were treated in South Africa.

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Arusha Boma rear area

The first German military post in the Kilimanjaro region was built at Moshi in 1890.

Because of attacks from local tribes the Germans also established Arusha military post in 1900, later strongly re-building it, as you can see.
Arusha was designated a District Office & then in 1906 reverted to being a District Branch Office under Moshi District Office.

No 1 Feldkompagnie garrisoned Arusha & was made responsible for the security of the northern frontier.

(Contrast this thorough military attitude with that of the British East African administration across the border – before war broke out no British troops were responsible for border security except in the far northeast in Jubaland.)

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Arusha Boma side wall

The Masai concerns dissipated as a British administration started governing occupied German East Africa.

The East African Mounted Rifles enjoyed the comfort of living in buildings for a short time in Arusha town.

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The Magadi Railway line at Kajiado
Magadi Soda Works is to the left & the junction with the Uganda Railway line is to the right

Ist Division’s Advance south from Longido, March 1916

All troops arrived at Kajiado by rail & then marched (see OH Sketch 6).

The British 1st Division under General Jimmy Stewart consisted of:

The East African Mounted Rifles
The squadron of 17th Cavalry
The King’s African Rifles Mounted Infantry Company

25th Royal Fusiliers
29th Punjabis
129th Baluchis
Cape Corps Battalion
4 companies of 1 King’s African Rifles (attached)
East African Machine Gun Company (attached)
(The above six infantry units were in the 2nd East African Brigade)

1st South African Field Artillery Brigade (Nos 1 & 3 Batteries)
No 7 Field Battery
27th Mountain Battery
1st Division Ammunition Column
(The above five artillery units were in the No 1 Group Royal Artillery)

Divisional Signal Company
Half-company Faridkot Sappers & Miners

Approximate strengths were:
1,000 white troops
1,750 Indian troops
1,250 African troops

With 18 artillery guns & 22 machine-guns.

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Copyright QLR Museum, Preston

The 25th Bn The Royal Fusiliers knew the Kajiado - Magadi region well as it had been responsible for security in the region & along the Magadi railway branch line.

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Besil River looking northwest

The river is dry & uninteresting now but in 1916 it was an important source of water, especially for mounted troops.

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The Government area just north of Besil River & east of the road.


This rise in the ground, protected by the river to the right, was usually the first campsite for troops marching south from Kajiado Station.

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Olekononi Signal Station

Five miles south of Besil the troops marched through a pass.

On the eastern side was a hill where a vital heliograph signal station was sited.

The signallers manning the station had quite a climb with their water, food, blankets & weapons. Doubtless they used mules & local porters to move the heavier loads.

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Looking west towards Ngito Hills, north of Oldoinyo Orok.

On 25 September 1914 the East African Mounted Rifles & Magadi Defence Force lost 8 men killed in action & 4 men wounded in action in those hills during a fight against 10 Feldkompagnie plus a German settler mounted detachment.

The Schutztruppe lost 8 dead & 21 wounded, half of these casualties being German.

The Seki Water Hole, vital to both Schutztruppe & British mounted patrols & infested with lion, lies north of here & opposite the Olekononi Signal Station. (See Post #430)

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A dry drift with a modern bridge

The drift does not appear to be a major problem, but once rain fell & the banks started tumbling into the water then cart drivers in 1916 had to take care.

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Driving transport across a wet drift in 1916

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Kedongai River looking northwest

The camp was located on a spur in the hills at the head of the river.

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Kedongai Camp in 1915

A British piquet would definitely have been placed on the ridge in the background to prevent the enemy from approaching during the night & firing down into the camp.