Loyal North Lancashires in East Africa

[bushfighter]

Looking east towards Lone Hill


Today the main road does not loop east below Lone Hill as it does on OH Sketch 6.

Lone Hill was occupied by a British rifle company, & it became a target for Schutztruppe snipers who approached from the southeast.

(No 4 Company 2nd Bn The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment had taken over Lone Hill from the East African Mounted Rifles on 14 December 1914.
They found that the nearest water was 5 miles away in the Namanga River.
The daily water fatigue parties sent to & from the river were a security weakness, as they were a necessity for the Lone Hill garrison, & were predictable.)

[bushfighter]

Looking north from Namanga to the slopes of Oldoinyo Orok

The East African Mounted Rifle sub-unit on Lone Hill, Bowker’s Squadron, used to let their mounts browse daily on the slopes of Oldoinyo Orok.

On 25 February 1915 three Germans surprised the one EAMR guard, Trooper G.H. Bateman, & took 54 mounts & Bateman back into GEA.

The squadron was unofficially re-titled “Bowker’s Foot”.

[bushfighter]

EAMR mounts turned out to graze

[bushfighter]

Transport crossing Namanga River

A sudden deluge of rain for a few hours could raise river levels three or four feet, making them impassable.

Therefore General Smuts had to get 1st Division down from the Kajiado – Longido area to Arusha & Moshi before the Long Rains prevented the artillery & supply wagons from moving.

Pioneers accompanied columns, generally working at the sharp end with the infantry to create crossing points over rivers & drifts before the horse & ox-drawn limbers, guns & supply wagons arrived.

The half-company of Faridkot Sappers & Miners performed this task for 1st Division.

[bushfighter]

Looking east towards Longido West (at the base of the hill). Longido Central is up in the clouds.


At Longido West on 20 September 1915 the commander of the Magadi area Lt Col F. Jollie, 28th Cavalry, Indian Army, had spectacularly failed in an attack on the Schutztruppe detachment occupying the old British post.

He had under command “A” & “B” Companies 3 King’s African Rifles, the KAR Mounted Infantry Company, the East African Mounted Rifles (135 men strong) & the Squadron of 17th Cavalry.

Despite having superiority in numbers & utilizing the element of surprise Lt Col Jollie misused the ground & his troops.

Now Lt Col Jollie was commanding the mounted troops of 1st Division in an advance over unknown terrain across the lower slopes of Mount Kilima Njaro.

[bushfighter]

The 17th Cavalry names on the Nairobi British & Indian Memorial
Lt Mawdsley is buried in Kajiado Cemetery

In preparation for the advance into GEA the East African Squadron of the 17th Cavalry (Indian Army) was based at Longido in early 1916 & tasked with reconnaissance missions southwards to determine where Schutztruppe outposts were located.

On 06 February 1916 one of these missions went wrong when a German mounted unit surprised a 50-man 17th Cavalry patrol near Ngaseni (west of Engare Nairobi on the next map) in long grass when the British horses were unsaddled & feeding.

The Pathan cavalrymen fought on their feet until their two officers, Captain V.C. Duberly & Lieutenant B.J.P Mawdsley had been shot down, Lt Mawdsley dead & Captain Duberly mortally wounded (they wore topees & immediately became targets).

Then Jemadar Wazir Khan brought the patrol out of action, on horseback, as best he could.
Two dead & three wounded Pathans were left behind.

One of the wounded, Lance-Daffadar Khan Sahib, hid in the bush & later finding a lance to use as a crutch, hobbled the 30 miles back to Longido with his rifle & 100 rounds. His journey took six days, with hardly any water.

Jemadar Wazir Khan & Lance-Daffadar Khan Sahib both subsequently received the Indian Order of Merit.

[bushfighter]

[bushfighter]

1st Division’s advance from Longido

The Divisional route went from Longido, through Ngasserai & Engare Nairobi down to Boma Ngombe on the road junction just east of Sanya.

General Stewart concentrated his Division at Sheep Hills, just southeast of Longido.

His mission was to block the Moshi – Arusha road so that Lettow’s troops could not escape to the west as 2nd Division attacked them from Taveta.

The Schutztruppe formation facing 1st Division was Abteilung Fischer commanded by Major E. Fischer, consisting of 2 mounted companies, 2 infantry companies & the Arusha garrison troops:
8 & 9 SchutzenKompagnien
8 & 28 FeldKompagnien
Abteilung Aruscha

As a deception measure General Stewart ordered his mounted troops to threaten Kampfontein, the main German post northwest of Mount Meru on the main road from Longido to Arusha.

The East African Mounted Rifles & 17th Cavalry did this task well by patrolling & dragging brushwood to create large dust-clouds.

Fischer was deceived & stood his ground on the main road, but the British mounted troops then needed to rest & water their mounts, & the track to Ngasserai was dry.

The infantry marching down this track during the night of 05 March 1916 were enveloped in their own dust clouds & soon became fatigued & thirsty.
(This dry, arid ground across 1st Division’s route was far harder to march over than the ground crossed by 2nd Division & van Deventer’s horsemen advancing from Taveta & Chala.)

However the swampy region of Engare Nairobi was reached at 0800 hours on 06 March & the main body halted there for the day.

Fischer was obviously not using his own mounted troops well, as he should have spotted the British true axis of advance & made Stewart fight hard for the water at Engare Nairobi.

[bushfighter]

Subedar Khudadad Khan V.C.

A Subedar is a Viceroy’s Commissioned Officer who usually commands a platoon. Khudadad Khan was a Sepoy when he won his Victoria Cross.

129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis

The 129th Baluchis was composed of:
1 company of Punjabi Musulmans
1 & a half companies of Mahsuds
1 & a half companies of other Pathans
1 special company of Araino.

The unit was the first Indian battalion to land in France (at Marseille on 30 September 1914), the first Indian battalion to go into action (at Hollebeke 20 October), & the first Indian unit to win a Victoria Cross (awarded to machine-gunner Sepoy Khudadad Khan on 31 October at Hollebeke).

The battalion had over 1350 officers & men killed & wounded in France & received drafts from 124th Duchess of Connaught’s own Baluchistan Infantry & 127th Queen Mary’s Own Baluch Light Infantry to maintain its strength.

At the end of the 15 months that the battalion spent in France there were only around 20 men remaining who had disembarked at Marseille in September 1914.

The 129th Baluchis arrived in East Africa in January 1916 under the command of Lt Col J.A. Hannyngton, & were moved to the Longido area to join 1st Division.

During 1st Division’s advance General Stewart deployed the Baluch as his reserve, positioning them about one mile behind the advance guard of 29th Punjabis.

129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis departed from theatre in January 1918, leaving:
5 British officers
7 Indian officers
& nearly 400 other ranks behind, killed in action or died of disease.

The unit earned 15 gallantry awards during the East African campaign & was given the Battle Honour:
East Africa 1915-18

A 2nd Battalion was raised in 1918.

[tonyblackpool]

hi harry, could you tell me what SUBEDAR KHAN,S 5th medal is ,it looks like a mm or lsm.

tony

[SteveE]

hi harry, could you tell me what SUBEDAR KHAN,S 5th medal is ,it looks like a mm or lsm.

tony

Tony

It looks like the India General Service Medal (1908-1935) to me.

Steve

[tonyblackpool]

cheers steve,

[bushfighter]

The Sanya River west of Boma Ngombe, looking north

Lt Col Jollie’s mounted troops were ordered to capture Ngaseni just to the west of Engare Nairobi, but because of their own & their mounts’ fatigue it was 1500 hours on 06 March before they achieved this (with the support of a 1 King’s African Rifles detachment). The Schutztruppe detachment there had withdrawn as happened all down the axis until the Kilima Njaro foothills were reached.

1st Division rested at Ngaseni during 07 March & the next day reached Geragua at the head of the Sanya River, 10 miles southeast of Engare Nairobi.
Marching over the dusty plain with a strong sun overhead became an ordeal for the infantry.

Having been advised by locals that the Longido – Moshi road through the foothills ahead was blocked with trees & demolitions & defended by the Schutztruppe, General Stewart moved his axis west to near the Sanya River. An East African Mounted Rifles scout, Serjeant (later Lieutenant) G.J. Pretorius, led the Division down a minor track that he had used with an ox-wagon several years previously.

This was a very suitable route as it avoided the thick bush of the Kilima Njaro foothills where Fischer’s Askari were preparing ambushes on every bend in the Longido – Moshi road.

But this tactically intelligent use of ground frustrated General Smuts who was not interested in the details or the reasons. He just wanted 1st Division down on the Moshi – Arusha road.

[bushfighter]

A dry drift near Boma Ngombe, looking north

On 09 March the 1st Division infantry halted at Geragua whilst the supply wagons caught up with the main body.

General Smuts in his HQ at Mbuyuni east of Taveta was now becoming increasingly angry at the perceived slowness of 1st Division’s advance & he sent a series of messages ordering Stewart to move faster. Neither Smuts nor any of his entourage knew the ground that 1st Division was traversing.

General Stewart’s communications back to Smuts were by heavy ground-cable to Longido & although this was laid 50 to 100 feet from the track it was frequently broken by animals & transport.

Air-line (cable suspended from poles) from Longido northwards was regularly broken by Giraffe.

Wireless worked but not whilst Mount Kilima Njaro lay between 1st Division & Smuts’ HQ.

[ShirlD]

Thanks Harry for the way this thread makes you feel you are following footsteps of the different regiments. How recent are these photographs you have taken? Would there have been more trees in 1916? I recall dense undergrowth and trees around Loitokitok and you make mention of the trees on the Moshi road.

Cheers

Shirley

[bushfighter]

Bags of charcoal for sale on the roadside at Rasthaus

Shirley
Yes, the trees & bush have mostly gone.

Colonialism did include some benefits for the population & increased levels of health-care was one of them. This was often provided by Missionaries.

Thus women who were pregnant every year but saw many of their babies die then began to have more surviving children & the population grew.

More land was cleared of bush so that it could be cropped. More timber was extracted for dwellings.

As urban populations soared the demand for charcoal, which many prefer over other fuels, grew & so even more trees were reduced to saleable charcoal chunks.

Now you may often find "replanting" figures in forestry department budgets, but you will need extremely keen eyesight to find all of it being used for that purpose.

I have noticed how illegal de-forestation has influenced local climates in East Africa. We think that we have a climate-change problem but we just don't know the half of it.

Colonial Forestry Departments used to be well-run as the law was enforced. Now in many countries forestry trees are just viewed as cash to be taken.

I have seen one ray of hope in East Africa. A Scandinavian Non Governmental Organisation is promoting the economic value of trees to small-scale farmers & assisting them with advice & seedlings.
But set against the wholesale looting of state forests this is just a drop in the ocean.

Harry

[ShirlD]

Thanks Harry,

Chris is very involved with Men of the Trees, started in Kenya in about 1926, and he plants trees in the wheatbelt here. Dry land salinity is the big problem. Very interesting to hear what you say about East Africa. Incidentally, we managed to get the book by Tim Stapleton, we much appreciate that contact.

Cheers

Shirley

[bushfighter]

The grave of Private Sport Tom, Cape Corps at Moshi Cemetery


The Cape Corps

After the successful South African invasion of German South West (which included the putting-down of an internal revolt of Boer hard-liners within South Africa) the British government requested that South African troops be sent to East Africa.

Several white infantry battalions containing many English-speakers & mounted regiments containing many Afrikaans-speakers were raised, but a battalion of coloured troops was also formed.

In the Cape area a large community of mixed-race persons categorized as “Cape Coloured” existed, & had been used previously for military service by the Dutch & the British.

In September 1915 the South African government sanctioned the raising of the first battalion of The Cape Corps. The battalion was attested in December 1915 & within a week was over 1,000 men strong, hundreds of others being turned away.

An observer commented:
“They were a special breed of men, as brave as they were unpredictable, as tough as terriers & with the special virtue of cheerfulness.”

The Cape Corps soldiers were inclined to be especially cheerful when they had access to alcohol.

On 09 February 1916 the Cape Corps sailed north to BEA under the command of Lt Col G.A. Morris.
The officers were recruited from the white South African community.

Once in BEA the battalion was sent to Longido to serve in General Stewart’s British 1st Division.
General Stewart wrote:
“The 1st Cape Corps Regiment were all very young & had only undergone some three months of hasty training.”

During 1st Division’s advance to Moshi the Cape Corps provided escorts for the heavy horse-drawn artillery & transport & also garrisons for the Schutztruppe posts that the Division over-ran.

The Ist Bn matured into a very effective hard-marching unit, later tracking Naumann & his raiders down & capturing them.

The fact that the unit was entitled to European scales of rations (when the supply chain actually issued them) rather than African scales probably helped maintain health & fitness. It also added a logistic penalty as European ration scales weighed twice as much as African scales did.

Later in the campaign the 1st Battalion was moved to Palestine (where it took Square Hill on 19 September 1919) & a 2nd Battalion was raised for operations in Portuguese East Africa.

After the war the South African government disbanded the Cape Corps as quickly as possible.
The South African Official History hardly mentions this tough & cheerful Corps.

The 1st Battalion Cape Corps lost 450 men during the war to enemy action & disease.

Battle Honours awarded to the 1st Battalion were:
Kilimanjaro, Behobeho, Nyangao, East Africa 1916-1917, East Africa 1917-1918, Megiddo 1918, Nablus, Palestine 1918.

[bushfighter]

The Kikafu River looking south

On 10 March General Stewart, realizing that his mounted troops were of limited use now that the open plains had been left behind, pushed on with his infantry reaching Boma Ngombe & the Sanya River bridge on the main road to Arusha the next day.

He had in fact achieved his mission & blocked the Schutztruppe’s withdrawal route to the west.

Then Abteilung Fischer appeared on the scene.

As Lt Col Jollie’s mounted troops left Geragua, where 1st Division’s guns & supply wagons were now concentrated, they ran into Fischer’s troops along a ridge crossing the Divisional axis. Fischer had finally realized that he had been bluffed at Kampfontein & so was marching east to block the British on the Longido – Moshi road.

The East African Mounted Rifles advanced to attack the enemy with the KAR Mounted Infantry on their left & the 17 Cavalry squadron on their right.

Fischer’s troops (8 & 9 SchutzenKompagnien) responded, & using the high ground well, soon dominated the scene of the action with their Maxim guns. The Divisional artillery opened fire on the ridge – the first occasion that South African Artillery had fired in anger in East Africa.

However the situation was now too much for Lt Col Jollie to handle.
He ceased the artillery fire, withdrew his mounted troops into a night-time perimeter & in the morning (11 March) instead of fighting his way forward to join the infantry he withdrew to Geragua.

Fischer, thinking that the British troops he had encountered were the complete 1st Division, failed to attack & destroy the British Artillery & Transport Columns & instead moved to a defensive position on the Kikafu River.
Both sides missed an opportunity to inflict real damage on their opponent.

The British took a dozen casualties, fired 20 artillery shells & expended 5,000 rifle & machine-gun rounds.

General Stewart sent back a double-company of 29 Punjabis to find his missing mounted troops & artillery & on 12 March 1st Division was concentrated again.

Lt Col H.S. Laverton, CO East African Mounted Rifles, replaced Lt Col Jollie as commander of 1st Division’s mounted troops.

[bushfighter]

Copyright Queen’s Lancashire Regiment Museum, Preston

On 11 March real damage had been done to General Stewart’s reputation by the crew of a British plane that flew a reconnaissance mission from Mbuyuni over the 1st Division axis.

The aircrew failed to spot Stewart & his infantry at Boma Ngombe (despite efforts by the infantry to attract attention) & only saw the 1st Division artillery & transport at Geragau.

Thus Smuts was informed:
“General Stewart’s troops were about 14 miles north of Boma Ngombe” when in fact Stewart & his infantry were in place blocking the Moshi – Arusha road as ordered.

1st Division then marched east to Moshi, losing three carriers killed when van Deventer’s South African Horse opened fire on 1 KAR.

[bushfighter]

The old German Boma at Moshi, used by General Smuts as his Headquarters


THE PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE

General Jimmie Stewart
General Smuts now displayed his political nature & changed Stewart’s goalposts after the event, telling him that 1st Division should have stopped the whole Schutztruppe from falling back on Kahe.
Stewart was dismissed & returned to India.

Lt Col Francis Jollie
He was returned to India.

Major Fischer
Lettow considered Abteilung Fischer’s performance in opposing the British 1st Division to have been totally inadequate.
Lettow handed Fischer a revolver . Major Fischer took it away & shot himself

General Jacob Louis “Jaap” van Deventer
His mounted South Africans had occupied Kahe village all day instead of being pushed down & across the Usambara Railway to block the Schutztruppe’s withdrawal.

To quote from “They Fought for King & Kaiser” by James Ambrose Brown, a South African publication:
“Smuts moved his headquarters to Moshi. In his report to their Lordships at the War Office he dealt mildly with his old comrade’s failure. Van Deventer, he wrote, had had to retire after a brush with the enemy. “He waited for the following day to develop the turning movements after his whole brigade should have been brought across the Pangani”.

COMMENT
General van Deventer was basically a decent man &, like Smuts, an excellent commander of mounted irregular troops who lived off the land. Unlike Smuts he could not speak much English, preferring his native Afrikaans.

During the dark days of 1918 when Lettow & his Schutztruppe were rampaging throughout Portuguese East Africa, General van Deventer was commanding the British campaign & he became extremely concerned about British column commanders whom he perceived to be half-hearted about making contact with the enemy.
I wonder if he ever reflected on his own missed opportunity at Kahe, & the reasons for it?

But perhaps Generals don’t think like that.

[bushfighter]

Cloud-capped Mount Meru

Mount Meru towers above Arusha town.

Abteilung Fischer defended the main road to Longido that runs to the west (left) of the mountain.

[bushfighter]

Mount Meru from Arusha on a clear day

General Stewart's 1st Division used minor routes on the east (right) side of the mountain to approach Boma Ngombe & Moshi.

******************************************

I've now gone through nearly all of the photos I took on my trip to the Nyanza & Moshi area a few months ago.

I need to research & tidy up the last months of 1915 now, so posts will be sporadic into the New Year.

Please add anything of interest to the thread.

Harry

[SteveE]

Harry

Thanks for taking the time and effort to put together such an informative and visual thread. It has been a wonderful journey!!

Already looking forward to your next installments

Regards

Steve

[tonyblackpool]

great stuff harry, regards tony