IN DESERT AFRICA

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2573, 22 September 1915, Page 6

IN DESERT AFRICA

; FIGHTING THE GERMANS NEW ZEALANDERS WHO WERE THERE • STORY'OF THE GREAT TREK T\vo Now Zealanders, who participated in tho campaign against tho Germans in South-West Africa, arrived in Wellington by It.M.S. Rimutaka on Saturday afternoon. They are Messrs. H. C. and H. D. 'Tennent, who both •served with tho Natal Light Horse, ono as, Q.M.S.'/ and the other as .' sergeant. Having : gone to the Capo with tho .Ninth Contingent, at the time of the Doer War, they subsequently , became residents of South Africa, and, from personal acquaintance with General Botha and other prominent figures iu the havo gained a grasp of tho political situation there. Particularly interesting is their story of tho ■recent rebellion, which: was followed ;by /the march against the German forccs; Operations Against Maritz. . , Immediately upon tho declaration of war, a .movo. was made' to form tho Natal Light Horse, but it was witb tho greatest difficulty that permission for this step could be obtained from the . Commander-in-Chief, (General-- Beyers), who ■'subsequently turned rebel.' Jiven..tually sanction was given and the regiment mustered' 800 strong in Maritz-': .burg, tho number including 300 Austral lians: and New Zealanders, whose association.: at.'. Johannesburg - had adopted: tho corps asi. their . 'own.. Practically tho whole of the 800 were soldiers with previous service, decorations averaging a ribbon and a half per : man.. With about a fortnight's training the'regiwas considered fit to march,, andon; September 14, 1914, they received aiders, to. proceed-to Cape Town,' en route:, to', Luderitzbucht, 'the - port in Uermali,,South-West Africa. - ■'-This port' -had- already-been' occupied "by tbo'.Brit-; . .Jsh, aiid General Beyers seemed bent upoii 'sending the: majority of tho Union forces there. The Natal Light Horse had not proceeded beyond .Cape Towti when by an extraordinary incident—the ■shooting of De La : ,rebellion against the -,Union ivas precipitated, /with .Maritz'apparently ...at-the'- head of -A few 7 British troops, remained on the German "Border, and tho Natal Light Horse "was hurriedly dispatched to Upington, :on.' the Orange -Kivfer.* Hero, tho regiment', operated, against Maritz .} and. his German supporters.,. -The rehel- |. lion was broken, in . these . parts, and -the : X.L.H. Amoved' - south-east.:, to '-prevent other: rebels- crossing to ■ jdih.- the' Ger•mans.:...Tlie.:Messrs.; Tennent,:' as-they j;themselves express ■ .it,' were' extremely [ioi tunate.; 1 They had fighting aliiiost I everywhere thejy were; sent,','and on this, j march fromvUpingtoh threo hundred of i their men encountered' 1500 rebels, under Kemp,'who caught them , asleep,'but ;profited uttle by this advantage. The -rebels were badly armed and poorly fed; •and, ,on: realising that the Light : Horso intended 7 to v fight,:.the'y:'(the rebels)' fled; Later they' broke ■ through-' 'a ■ superior fioreo; under General Botha,, but 'subsequently surrendered witlr most'' of Mantz's men. '■ .'

• Rebels Were Really Rabble, 'v, ■ The early collapse of the rebellion"was : due.-to the fact .that the rebels, were really a rabble, and the Gormans, beinn disappointed;: with .the type of their allies; -did .not continue to supply food and equipment. On the other hand, the difficulties in' quelling the rebellion vtere not 'by any means trifling.. In • the first _ place the Dutch population, j while .. being loyal; to 'the' Constitution, ■ could not _be expected to develop?-, any i-peat feelings of patriotism, and the . British section u of; tile" people naturally became anxious., There was ample evi- > donee'that, the. rebellion., had been be? friendedat, headquarters.•. •Ah-instance of this occurred in the fight against jJCemp, when Sergeant Tennent discoveredl that much of the ammunition, sealed and.labelled as .803, was out-of-date and quite useless for the rifles carried : by the N.L.H.. The drowning of General Beyers • disposed', of an awkward' situation in a simplei manner. l Dutchinen .would not have cared,to have seen hanged any more than they would ■like to see General De Wet sentenced to 'death/- • Eveii now processions aro'coii■stantly being held in favour of the re|spse -of the latter. Probably in the •tfirst instance, General Hertzog!s influence might have stopped the rebellion, but it-was not exerted. Ex-Presi-ident" Steyn, of- the . Orange State, urged 'Jiis.peoplo not to take arms against the JUnion, but bis mana had waned long 'beforo that time.

| . In Quest of the Cermans. • i .Before the absolute end of the rebelt 'lion, : Natal' Light Horse'again re-;' 'toived orders for Luderitzbucht, and 'arrived there to join the Central Force (.under Sir Duncan.. M'Kenzie, whose farmy numbered' 12,000, and who was to , tlrivo the Germans \from Luderitzbucht frto Keetinanshoop. General Botha was fro move from Swakopinund to Winthuk ywith the Northern Force, and General (Vaiiderventer controlled - the Southern Force, which would compiote the surirounding movement. In all the Forces numbered something like patch and'half British. To make "the -rampaign purely South 'African, General Smuts came in at the death and assumed command of the Central and Southern quotas. The casualty lists .Showed that, Dutch and British had throughout shared equally iii the honours; ... . .i. ■ The« Battle of Cibeon. ( The enemy• proved to-be exceptionally >cH"armed, and had a big advantage iii iknowledge of the country, so that, even jwdth- superior numbers, the' British success depended upon thorough,organisation. Every joint ill the thousand •'miles of German railway was blown, up, :and; though the Central Fores repaired ; tlio -line from the port, tlio advance ;&uard trekked right ahead of the work. •.{IJHe: transport-.service,, oould not . keep 'pace, and every man had to carry for .himself. The mounted men ' covered 300 [miles (partly by rail) in 15 days and .tfiiglits, and the infantry hung doggedly "on to the same task over desert country broken here and there by wator:'courses, and the remains .of rivers / Which frequently ' disappeared tinder-' Aground. The battle of Gibeon proved a deciding factor. Here, the Imperial, i'Light Horse'and the' Natal Light Horio Received . orders to rotire, but 200- of %iho latter regihieiit':'failed to receive '_'the' 'Word, and for the whole of the night . ifought . stubbornly against 1000 Ger■mans, who were armed with Maxims and '.big guns. At dawn about 100 surVivors, finding the position hopeless, surrendered, and the enemy moved o\ ;to ■Winthuk, leaving 300 men to take •charge-of. the- prisoners. • This party J.was.J'surprised by "our' 'reinforcements, jiyho released the prisoners, and cap'tiired 250 of the enemy. In this engagement the N.L.H.'lost 22 killed (including'a sergeant alongside Sergeant Icniient) and over GO wounded. The regiment's total casualties ■ over the . period were, about one-third of, the strength. After Gibeon, it was left to General Botha to follow up the enemy.'i'-The manner iji' which 'he' outflanked ,'theni at'-every''point "'brought hostilities quickly to a closo. / Tho ' troops were, thoroughly exhausted,owing to tho strenuous'nature " of the campaign, having at one stage 1 lived entirely on flesh. "• Political Aspect of the Campaign. The el&tioh to I'ako plaoeTiext month is now bcinc fought upon jl-o issues of

the war—General Botha placing tho Imperial question, first, and General Hcrtzog submitting that tho Mother Country'shoiild only be considered when such consideration will suit South Africa. Hertzog "is, according to the returned New Zealanders, making much capital out of tho Union money (£17,000,000) which was expended on the war, but it is generally reckoned that the capturcd territory with its mineral resources and rich diamond fields will more than compensate for tho outlay. The return of General Botha is considered certain, as tho Unionists hare promised him support, as. also have the reasonable section of labour led by Mr. Cresswel!. Besides this', there'are to be considered the 22,000 Dutch soldiers, who fought with the Forces in German South-West Africa. Having seen evidence of the rapid diminution of the Hottentots and Hereros and the mismanagement and brutality under German rule, these Dutchmen and their followers are now leaning towards'Botha. Labour is expected to-gain! several seats at the election, as ill: many] of 'the constituencies the whole of the ..'four parties are put-ting-forward'candidates. The return' of Botha wi]l be : another great victory for the: General,'whose management of the big' strike was a' minor matter to the task which recently confronted him with the. rebellion, the German campaign, and a delicate political situation all in train at the same time. ' Pull credit is given to General Smuts for his share of the work during the crisis.