The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1916. THE LAST OF GERMANY'S COLONIAL EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2852, 17 August 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1916. THE LAST OF GERMANY'S COLONIAL EMPIRE

The conquest of East Africa by General Smuts will mean the final collapsc of Germany's colonial empire. New Zealand struck the first Dlow when her Expeditionary Force captured Samoa. One by one the brerman colonies in the Pacific and m Africa have since then been seized or conquered, and now the last of overseas Germany is passing into British hands. Genekah Botha, who has just returned to Durb&ti from East Africa, says that the end of tho campaign is not far distant. For weeks past the British and Belgian forces have been hunting the German troops from place to place, and now all that is ieft of them is being hemmed in on every side, and their final defeat is well within sight. Their position is hopeless. They can get no help from outside, and tho inexorable pressure of General Sjiuts's a*my increases every day. '• In his [ prst dispatch as Commander-in-Chief of the East African Force General Smuts states that tho result |of his operations from March 18 to J2l was to drive the enemy out of the country north of and along the lEuwu Kiver. Aruscha had meanwhile been occupied by the mounted scouts, who drove off an enemy company in 1 a southerly direction, and wlus the conquest of the KilimanjaroMeru area, probably the richest and most desirable district of German East Africa, was satisfactorily completed. Since then tho campaign has been vigorously carried on in the most thorough and methodical manner. General Smuts took charge of the operations early in the present year. Prior to his advent the work of conquest had proceeded rather slowly. The difficulties were very great. The Germans were well organised and well equipped, and their position was strong from the strategical point- of _vicw, whereas at the start the British were only able to muster a very small army. The British defence force in the first three weeks of "wrir was probably under 1200 men. In tho circumstances it is not surprising .that very little headway was made, and that the outlook at that stage was far from encouraging. Our men had an extremely trying time. An officer who took part 111 tho first stage of the campaign has put on record a graphic description of the sceno of operations.

This is an awful country to fight in (ho writes), and an ideal one for waylaying. It is one mass of bush and thorny scrub, in which you can walk right on to the enemy without being seen. Last night they put-mo on picket duty on the hills. I got a grand view of Kilimanjaro in tlio inoonlight-4it looked awfully fine with its snowy peak; but roally the job was a nervy oiie, considering that the placo is teeming with rhino and lions,,and wo had to stand in the open without oven a fire. Tho lions could be heard roaring closo by. and besides that many other sounds of animal life could bo heard. All this is very nice, but awe-inspiring.

The situation was by no means satisfactory in April of last year, when General Txohe, a distinguished Indian officer, took command. General Smuts pays a generous 1 tribute to General Tigue's preliminary work, whicli was so excellently performed that he (General Smuts) was left free on arrival to dovote bis own energies 1.0 activo operations, and lie adhered to tho main plan devised by Gen-

eral Tighe for tho occupation of tho Kilimanjaro area, though some alterations of dispositions was nccessary in order to avoid frontal attacks against • outrenehed positions. At the beginning of the present year tho German forces were estimated lit about 16,000 men (of whom 2000 were white), with 60 guns andi 80 machine-guns. They were organised in companies varying from 160 to 200 strong, with 10 per cent, of whites and an average of two machine-guns per company. It is now just about six months since General Smuts began his offensive movement. It has been carried out with such energy and decision that the Germans have been beaten whenever they have ventured to make a stand, and the conquest of Germany's greatest colony is now almost complete. German East Africa is about twice the size of European Germany. It tns a population of 8,000,000, including about 5000 white people. It is stated that by reason of the wido variation of climate and landscape this colony has endless possibilities. Germany had paid great attention to its development ancl much money had been expended on it, intention being to make it a planters' country. ' Its loss will bo bitterly deplored in Berlin, and the bitterness of the Kaiser will bo increased by the knowledge that it has ?ieen wrested from him by the brilliant generalship of a Boer, for in tho early stages of tho' war ho had cherished tho hope that the Boer States would strike a blow for Germany. General Botha conquered South-AVest Africa, for tho British Empire, and now his friend and colleague is just finishing the task of conquering German East Africa. General Smuts lias a genius for organisation, and has given much attention to military matters.' '' It was he. who carried through tho South African Parliament tho Defence Act which established compulsory military service, and he played a responsible, though subordinate, part in the organisation of the South-West African campaign which General Botha conducted with such conspicuous success.' Ho is described .as the soul of honour. Ho showed tho utmost contempt fo'r thoso misguided Boers who proved faithless to their vow of allegiance to Great Britain. When orio of his friends referred to tho splendid loyalty of General Botha and himself, he' remarked: "What clso could wo do 1 It was tho only possible course after tho manner in which wo haivo been treated." A icccnt biographer of General Botha truly declares that "Botha is a picco of astounding good • fortuno for tho British Empire." And so is General Smuts.