IN THE OUTPOSTS OF EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3198, 24 September 1917, Page 7

IN THE OUTPOSTS OF EMPIRE

HOW RHODESIA DID HER PART OPERATIONS REVIEWED In March Jast the Higli, Commissioner for South Africa furnished a report on military affairs in Rhodesia, and the operations of the Bhodesian Forces from the outbreak of war to the end of 19X6. 'I'ho report deals firstly with operations in the West. These were directed mainly to prevent a possible hostile, incursion from German South-West Africa, an event, which happily did not! materialise. Oii the north-eastern border the.report, chronicles many sham actions daring tlw autumn of 1914 in the neighbourhood of the ■ Abercorn and Fife posts. These posts received inuch-needed reinforcements, including ft Belgian battalion, in December. A considerable amount Of fighting took place the following spring and summer. "Ih the course Of March, April, May, aid June, 1915, a number Of sDiall' engagements took- place. In one Of these Lieutenant Startnus Irvine,- of the Northern Rhodesia Rifles, was mortally wounded while gallantly leading a successful attack on a stockaded position. On another occasion the enemy attacked a patrol of Belgians and Rhodesia police with great determination, but were eventually driven oft 'after an engagement, lasting about two hours. Verschueren behaved with gTeat gallantry. . He refused to leave the. firingline, although twice wounded, and finally ho .was killed. , His body was carried out of action by Senior Sergeant Borazi, of tho 1 Belgian Forces, and Sergeant Mwambera, of the Northern Rhodesia Police. Both of these men showed conspicuous bravery, and Sefgeant Borazi was wounded," Garrison Attacked. "This fighting culminated in the attaok on Saisi in July, by a strong force of enemy Europeans, native troops, and Arabs. The attacking force, which was under the Cohimahd of General Wehlfi, is believd to have been composed of the 18th,. 23rd, 24th, and 69th Field Companies, four other companies, and tho Tabora and Kukwe contingouts of MO Europeans and 200 Arabs. A German field Company, when up to strength, consists of 10 Otficers, 10 volunteers, and 200 Askari.. Tho strength of the garrison was 470 Rhodesian and Belgian native troops, with 19 Europeans. The garrison had but little food, and depended for water, upon supplies obtained at night iihdbr fire, and between pickets from /the rivers. On July 31 a Parlementaire arrived. from tho German lines with a white flag, and a letter inquiring whether uie Commandant was prepared to consider ternidof surrender. Major O'Sullevan's reply was an emphatic Negative. I'ho total number of casualties sustained by the garrisOn was nineteen, all natives, including five soldiers and four carriers killed, and one native servant who died ■of wounds. A -relief party Under MajOl* de Koni nek, who attempted unsuccessfully to get into touch with tho garrison, lost five native soldiers killed, ton'wounded, and three missing. Major O'Sullevan- estimates that of the enemy,, at least forty Europeans and from fifty'to sixty . Askari and ..Arabs were killed. About'., 1 21J shells and' at least. .90,000 rounds of ammunition are reported to have been fired by tho enemy. It is believed that oho German gun and one Maxim- wero put out of action. . The Belgian tfoops rendered, most valuablo assistance.' , Campaigning in 1916.. After' this repulse there • was comparative inactivity oil the iorth-enstem border.' Early in 1916 Brigadier-General Northey assumed command of tho Rhodesian and Nvasaland Forces. On his arrival operations on the bordel - , which , had hitherto '.been necessarily of a defensive character, entored tljion a new phase, which is not yet concluded. Tho maintenance of supplies and transport for'the troops on the border was throughout a most difficult and onerous task. From April 1 to December ?I, 1915,. 20,00f1. cartiers were employed in carrying over 1,000,0001b. of supplies from distant bases, and an additional 50,000 in bringing grain from . adjacent ' dis•tricts. But foi; tho -'indefatigable efforts of the district' officials a hie'akccwn would have been inevitable.. German Lake Power Destroyed, The report then deals with, tho iiaval operations on Lake Tanganyika:—ln April, 1915, a scheme was approved _ by tho Admiralty for depriving the Ger.inaus of, the ■command which they had. hitherto held, by means of t'nree small' armed vessels/on Lake .TaoJtanyiKa. The plan was to send' out from England to Cane Town, and thence by rail,toad, anS river to the lake, two uiotor-lxvits of a speed and armament which would Outclass those of the (German vessels. Tho two "boats, With a small expeditionary force under the command of Commander G.* Spicer Simson, A.W., ai'- [ rived at Cape Town towards the end of June. By December 23 the Himi' and ! Toiitou, as the boats were naiU;-d, had boon successfully launched on the lake, and three days later the first artl-Dl was fought Notwithstanding thft precau-' tions that wero taken to keep the expedition a secret, it is difficult to believe 'that the enemy received no warning ot its dispatch. They probably heard of it, but refused to take it Serioj'.ly, AnJ certaiAly it must have seemed to them, ,-at first sight lhare-brained. enterprise. After being landed at Capo Town -the boats had-to'-bo-taken 2300'.miles, by train, via Bulawayo and to railhead north of Elizabsthvillo, in the Belgian Congo. Next followed 150 -milea of haulage, by atrocious loads, over country varying in altitude from 2000 to 6000 feet. Then another journey on trucks over a short section of railway. Then, the boats were' Abated 400-miles down the Luabala River under their own power for part of the journey, and for the rest on lighters. Shoals and rocks abounded, and barrels had to be lashed under tke boats to Teduc© their draught. The final etage of th 6 journey was by -rail again to tho feiflail Belgifftf harbour of Lukuga, about half-way up the western shore of the lake. The First Fight. The first encounter with the enemy took place on December 26. At, 0 a.m. tho German gunboat Kingani, a vessel of 30 or 40 tons, armed with one gun, was sighted about seven miles distant from Lukuga, steaming south, and the Mimi and the Toutou immediately set out to attack her. The enomy haying no gun aft, the Mimi attacked her lrom astern, and, having g6t the range, opened with high-explosive shell from ner 3pounder Hotchkiss. The first snell struck the Kingani'a gun-shield, killing the two men at the gun and the ca.ptaui. A"®r a few more shots the remainder ot tlie crew surrendered, and the Kingani was taken into harbour in a sinking e°B'ution. She was soon repaired. A impounder gun was mounted on ner, ami as H.M.S. Fifi she proved a valuable addition to the British flotilla. This'left the enemy with two ships, the Graf von Gotzen, a vessel of 400-500 tons, carrying one 4-inch and two smaller guns, and the Hed'wig von Wissman, a gunboat of about the same size as the captured One. On February 9, 1916, the Hedwig von Wissman was attacked by the J. 1 in and Mimi, and sunk after a chase and running tight which lasted for three hours. The result was largely due to the ekilful manoeuvring of the two Jjritjjn vessels. The Mimi kept astern of the enemy, and out of range of his after gun, causing him to tack from side to «de m order to bring his foremost guni to bear, and thus delaying him until the Fit could get within range, Vina"? a h'S l ' explosive slioll from the Fifi destroyed .ho enemy's engines. Refore she sank the Germans abandoned their s up, and all except two Europeans and three natives, who had been .killed, were picked up by the Fifi and Mimi. It would have been satisfactory if the third and largest of the German ships could havo been accounted for by tho British flotilla, but sho did not risk an engagement. After being bombed by a Belgian aeroplhno she was scuttled by the Germans in Kigoma harbour, on ihe eastern shore of the lake. So ended Germany's command of Tanganyika. Apart from tho material lvss inflicted on tho enemy, the success of the naval' expedition did much to enhanoo British prestigo among tho natives, not

only in the immediate neighbourhood of tho lake, but. in the northern 'districts of Bihodesia and in adjacent German territory. 'Tho German supremacy of the lake had for years been lecoguised as an established fact, and its total destruction •tfitbin a few months of the arrival of the expedition afforded opportune and striking evidence of British power. A Remarkable Achievement. The fourth part of the report deals with the general situation in lthOdesia and with the raising of two white battalions for Imperial sen-ice. Both fought with great credit, the first under General Botha in .South-West Africa, and the second in the campaign in German Last Africa. The report summarises the effect on Rhodesia as follows:— "It was a remarkable, achievement in tho circunistahcos for lihodesia, within nine months of the outbreak of hostilities, to have, secured its borders against invasion, and, in addition, to have furnished two regiments of infantry for service - in distant fields. _ Including those who went to England independently to offer their, services, it may safely be stated that by the middle of 1910 not less than 40 per cent, of tlie adult male white population were on active service in feome part OT Africa or Europe.