GERMANS PARADE STREETS

Evening Star, Issue 20556, 7 August 1930, Page 11

GERMANS PARADE STREETS

SENSATION IH TANGANYIKA RECALL OF CONSUL DEMANDED Pres* Association—By Telegraph —Copyright. LONDON* August 5. - A march, by German marines in the British mandated territory of Tanganyika and a speech by the German Consul at Tanga may lead the British to request .the : withdrawal of the Consul a&d an apology from the captain of the German cruiser Karlsruhe (says the • Daily Mail,’; vrhich gives prominence to a cable emphasising a remarkable series of 'lncidents 'during the first visit ofka'-German 5 - cruiser since the war to thi territory, which was formerly German '"East' Africa). The Karlsruhe’s May : at Tanga was-marked by a gala dinner, that- the German community held in the principal hotel, where Herr gpfeiser, the Consul, in a speech-dilat-ihg on the historical glories of Germany and- her colonies recalled ‘‘ the illfated sea landing of Tanga in 1914, .when the British were bloodily repulsed.” The oration was iollowfed by a -parade of the Karlsruhe’s marines, yso, amid the 'Teutonic spectators’ cries of “ Hoch!” . goose-stepped past the Consul, who took the salute. After this they marched through the city. Nest; morning ' the British Provincial Commissioner remonstrated with the Consul, who is reported to have apologised, but'stated that the ( dinner: was only for Germans, and he thought hone of the British bystanders understood German.

Two da'ys, later an armed party landed, from the British cruiser Enterprise'ahd paraded in Tanga, while a seaplane hovered overhead. The marines saluted the British flag, after which they marched through the town.

If is understood that diplomatic representations are being made for the recall' of the. Consul and an apology from the captain. ,

TANGA Tanga,lying seventy-seven miles to the south of Mombasa, is situated on the shores-of a commodious and landlocked harbour. The town is admirably laid out, the outstanding building being .the. new hospital, which is situated on a low'plateau oveclooking the harbour, its park-like grounds surrounded by poinciana and mango trees. In German -hands before the Great War, ■ it 'was of great, strategical importance, and was one of the first ■ places to be ■ attacked by the British forces. Tanga will always 1 stand as a reminder of the worst'fiasco of the East; African campaign—a disaster due primarily, it has beep' declared, to the -misplaced consideration, of. the British commander. If is not too much to say that the failure of the attack on Tanga, on November 3, 1914, was responsible for the longrdrawn-out campaign that followed. Had it succeeded, the native askaris, already" half-convinced of the invincibility of the British, would have proved a. Broken reed in the hands of the Germans, instead of the prop and mainstay they, became after the defeat of the Tanga Expeditionary Force of 6,000 men. The ‘town - was - eventually captured on July 7, 1915, its • fall completing the British occupation of the TJsambaro Bailway. It is interesting to note that on the vessels of a German steamship line trading down that coast the atlas (published in 1920) marks the erstwhile- German territory as still belonging to. that country.