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THE NATIONAL C.KOr.KAPHK/ MAGAZIXK 



The order was then given to jump 

 overboard, and the survivors — 12 Euro- 

 peans, including their commander, and 

 eight natives — were picked up by the Brit- 

 ish boats. The Mimi took the wounded 

 on board and made for the harbor at 

 full speed, so that they could have medi- 

 cal treatment. The enemy vessel was 

 well alight by this time, and shortly after- 

 ward she suddenly up-ended and went 

 down by the head. The British ships 

 then made for harbor, where a repeti- 

 tion of the Kingani scenes took place. 

 The prisoners were handed over to the 

 Belgians, with the exception of the Ger- 

 man commander, who was put on parole 

 and was accommodated in our mess. 



Due respect was paid to his rank, and 

 he was treated with every civility by all 

 members of the expedition. He seemed 

 genuinely sorry when the time came for 

 his transfer to a prison camp and thanked 

 all for his generous and kindly treatment. 

 He wore the Iron Cross. 



A good deal of information was 

 gleaned from the native prisoners con- 

 cerning the number of boats, guns, etc., 

 in the German harbor, and as far as we 

 could ascertain, there were still two Ger- 

 man boats to be brought to book, the 

 Wami and Graf von Got son, the latter 

 carrying a gun far superior to any of ours 

 in size and range. We also learned that 

 there were some big guns mounted on the 

 German forts ashore ; but these, we found 

 out later, were merely wooden dummies ! 



Then came another period of waiting, 

 but nothing happened for some months. 

 Our watchfulness was finally rewarded, 

 however. Early one morning we sur- 

 prised the German boat Wami transport- 

 ing native troops down their coast. 

 Though well out of range of our guns, 

 the German commander realized we 

 would overtake him before he could 

 reach the safety of his harbor, so he 

 beached on the German coast, landed his 

 troops, and set fire to his ship. 



It must have been apparent by this 

 time to the German command at Kigoma 



that the game was up, and that their 

 course on the lake had been run, as 

 shortly afterwards they blew up the Graf 

 ■roii Gotson in the German harbor and 



destroyed all the small craft, in addition. 



This was the end of German naval 

 prestige on Lake Tanganyika — in fact, 

 in Central Africa. The efforts of the 

 Naval Africa Expedition had been en- 

 tirely successful in destroying the enemy's 

 power on the water, and therefore the 

 military forces ashore were enabled to 

 carry on their operations without hin- 

 drance. 



Our little job being finished, we re- 

 turned to England, having covered ap- 

 proximately 20,000 miles in our travels 

 to Africa and back. This constituted a 

 record distance for any individual expe- 

 dition during the war. 



With the exception of aerial transport, 

 every known method of transportation 

 was utilized in conveying the boats from 

 England to Lake Tanganyika. 



MANY HONORS AWARDED TO MEMBERS OF 

 THE EXPEDITION 



Commander Spicer Simson, R. N„ re- 

 ceived the Distinguished Service Order, 

 three other officers were decorated with 

 the Distinguished Service Cross, and the 

 remainder were promoted. Six Distin- 

 guished Service Medals were awarded to 

 gunners, etc. — in all, not a bad record for 

 a party of twenty-eight. One Belgian 

 decoration was awarded by the Belgian 

 authorities, and that to the commander. 



In conclusion, I am glad to be able to 

 say that the expedition suffered no cas- 

 ualties, and that all the members on their 

 return, after a short period of well- 

 earned leave, were attached to other units 

 in various spheres of hostilities ; but I am 

 sure that, whatever may have been their 

 lot since, not one of them has dwelt on 

 his experiences in the heart of Africa 

 without a thrill of pride and a feeling of 

 satisfaction at having been one of the 

 privileged twenty-eight comprising the 

 Naval Africa Expedition to Tanganyika. 



