LAND AND .WATER, 
August 7, 1915. 
THE CAMPAIGN IN EAST AFRICA. 
By G. Creighton Mandell. 
[In Land axd Water of July SJ Mr. Creighton Mamh.U 
dri'vribrd the cam pairjn in Etift Africa up to the re-em- 
barlation after the failure at Tanga. He aho described 
the fall at Jasin, just when it had been decided to with- 
draw the troops which had been left to defend this outhi- 
Ing post, lie now carries on the story to the jtresent.] 
SOME two hundred miles from Jasin, higher up the 
Uganda Railway, in the Voi and Siniba districts of 
British East Africa, the country south of the diffi- 
cult bushbelt, which has already been mentioned, 
opens out into undulating grass lands. These grass 
lauds run up towards Mount Kilimanjaro, and are 
broken here and there by little conical hills, which cluster 
closer together near the foot of the eastern slopes. Beyond 
these open plains, occupied in times of peace by the flocKS 
and herds of the pastoral Masai, lies the thickly-populated 
country of the agricultural Chaga people, whose land is just 
inside the Ger;nan border. This country commences on the 
eastern slopes of Kilimanjaro, just beneath that rocky, 
isolated crag of Mawenzi, in the deep, scoriated ravines ot 
which irregular silver streaks of snow lie unmelt«d the whole 
year through, the tropical sun only affecting them sufficiently 
to feed the" cold, clear streams which rush swiftly down then- 
rocky courses to the warmer lands below. Just outside the 
cultivated area British patrols scout along watching for move- 
ments of the enemy. From some of the higher ridges in the 
Masai country a splendid view can be obtained across the 
acres of bana'nas, dotted here and there with clusters of 
native huts or the conspicuous, shiny roof of a German house 
or store, to where, far away to the east, are situated on a 
high ridge the white stone buildings of Rombo. 
A Converted Mission Station. 
Rombo was at one time a mission station, but since the 
war began it has been used as one of the main German 
military depots, and it is generally occupied by a fairly strong 
force. It is from here that patrols are sent out by the enemy 
to keep a watch on our troops, and it is from here, probably, 
that the expeditions which have been sent out to cut the 
Uganda Railway have started. With these patrols we have 
had several engagements, and we have generally succeeded 
in driving them back. Whenever possible, however, the 
Germans avoid contact with our men in the open country, 
and work down to the thicker bush country in the Voi area, 
where chances of picking off stragglers or sniping a convoy are 
more frequent. At this kind of work they have been fairly 
successful, especially when dealing with Indian troops, who 
are unaccustomed to bush fighting and therefore far more apt 
to get " rattled " than African troops, such as the K.A.R. 
or the East African Volunteers, who, as I said above, have 
carried out work of this character in a manner which has 
never been equalled by any other troops, and which, owing 
to their knowledge and understanding of the country, never 
can be equalled. 
On the Victoria Nyanza. 
On the Victoria Nyanza and around its shores sporadic 
fighting has been taking place since the beginning of the 
war, both before and since the arrival of the Expeditionary 
Force. At one time the enemy were in possession of an 
armed tug, which used to hold up any native dhows trading 
between the East African and Uganda porta and take them 
into the port of Shirati, especially if carrying a cargo of food- 
stuffs. By this means he was able to replenish from time 
to time his steadily decreasing stock of European necessities 
and in some measure alleviate the strain imposed on his 
powers of endurance by the blockade of his coast. This 
source of supply, however, was eventually removed from his 
grasp by the arming of our lake steamer Sybil and the tu<» 
Winifred, the sinking of the German boat and the bombard- 
ment of Shirati, while any fresh efforts in this direction in 
which he felt inclined to engage must have been checked 
effectually by the recent capture of the important lake base at 
Bukoba. 
This stoppage of supplies from the lake, combined with 
the strict blockade of the coast, is also explanatory of the 
constant attempts made by strong enemy parties during the 
months of April and May to cut the Uganda Railway and 
capture a supply train. None of these attempts resulted ia 
any gain to the enemy, and it is unlikely that many more 
attempts of a like nature will be made, since the heavy raina. 
which alone made the crossing of the waterless stretch of 
country between the border and the railway line feasible for 
the Germans, are now drawing to an end. While, then, it is 
not possible to entertain the idea of conquering such a 
country by reducing the inhabitants to a state of siege, there 
can be little doubt that the enemy's resistance will be weak- 
ened materially by a daily increasing shortage of articles of 
European coununption, tlie lack of which is felt far more 
keenly in the trcjjics than in more temperate climates. And, 
in addition to marking the failure of the enemy's attempts 
to cut the railway, the end of the rainy season in East Africa 
marks the passing of the last obstacle to the initiation of a 
strong offensive. 
The Coming Offensive. 
On what lines the coming offensive against German East 
Africa will be carried into effect I do not pretend to know. 
That it will not be long, however, before that movement 
begins to make itself apparent I am covinced. I regard it as 
initiated, indeed, by the recent Belgian success on Lake Kivu, 
where a strong position was taken by surprise, and the later 
success of our own troops on Lake Victoria. In Nyassaland, 
the offensive, which was checked by the necessity to restrain 
the natives who had been incited to rebellion by the Germans, 
has again been resumed; v/hile the part which Rhodesia will 
play in this campaign may jet prove of supreme importance. 
Now that the Union troops have been set free by the sur- 
render of German South-West Africa it is possible that some 
of those v/ho have volunteered for service in Flanders may be 
asked to serve against G.E.A., a campaign for which they 
v/ould be admirably fitted. The Cape-Congo Railway would 
be available as far as Broken Ilill, from which point the trans- 
port of troops and supplies to the southern end of Lake 
'Tanganyika should present no insuperable difficulty. 
It will be seen, then, that German East A.frica is safely 
hemmed in and that simultaneous attacks may be 
developed from almost every quarter. That the cam- 
paign will be carried to a successful conclusion without 
considerable difficulty and, perhaps, heavy loss we are 
forbidden to expect by the nature of the country to Ije 
traversed, which will assist the enemy to avoid exposing him- 
self to any decisive blow while placing every conceivable pit- 
fall in the path of an advancing column. A pleasing factor 
in the situation, however, from this point of view, is the re- 
cent strengthening of the European forces in the Protectorate 
by a body of Rhodesians and a contingent of Legion of 
Frontiersmen, v/hich includes in its ranks many men with an 
intimate knov/ledge of the country; and, in warfare of this 
character, such knowledge is more valuable than any weapon. 
Nothing is certain in war. The Germans in East Africa 
have a position of immense natural strength to defend, but, 
if determination and endurance exercise any decisive in- 
fluence, then the forces in East Africa will prove victorious 
and the same fate which has overtaken Germany's ether 
colonies will overtake German East Africa. 
We regret to record the death, after a brief illness, of Mr. F. T. 
Swanborough, who for over twenty years had been associated with 
the Avon India Rubber Company, and was at the time of his death 
joint managing-director. Mr. Swanborough was baried at MeUcsham 
in Wiltshire, where are the Company's Works. 
Messrs. Forstcr, Groom, and Co., of Charing Cross, S.W., are 
responsible for the publication of " Instruction in the Machine Gan," a 
very useful manual compiled by .an officer of the Hythe School o£ 
Musketry, with special reference to the Vickera type of machine gun. 
From the same firm we have received copies of " Handbook on 
Battery Drill " and " Artillery Lines of Fire," both written in prac- 
tical fashiou by practical men. Each of those manuals is well worthy 
of consideration by officers of the now armies, for they supplement th« 
official training manuals and elucidate difficult points in common- 
sense fashion. 
Special interest attaclies to " Guns and Projectiles," a half-crown 
volume which provides information on naval gunnery matters in easily 
accessible form, from the fact that its author, Lieutenant-Commande» 
R. H. C. Verner, of H.M.S. Inflexible, was kUJed in action in the 
Dardanelles in March last. Published by Messrs. Gieve's, of Port»- 
mouth, the book will be found useful to naval men and extremely 
interesting by the lay public. " Five Minutes to One Bell," published 
by the eame firm, is a breezy little volume of hints to junior watch- 
keepers, " with some remarks on the duties of a destroyer lieutenant," 
and is evidently the work of one who has been through the mill, and 
has come to believe that " Discipline, and again Discipline " is th« 
life of the Navy. It is dedicated to " those watch-keeping oScen 
to whom may be applied without offence the saying that ' their juniority 
amounts to a di.seasc,' and who may, therefore, be expected not to ba 
above taking a few hints from a fellow-sufferer of somewhat greate* 
experience." It combines much wisdom v,'ith an enjoyable proportioB 
of sailorly wit. 
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