August 31, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
13 
been heavily fired upon from their right flank, but had 
seen nobody. They had iired a few shots in reply, and 
then returned to report, leaving one of their number to 
watch the clearing. There was nothing to tell the Sub- 
altern either the strength of the op'position or how it 
was disposed, but something had to be done at once, for 
though the men were as invisible to their opponents as 
the latter were to them, there had already been several 
casualties, and the men were getting restive. So the 
Subaltern, calling up the machine gun, ordered it to be 
turned on to the plantain grove, while he himself, with 
the leading section, pushed on along the path in an en- 
deavour to locate the enemy, and ascertain his strength. 
Accordingly, as the stream of bullets from the machine 
gun spattered through the trees, and was answered by 
rapid volleys from the unseen enemy, he sprinted down 
the path, followed by the men, and reached the clearing 
from beyond which the firing had commenced. For- 
tunately the ground sloped somewhat, and though the 
bullets whistled through the bushes, and among the 
branches of the trees, no casualties occurred, and he was 
able to throw himself behind a tree, in a spot whence 
a plain view of the clearing could be obtained. 
No Sign of the Enemy 
There was no sign of the enemy ; but a path was 
plamly visible which, emerging from the far side, joined 
the one which he had been following, and led awaV into 
the forest on his left front. Evidently the enemy were 
on that path, but a couple of volleys' in that direction 
brought no reply of any sort. The filing elsewhere had 
meantime died away, and the Subaltern had come to the 
conclusion that the enemy had w ithdrawn, when a small 
Union Jack appeared among the trees on the edge of the 
clearing, followed by an unmistakably British officer. 
It was the main column, and the path which they had 
been following was the direct road to the enemy's posi- 
tion. The point of each party had emerged "into the 
clearing at almost the same moment ; that of the main 
column, which was expecting the enemy, had opened 
fire at once, and retired on their supports. The latter, 
imagining that they were up against the main body of 
the enemy, had joined in, and the engagement had 
become general. 
The Subaltern was wondering how on earth he had 
reached his present position, in front, instead of in rear, 
of the enemy, when a heavy burst of firing once more 
broke out, this time on his left front, and in the direction 
whither the two paths led after their junction in the 
clearing. At the same moment a little group of German 
soldiers appeared, cautiously advancing down the path 
and evidently somewhat at a loss to know what was 
happening. They were quickly spotted, but ilived into 
cover before they could be accounted for. But their 
supports were evidently close at hand, for a hail of bullets 
suddenly swept the path, and half a dozen men were hit 
before they had realised that. the firing was now coming 
from a different direction. To add to the confusion, the 
officer commanding the advance guard of the riiain 
column, thinking that another mistake had occurred, 
blew the " cease fire," which was taken up by the main 
body of the Subaltern's company some distancein the rear. 
The Germans meanwhile, having brought a machine 
gun into play, and knowing the direction of tne two paths 
enfiladed each in turn with very effective results. The 
bush was too thick to permit of an advance in extended 
order, and neither of the two British detachments could 
tell the exact whereabouts of the other. The Subaltern 
took the only possible course. Rushing the machine 
gun to the edge of the clearing, he commenced to fire 
belt after belt across in the direction whence the German 
soldiers had appeared, ordering his men meantime to 
sweep the bush on either side. Under cover of the fire, 
he succeeded in crossing the clearing with a few men, 
and taking up a position on the other side, whence he 
could see some way down the path which evidently led 
to the main German position. The officer commanding 
the advance guard of the main column had now sized up 
the situation, and detached two sections to assist the 
Subaltern, while at the same time making an effort to 
cut a way through the bush to his right with a view to 
encircling the enemy. 
But the Huns had no intention of making a stand. As 
soon as they realised the intentions of their opponents, 
their fire slackened, and gradually died away, save for an 
occasional shot from snipers posted in trees. 
A Cautious Advance 
Pushing cautiously along in the direction to which 
the enemy had retired, our advance party presently came 
in view round a bend in the road of what was evidently 
the enemy's position. The path dipped ddwn to a stream, 
spanned by a bridge which had obviously been recently 
destroyed. On the far side the ground rose sharply, 
and the roofs of a native village could be seen in the 
distance, scattered among a grove of bananas near the 
suipmit of the rise. The belt of bush between the stream 
and the village had been roughly cleared for three 
quarters of the distance, but the remaining portion, in 
which undoubtedly the enemy trenches were situated, 
afforded cover suflicient for an army, and enabled the 
occupiers completely to command the bridge and its 
approaches. Through glasses, signs of movement could 
be observed in the village, but an immediate advance 
was impossible, as the enemy was evidently in strength, 
and occupying a carefully prepared position. It was 
well on in the afternoon by this time. The men had been 
on the move since 4 a.m., and the heat was intolerable. 
Any sign of movement was greeted from the other baiik 
by a storm of bullets, and the list of casualties was now 
considerable. Three Europeans had been hit and the 
remainder were quite exhausted. So there was nothing 
for it but to withdraw slightly, dig in, and endeavour to 
find a way round through the bush. 
Nothing happened during the night. But in the morn- 
ing the discovery of a ford some three miles upstream 
was reported, and arrangements were at once made for 
an attack- The Huns, however, had quietly departed 
imder cover of the darkness. The trenches were empty, 
and the village deserted. The enemy had had at least 
twelve hours start, and it was useless to think of catching 
them that day. So it was decided to camp and wait 
news of the detachment which had been sent off in the 
morning of the day before, about which some anxiety 
had begun to be felt. However a message was received 
about midday, reporting that, more by luck than judg- 
ment, they had made their way through the bush to 
the position assigned to them, but had seen no sign of the 
enemy, who had retired by the path which the Subaltern 
was intended to block. The disgust of the latter was 
intense when it was ascertained that the path which he 
had followed, and which had brought him so inoppor- 
tunely into conflict, not only with the enemy, but also 
with his own side, was in reality merely a farm track, and 
that the village shown on the Intelligence map, was in 
fact the village where the Huns were in position, though 
known locally under 3. different name. This explained 
the guide's reluctance to proceed, and exonerated the 
Subaltern from blame, but it was an exasperating episode, 
typical of warfare in tropical Africa. And the feelings 
of the column were by no means soothed by the discovery 
in the village of a typically Hunnish communication, 
nailed to a tree, and written in execrable English, and 
unprintable terms, which ended with a scurrilous gibe 
on the subject of recent casualties. 
During a " side show " campaign, in which only the 
officers and a few of the N.C.O.'s are Europeans, and the 
total forces engaged are infinitesimal compared with those 
fighting in Europe, it usually happens that the characters 
of the respective leaders soon become common knowledge 
on either side. In fact, however inaccurate and defective 
is the" Intelligence concerning vital matters, there is 
seldom any lack of information concerning the character, 
the methods and even the personal peccadilloes of the lead- 
ing personalities among the combatants. 
Familiarity with the characteristics of their opponents 
by no means bred contempt, but it whetted the keen 
desire of the X Column to come to a final reckoning. 
When at last the occasion came, it was an extremely 
sanguinary affair which deserves — though it is unlikely 
to receive — a full description and a meed of praise to 
all concerned, officers and men alike. Let it suffice to 
say that after a miniature battle lasting for two days 
and nights, the enemy were finally worsted, and the 
survivors, some 25 Europeans, and 300 native soldiers, 
surrendered unconditionaVy, 
