May 7,T, jqiy 
LAND & WATER 
II 
The Campaign in Central East Africa 
By Owen Letcher 
At he time of writing (April) the very rainy season 
/ % 'f. ^.'•awinp to a close in that part of East' Central 
/—^ Alnca in which the (lermans are makine a last 
J. ^desperate resistance. In a few weeks' time the 
climatic conditions w.U enable serious offensive operations to 
be resumed, and it is hardly likely that Von Lettow Vorbeck's 
slender and wasted forces will be able to hold out at most for 
more than a tew months longer. ' 
The German Commander has. Jiowever, proved himself 
t.) be an e.xceedingly resourceful and courageous foe andsiv 
months ago it seemed scarcely possible that -lie could withstand 
the all round i-ressureexertedon him by the several converging 
columns^ for more than a few weeks at the outside The 
position m September Jast was that General Smuts' forces 
advancing from the British East African border, had occupied 
he whole of the North and Mid-Eastern portions of the 
territory down to the valle\- of the Kufiji Kiver 
lie Belgians, advancing through Kuanda. had occupied 
Tabora and driven Wahle's forces out of the North- Western 
tracts of East Africa. In the .South Brigadier-Genera" 
Nor hey s Nyassaland and Rhodesian Eield Forces had occu- 
pied the country as far North.as Iringa, and as far East as 
the Eastern spurs of the I'tshungvw M.mntains 
On the East toast, naval and militar\' forces had seized 
Tanga Sadam, Bagamoyo. Dar-es-Salam, Kilwa and Lind 
nV 1 hn ^rr,^ were holding the line of the Kovuma Kiver, 
nnd thus all the railways, ports, and chief towns of the 
t)l the Teuton colonies were in our possession 
Ihe Germans l^id retreated into the low-lying and unhealthy 
Mahenge district and the extreme south-eastern portion of 
tlie ternt(,ry lowards the end of last Octobe,- General 
\\ahles forces, driven out of Tabora by the Belgians, retired 
ma south-easterly direction, and broke thn.igh General 
J^ortheys thin Imes of communication between New 
Eangenburg (Northeys base) and Iringa 
wiil, T'""\"^^'''''r ™'""^"^ succeeded in linking up 
With Major Krantss forces in the Mahenge area but his 
command suffered very heavily in this operation 
In the early part of the current year General :Smuts, before 
eavmg East Africa employed his Northern column;, rein 
resH t« ili < bfr ^'™"? .Keginients, in an offensive which 
resulted m the Germans being driven out of the Rufiii delta 
During the rainy months (November-April) the Germahs 
racflv nit"\V^' "I*? ^^"^'^ IT" "'"fin'^d in the unheaThy 
tract lymg to the north-east of Lake Nyassa, and it is known 
the.r ranks have been thinned by disease and privations 
A Remarkable Resistance 
Von Lettow Torbeck is, however, still carrying on. 
Although he ,s a typical Prussian and an enemy, one cannot 
but admire the resistance he has put up against forces su- 
perior .» numbers, moral and equipment. It is scarcely 
onceivable that he is not short of f/.odstufls. He has retired 
S ^""J^''"'?. "f "l''es, and his Askari (black troops) are 
t:^I^Su, J"'' ''''''' -en, too,, are tired of continUg a 
As to munitions, it is known that in the early part of last 
}car the Germans %yere running seriously short of modern 
c.r hX"''"' "'''ir' ■ ^^?y ^'"""^ ^''""g« ""'"'^^'•s "f '^'=i^k powder 
cai fridges for their old ii-raillimetre rifles, but the tell-tale 
smoke irom these gave us an enormous advantage in bush 
I'gliting. In March 1916, help came in the shape of a ship 
owned by one of our friends the " neutrals." This boat 
eluded our worships oft the coast and landed a valuable 
cargo 01 7.9 millimetre ammunition, machine guns and modern 
10.5 centimetre held howitzers, together with clothing and 
nedical supplies near Lindi. But for the arrival of this boat- 
load the enemy would have been unable to carry on for more 
than a month or two. 
The blockade runner also landed a Couple of German officers, 
one of whom was an envoy from the Kaiser himself, and he 
lirouglit to Vorbeck a message from His Imperial Master, bid- 
ding um carry on to the last man if need be. Von Lettow 
lias obeyed his orders m a way that cannot but compel our 
admiration. 
"If Colonel Von Lettow Vorbeck were to die or be killed, the 
campaign would come to a conclusion almost immediately," 
remarked a captured German officer to '-me at Iringa last 
Jctober. We are all tired of a campaign that can have 
mly one ending. But Vcrbeck and Vorbeck alone 
keeps us m the held. He is a brilliant soldier and a hard 
man, but hard on himself as well as to others. He has been 
iwice wounded in this campaign. He goes out on patrols'him- 
^ell. and with his own hands he h,.'- m:»l,. ,„wnn,.r-^ in t I,i< w,,- '■ 
There can be no doubt that the German G.O.C has well 
earned the Order pour le Merite with Oak Leaves recently 
conferred on him by the Kaiser. ^ 
Inn?'' ^.f * ^^'■''-■=?" campaign has now lasted for almost as 
long as the Boer War. it is only a subsidiary enterprise of 
or wilr fh""fi' '^"t "^ertheless a great and important one. 
for with the hnal defeat of Vorbeck's troops the whole 
African continent will be freed of the last taint of Prussian 
rule Both m blood and treasure the campaign has been a 
cosdy one ; exceedingly costly having regard to the number 
01 men engaged. 
Transport in this country of vast distances has been enor- 
mously e.xjwnsne, and munitions and supplies by the time 
they have reached the fighting columns represent a cost 
e.xceedingly m excess of the original outlay 
Brigadier-General Northey's little army in the remote 
south-wes ern corner of ■' (ierman " East Africa. %as the 
mos .costly force in the world to maintain in the field, and 
ntil the central railway was seized and repaired, and the ' 
nes 6i commumcation were thereby greatly shortened ' 
.nH .r'^'-R?""'"'"^ ,^™'". *'"^ ""^*'^' ""d*^'- ^'"i^'-al Smuts 
tu. ^''^V'^f'S'^"'^ ""der General Tanbeur co-operating with 
he British column under Brigadier-General Crewe, were 
very neariy as costly. ' 
Much blood has. "too. been .shed in this campaign. The 
deaths m action and from wounds have been greatly in 
iShs .n^l t''*" H '""^ *'T^-^' '^''''''- ^"'1 a%rt -from 
d.aths and wounds, some thousands have been invalided 
through malarial fever, blackwater fever, and dysentery 
ful connTrt" u ^'^ ^^"'"^ '' ^ wonderfully fertile and beauti- 
t formpH th '! ^ "^f- *"" 4"o.ooo square miles in area, and 
It formed the most brilliant gem in the diadem of the German 
oyeiseas empire. It has a population of between seven and 
eight million natives, and in the last few years. hSs ^tnes'ed 
a very considerable amount of industriafdeveiopment 
and the'^rpff^'f '^ "^ ^50 miles with several h^ie harbours. 
m-Tvi /,''''''• ?" \^' '^''•'*''''" ^™"t'ers constitute what 
may be termed an inland sea-board. 
nVhf '!f ^'''? ""f Iways-one of which.;the central line, cuts 
rigl through the country from Dar-es-Salam (the caS 
on he Indian Ocean) to Kigoma Bay. on Lake Tanganyika 
canf^Zlfjrr^r. ^'^^'^ ""^^ ^^«"^ these ?aSS 
FquIto^r^lAfr°''''"TK'^' "*''"' '^^ g-'eater portion of Eastern 
itquatonal Africa. The country possesses several large 
• It notl'^'^'' ^«'- ^ considerable-distance from their mout J 
JJrJ, ''\ '"'"eral- as well as agricultural wealth, and 
e\ery type and gradation of climate, topography, and scenery 
Ss of M"°^"f,?P^'^ ^"^'^1^ "^ giant ^KiLTanjan; to tfe 
SSrolttllufi'lllliL^"' '^""^" ^"'^ ''^ Iow^ying fever 
k.^^ye'TJ'r'''^^'"^^^'' "''""*'■>■• *^'^'^" '" conjunction Mith 
nffll'al ^ "^^^^■'"'"- "^fen a great obstacle to the -conquest 
It, f '"'^ territory. Extreme variations of climate have 
£ thnSr'^- ^i"?" ^^''l^^ "'^^^^'ly predfsposed lo sick- 
itfss thiough tropical di.sease. 
dei/'nfT""^'''"''"' .^"'^ ^^"'^'y ^'^'"ested nature'of a great 
defence whiH?"K-^ '''' ^''y^^'^ ^ «^™^ "f "^tural lines 3 
as thev hn ^''''^ ^r''^'^ ^•'^ '^'""d t" '"^^♦'^t or envelop 
T -^ v^"" Z''^'^" ^"'^'y *" ^"ack by frontal a.ssault. 
huJ'Ltnfr "'**"'■' °^ 'H "°""'^y ^"d t'l^ enormously 
Si r. in .. "'""',^^*'*'" ^^'"' l^'^'-'^d «''^"^t insuperable 
obstacles in the way of tran.sport. and during the advance of 
General .Smuts from the north, his commmissariat broke do w^ ' 
on several occasions and the men were on starvation rations, 
on 'uTl t '^'V^e '"cn cannot march and fight for long 
on shoit rations. The ravages of fever and dysentery soon 
.Ttfn.S "Pf "■\'^-''*" r^^'' ^^^y ^^" ^'^"^ Wl medical 
attention and sustaining food. An initial error was made in not 
providing every man of the East and Central Africa Ex- 
peditionary Force with mosquito nets. The number of 
doctors, too, was insufficient, and at times the supply of 
qumine and other drugs fell woefully short of requirements 
The King s African Rifles, which has played a prominent 
part in the campaign, is a black force oflicercd by whites The 
men are mainl3- recruited from the warlike Wawemba, Angoni, 
^ao. Watonga, Wakamba, Soudanese and Nubian tribes and 
on many occa.sions in this campaign and in the fightiW a 
few years ago m Somaliland. they proved their mettle in battle 
With a view to bnnging the campaign to a conclusion this 
dry season, additional white troops are now being sent forward 
and It is probable that further considerable fighting will be 
heard of in the near future. To those who are possessed 
of no knowledge of the country, the prolongation " of 
llK' German luist African campaign is as difficult 
