THE RUFIJI FRONT 167 The enemy was strongly holding all the approaches to the Nyengedi stream. The coxmtry was chiefly composed of thick bush, with here and there a farm clearing. Thus all extended order movements were difficult and most irksome. About a mile and a half beyond, where the advance guard had first gained touch with the enemy, they were finally held up, and a line of hasty entrench-, ments were dug. Lieutenant Sutherland-Brown and Capt. Carson were sent forward with two sections of No. 12 Company in order to reinforce the advance guard line. In the meantime the main body in the rear dug in a strong defensive line. The firing now became very heavy in front, and the advance guard suffered heavy casualties. They fought with the greatest gallantry and held on to their position in spite of everj^thing that the enemy did to drive them out of it. The Hausa and the pagan Afikpo district carriers did excellent work diuing this fight by keeping the advance guard supplied with ammunition and water, showing the greatest con- tempt for danger throughout the day. With the advance guard the ammunition began to run short owing to the necessity of keeping as big a reserve as possible in hand for the main position. Owing to this fact, and that the casualties incurred by the advance guard were very heavy, their position began to get very serious. Capt. Robinson now had to think of withdrawing his company, and this retirement was accelerated by thfe Germans commencing to shell their position with some accuracy, and at the same time attempting to turn their right flank. Capt. Robinson therefore stated his views to the CO., but whilst he was at the telephone at 1.30 p.m. he was hit. He immediately ordered the withdrawal to commence. Historical Information At the outbreak of the First World War Tanzania was the core of German East Africa. From the invasion of April 1915, Commonwealth forces fought a protracted and difficult campaign against a relatively small but highly skilled German force under the command of General von Lettow-Vorbeck. When the Germans finally surrendered on 23 November 1918, twelve days after the European armistice, their numbers had been reduced to 155 European and 1,168 African troops. The DAR ES SALAAM BRITISH AND INDIAN MEMORIAL which stands within Dar es Salaam War Cemetery, commemorates by name more than 1,500 officers and men who died in East Africa during and after January 1917 (the advance to the Rufiji river) who have no known grave. The memorial was moved from a site elsewhere in the township and re-sited in Memorial Garden A. The earlier casualties are commemorated by a similar memorial at Nairobi, Kenya. My Gt uncle James Sutherland Brown is one of the names entered on this memorial. Like · . . . Remembrance Day - Lest We Forget 23 hours ago. Can we get lots of shares for this? trying to reach people in blackpool thank you! >> facebook/LestWeForgetUK — with Peter Wright and Christine Leach.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 13:16:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015