THE PASSAGE INTO THE ULUGURU MOUNTAINS—THE
BATTLES AT KIKIRUNGA HILL AND AT
NKESSA
The task which the First Division had before it was to force a passage
into the Uluguru Mountains, the main entrances to which the enemy was
preparing stoutly to defend. The principal highway lay some distance to
the east of the Matomba mission-station, and here the main battle was in
progress; but commanding the road, along which the Gold Coast Regiment
marched when it moved out of its camp at Matomba, the enemy had occupied
a very strong position, and was using Kikirunga Hill—a sugar-loaf-shaped
mountain crowned with a clump of trees and underwood, rising clear above
its fellows to a height of perhaps 3000 feet—as an observation point.
The Regiment was ordered to expel him, if possible, from this hill.
At 7 a.m. on the 4th September the Regiment moved out of camp, and about
two hours later the enemy opened fire with a couple of howitzers, upon
the road a little ahead of the marching troops. No casualties were
inflicted, but the Regiment was halted, moved off the road, and took up
a sheltered position on the right side of it, in a gut between two
hills.
Captain Jack Butler, V.C., D.S.O.—who had won both these distinctions
while serving with the Gold Coast Regiment in the Kameruns—was then sent
forward with the Pioneer Company to reconnoitre the enemy’s position.
Captain Butler and his men advanced up the road, which climbed steeply,
with many windings and sinuosities, towards the head of the pass—leading
into the Uluguru Mountains—which was situated near the foot of the hills
of which, on the left side of the road, Kikirunga is the culminating
point. This road ran, from the spot where the Regiment was halted, up a
sharp ascent and along a narrow valley, on either side of which kopjes
of gradually increasing height rose at frequent intervals. The first of
these, situated about a mile and a half from his starting-point, and
lying to the left of the road, was occupied by Captain Butler and the
Pioneer Company, and a picket was sent out to take up a position at a
spot where, a little further on, the road took a deep U-shaped bend
toward the left.
[Illustration: KIKIRUNGA HILL]
From the kopje occupied by the Pioneers a general view of the enemy’s
position could be obtained. On the left front, about a mile away as the
crow flies, Kikirunga arose skyward from the huddle of lower hills in
which it has its base, and from one of the slopes of these, somewhat to
the right of the peak, an enemy machine-gun opened fire upon the
position which Butler had occupied. The beginning of the U-shaped bend
which the road took to the left lay beneath and slightly to the right of
Butler’s kopje; and on the far side of this loop, where the road, which
throughout ran between an avenue of mango trees, wound back towards the
right, another kopje, about a hundred feet higher than that upon which
the Pioneers were posted, ran steeply upward to a crest which was held
by the enemy, and from which presently another machine-gun also opened
fire.
[Illustration:
Bassano, Ld.
CAPT. J. F. P. BUTLER, V.C., D.S.O.
60th Rifles.
To face p. 28. ]
The road, still climbing steeply, wound round the foot of this kopje,
and between a succession of similar hills; and from the right of it a
big clump of mountains, some 2500 feet above valley-level, rose in a
great mass of grassy and boulder-strewn slopes. All these hillsides were
covered with shaggy, sun-dried grass about two feet in height, broken by
many outcrops of rock, a few trees and patches of scrub, with little
copses and spinneys in the valley-hollows between hill and hill. In the
middle distance a great dome-shaped peak, some miles further away than
Kikirunga, rose majestically, dominating the landscape and presenting a
wide facet of precipitous grey cliff to the eye of the observer. The
view obtained from the kopje which Butler had occupied was a splendid
example of tropical mountain scenery; but from the standpoint of the
leader of an attacking force its strength was even more impressive than
its beauty. The enemy had had ample time in which to choose his ground,
and he had availed himself to the full of his opportunity.
It was not till nearly five o’clock in the afternoon, however, that the
Pioneer Company became heavily engaged; and Captain Butler presently
went forward to the picket which he had placed near the bend of the road
to see how things fared with them. It was while he was lying here on the
road beside his men that he and several of the picket were wounded by a
sudden burst of machine-gun fire from the kopje immediately in front of
him. In all, twelve men of the Pioneers were wounded during the
afternoon, but the Company held firm, and maintained its hold upon the
kopje which Butler had occupied. Late in the afternoon B Company, under
the command of Captain Shaw, was sent forward to reinforce the Pioneers,
and to make good the ground which had been won. This was successfully
accomplished, the wounded were evacuated to the rear, and the men dug
themselves in, and dossed down for the night in the excavations they had
made.
Captain Butler died that evening of the wounds which he had sustained
during the afternoon. A young officer possessed of at once a charming
and forceful personality, of an absolutely fearless disposition and of
more than ordinary ability, Captain Butler, V.C., D.S.O., had won for
himself a conspicuous place in the Gold Coast Regiment, and had earned
the devotion and affection of the men in a very special degree. His
death, in this the first action in which the Regiment had been engaged
since its arrival in East Africa, was felt to be a specially malignant
stroke of ill-fortune, and was mourned as a personal loss by his
comrades of all ranks.
During the night, orders were sent to Captain Shaw, who was now
commanding the advanced companies, to push forward at the earliest
opportunity. This he did at dawn, creeping in the darkness to the point
of the road where Captain Butler had been wounded, and thence up the
grassy hill to the road above it. Here the charge was sounded, and the
men with fixed bayonets rushed up the kopje, which was captured after a
few shots had been fired. In this charge Acting-Sergeant Bukari of B
Company displayed conspicuous bravery, which was subsequently rewarded
by a second Distinguished Conduct Medal. This fine soldier was promoted
to non-commissioned rank on the field, and awarded a D.C.M. for
conspicuous gallantry when fighting in the Kameruns. Now, in this his
first fight in East Africa, he again won that coveted distinction; but
his subsequent history was a sad one. Evacuated to the rear suffering
from only a slight wound which, during the long journey to the base at
Korogwe, on the Tanga-Moschi railway, was allowed to become septic, he
died in hospital before ever he had learned of the second reward which
his dash and courage had earned for him.
During the rest of the day the force under Captain Shaw’s command
continued to fight its way from kopje to kopje up the road, the Pioneers
under Lieutenant Bray and B Company under Captain Shaw alternately
advancing under the protection of the other’s fire. In this manner, by
evening, a point distant about 400 yards from the head of the pass was
reached and secured.
Meanwhile, the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the King’s African
Rifles was advancing up the northern slope of the big clump of
mountains, which have been described as rising on the right side of the
pass. As soon as this was observed, a gun of the Gold Coast Regiment was
brought into action to assist the advance of the newcomers. The enemy
was heavily shelled, but owing to the commanding positions which he
occupied, it was not found possible to push home the infantry attack,
the King’s African Rifles not having yet won possession of the crest of
the mountains. None the less, considerable progress was made during the
day, and B Company succeeded in capturing the highest point of the spur
round which the road ran.
At dusk on the 5th September Captain Wheeler with A Company relieved B
Company, and took over from it the ground which it had won, B Company
forthwith going into reserve. During the day, moreover, Major Goodwin
made a reconnaissance with half of I and half of G Company for the
purpose of finding out whether a flanking party could be sent over the
hills to join up with the King’s African Rifles. He was able to report
that this could be accomplished.
During the night of the 5th-6th September, the enemy received
reinforcements, and shortly after dawn he opened a violent machine-gun
fire upon the advanced positions occupied by the Gold Coast Regiment.
Two guns of the Battery were brought up, and all the commanding heights
held by the enemy were heavily shelled by them, assisted by two guns
belonging to the 5th South African Battery. By noon the enemy’s fire
slackened, and the King’s African Rifles began to make their presence
felt on the summit of the mountains to the right of the pass, which they
had now succeeded in occupying. G Company, under the command of Captain
Poyntz, had been sent early in the morning to join up with the King’s
African Rifles by the path discovered the day before by Major Goodwin,
and this junction was effected by about 2 p.m. An hour later the enemy’s
fire ceased, and by 4 p.m. Kikirunga Hill, the capture of which was the
task that had been set to the Gold Coast Regiment, was duly occupied.
The casualties during this two and a half days of fighting numbered 42
in all, including Captain Butler and 6 rank and file killed, 3 men
dangerously, 13 severely, and 19 slightly wounded. Among the latter was
Colour-Sergeant Beattie. The doctors and their staff of stretcher
bearers, etc., had a heavy time during these few days, as they not only
attended to the wounded and evacuated them to the rear under fire, but
also conveyed all the more serious cases back to the mission station at
Matombo.
On the side of the enemy the casualties suffered were difficult to
ascertain, but he lost three Germans and three native soldiers killed,
and there were numerous signs of considerable damage having been
inflicted upon him, while a number of rifles and some ammunition were
picked up in the positions from which he had retired. In the type of
warfare in which the Regiment was now engaged, however, it almost
invariably happens that the fugitive force is able to inflict more
casualties upon its pursuers than it is likely itself to sustain. As has
already been observed, it enjoys the advantage which the selection of
the ground confers, and can always occupy positions from which it can do
the greatest damage to an advancing enemy with a _minimum_ of risk to
itself. It is also able to break off an engagement at the precise moment
that best suits its convenience and advantage; and the possession of
machine-guns further enables it to fight a delaying rear-guard action,
and to mask the fact of its retirement, to the very last moment. It
rarely happens in fighting of this class that the holding of a given
position is a matter of any special importance to a fugitive force. The
latter therefore hold it as long as it pays to do so, and thereafter can
abandon it without danger or embarrassment, as soon as its defence
threatens to become inconvenient. The pursuing force, on the other hand,
has only one course open to it—to attack the enemy whenever and wherever
he can be found, to inflict upon him as much injury as circumstances
permit, but above all, to keep him on the move and to allow him as
little rest and peace as possible. It is an expensive business, and it
becomes increasingly difficult as lines of supply and communication
progressively extend. It is, however, the only method whereby
bush-fighting can be efficiently prosecuted; and expense and difficulty
are qualities inseparable from this kind of warfare.
The following telegram was received by Colonel Rose from
Brigadier-General Hannyngton, commanding the 2nd East African Brigade,
on the evening of the 6th September:—
“Please tell your Regiment that I think they all worked splendidly
to-day, and I wish to thank them for their good work.”
On the 7th September, while the King’s African Rifles advanced, the Gold
Coast Regiment rested and reorganized. On the 8th September, however, it
pushed forward along the road which it had opened for itself under the
lee of Kikirunga Hill, and made its way _viâ_ Kassanga into the heart of
the Uluguru mountains. These are a clump of high hills, covered with
grass and patches of scrub, and strewn with boulders, and the road was
scarped out of the hillsides, with a steep slope running skyward on the
one hand, and a _khudd_—over the edge of which, from time to time, a
transport mule toppled—falling away no less steeply on the other. The
view of the marching men was for the most part confined to the grassy
slope on one side of them, to the valley tilted steeply downward on the
other, and across it to the rolling, boulder-strewn hills, smothered in
long shaggy grass, green or sun-dried, with the blue of a tropical sky
arching over-head. No signs of life were visible, save an occasional
deserted village, composed of scattered mud huts, with grass roofs in
the last stages of decay and dilapidation; but from the vantage ground
all about them the marching men could, of course, be seen from many
miles away.
On the 8th September the Regiment caught up with the King’s African
Rifles, which had dispersed a small party of the enemy. On the 9th
September the former, which was still leading the advance, surprised and
scattered the 22nd German Company at a place called Donho; and that
night, after a very hard day’s marching the Gold Coast Regiment camped
at Kiringezi at about 4.45 p.m. On the 10th September the Regiment came
out upon the main road which connects Tulo and Kissaki, and a stray
German Askari was killed by the men of G Company, who also captured a
few rifles. The 2nd East African Brigade was found to be some five miles
ahead, and in the afternoon the Regiment overtook it, and once more
joined the reserve.
The advance troops had succeeded in keeping more or less constant touch
with the enemy, and as he now showed a disposition to make yet another
stand, A and B companies, under Major Goodwin, were sent off at 4 p.m.
on the 11th September to reinforce and prolong the extreme right of the
British line, which was being held by the King’s African Rifles.
Meanwhile half of I Company had been sent to the eastern or extreme left
of the line in order to form an escort to the Machine Gun Company of the
Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. Just before dark half of G Company
received orders to advance and take up a position on the left of half I
Company. At 8 a.m. on the 12th September further orders were received,
and the rest of the Regiment—viz., the Pioneer Company, half of I
Company and the Battery—moved up the road toward Nkessa and held itself
in readiness to reinforce the left. This the Pioneer Company and half I
Company did at 11 a.m., the former taking up a position on the extreme
left of the line; and shortly afterwards the Battery advanced to a point
immediately in the rear of these companies.
At 2.30 p.m, an advance from the left in a generally
south-south-westerly direction was ordered, and the Pioneer Company and
half I Company pushed forward to a distance of from 500 to 600 yards,
when they were held up by the enemy who were strongly posted in a
village ahead of them. Here the men dug themselves in. Captain Poyntz,
who was in command, held on to this position for some time, but he was
eventually compelled to retire, as he found that all touch with the
company on his right had been lost, and as he heard heavy firing from
his right rear, he feared that his detachment might be surrounded and
cut off.
Meanwhile, G Company, under Captain Macpherson, had barely advanced a
hundred yards before it was forced to halt, a very heavy fire being
opened upon it from a salient in the enemy’s line on the right flank.
The fire was so close and continuous that one gun of the Battery had to
be retired; and when, subsequent to the action, the grass was burned off
and the true position revealed, it was found that the contending forces
had here been within fifty or sixty yards of one another.
The enemy’s position was astride of the Tulo road, to which his trenches
and rifle-pits ran at right angles for a distance of about four and a
half to five miles, his extreme right being thrown slightly forward in
the neighbourhood of the village against which the Pioneer Company and
half I Company, under Captain Poyntz, had advanced. The country was for
the most part grass and thick scrub, with trees interspersed among them;
but in the centre of his position on the side of the road opposite the
British left, where a patch of young cotton trees afforded him excellent
cover, he had pushed forward the salient of which mention has been made
above.
Orders were sent to Captain Poyntz to fall back; but his own
appreciation of the situation had already shown him that retirement was
necessary, and he presently lined up alongside G Company, which
maintained its position.
Reinforcements were asked for by telephone, and a reply was received
from Brigade Headquarters that the 29th Punjabis were being sent up by a
road which had recently been constructed to a neighbouring water-supply.
A later telephone message stated that the 29th would advance to the
relief of the Gold Coast Regiment _viâ_ the main road.
Meanwhile, on the right flank, A and B Companies had been sent by Major
Goodwin to occupy a position on the extreme right of the British line,
with the King’s African Rifles on their left. At 8.45 a.m. a brisk
action began, but the advance achieved was slow. By 1.30 p.m., however,
two hills overlooking Nkessa had been occupied. The edge of this village
opposite to A and B Companies was strongly held by the enemy, and though
the fight continued while daylight lasted, no further advance was made.
At 6 p.m., therefore, outpost positions were taken up for the night, and
the men slept in the rifle-pits which they had dug. Intermittent firing
continued during the night.
On Wednesday, 13th September, patrols were sent out at dawn, and it was
eventually established that the enemy had retired from the positions
which he had held overnight. A company, under Captain Wheeler, was sent
from Major Goodwin’s force on the right to rejoin the Regiment on the
left of the line; and early in the morning the half of I Company, which
had been with the guns of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, was
relieved by the 29th Punjabis, and rejoined the other half of the
Company, which was posted between the Pioneer Company on the extreme
left and G Company.
The Regiment then advanced, the Pioneers entering the village which they
had attacked the day before, without opposition, where they were later
joined by I Company. G Company, which had to advance through very dense
elephant grass, lost touch with the rest of the force, as can so easily
happen in country of this description, and communication with it was not
re-established until the afternoon.
From the village which the Pioneers had occupied, patrols were sent out
to locate the river, and this accomplished, the Pioneers, leaving I
Company in occupation of the village, crossed the stream, which was only
a few feet in width, and advanced in the direction of Nkessa, holding
both banks. At first only a few snipers were encountered, but eventually
the enemy was found to be in occupation of a position, with his left
resting on a village on the river’s bank, and his right thrown slightly
forward. The enemy promptly attacked, and Captain Poyntz retired the
Pioneers about 200 yards, and having dug himself in, held on to his
rifle-pits for the rest of the day. At about 1.30 p.m. one section of A
Company, which had been sent to reinforce the Pioneers, came up on their
left on the southern side of the stream; and an hour and a half later I
Company with two machine-guns and the Battery came into action and
bombarded the villages held by the enemy on the left and right fronts.
At 4 p.m. an advance was ordered, and after an hour’s fighting, B
Company and three sections of A Company reinforced the left of the
Regiment, and, night coming on, were halted and dug themselves in. The
thick elephant grass in which these operations were conducted rendered
the exact location of the enemy’s position a matter of great difficulty
during the whole of this day.
On the morning of the 14th September, the enemy was found to have once
more evacuated his positions, and the Gold Coast Regiment, having been
relieved by the King’s African Rifles, marched into Nkessa, where the
brigade camp had already been formed.
The casualties sustained by the Regiment between the 11th and the 13th
September numbered four killed and thirty-three wounded, including
Captain Greene, Lieutenant Bray, Colour-Sergeant May, and Lieutenant
Arnold. The last named died in Tulo hospital on the 16th September of
the wounds which he had received on the 12th September. Lieutenant
Isaacs, who had been sent forward to reconnoitre, stumbled into an enemy
patrol, and was captured.
On the 19th September the Battalion moved to a spot on the banks of the
Mgeta River, where a camp was formed. The Mgeta is a branch of the Ruwu,
which falls into the sea at Bagamoyo, opposite to the southern extremity
of the island of Zanzibar. Here the patrols and outposts of the Regiment
were in frequent touch with the enemy, and a good many casualties were
sustained; and on the 22nd September the Battalion returned to the
brigade camp at Nkessa. On the 30th the Regiment moved to a new outpost
camp, between the Mgeta and Nkessa; and while here a section of I
Company, under Lieutenant Berry, was sent out to demolish a wooden
bridge over the Mgeta. Just as the work was nearing completion, this
small force was suddenly fired upon by an enemy patrol posted in thick
bush, while many of the men were standing waist-deep in the stream, five
soldiers being killed and four wounded.
The following day the Battalion, having been relieved by the 130th
Baluchis, was moved to Tulo, whence a couple of days later it was sent
back to Nkessa, an attack upon that place being anticipated. Here the
outposts had frequent casual encounters with the enemy, and on the 16th
October two different patrols found mines on the Kissaki road, which had
been laid as a trap for troops advancing by that route. These were
constructed by embedding a four-inch shell in the earth at the depth of
a few feet, with a friction-tube attached to one end of a plank, the
other end of which slanted upward to just below the surface of the road.
This plank, at a spot about one-third of its total length, measuring
from the shell, was supported upon a fulcrum in such a manner that, when
any weight was imposed upon the portion near the surface, the lower end
jacked up and caused the shell to explode.
On the 17th October the Battalion was once more moved to Tulo, where it
remained until the 7th November, upon which date the Second Brigade
broke camp and began a march to the coast at Dar-es-Salaam. The way led
to the banks of the Ruwu River, of which the Mgeta is a right affluent.
and from Magogoni, the point at which the stream was struck, down its
valley to Mafisa. The country traversed—a green and fertile valley,
dipping gently toward the coast—was perhaps the most attractive area
seen by the Regiment in the lowlands of East Africa during the course of
the whole campaign. The rivers, of course, were shrunken to their lowest
levels, and many of the tributary streams were dried up; but water was
obtainable along the whole line of march, and in spite of the tropical
heat, which increased in intensity as the coast was approached, the nine
days occupied by the journey to Dar-es-Salaam were less trying than were
most of the marches undertaken by the Regiment during this campaign.
At Mafisa the main road, which runs from Kidugato on the railway to
Dar-es-Salaam, was struck; and here the valley of the Ruwu was quitted,
the Brigade marching in an easterly direction, almost parallel to the
railway, which was struck in its turn at Kisserawe on the 15th November.
Although this line had now been for some time in the hands of the
British, so much damage had been wrought to it that it was not yet open
to traffic; and the Brigade, to which the Regiment was still attached,
accordingly continued its march to Dar-es-Salaam by road. The last-named
place was reached on the 17th November, and the Regiment forthwith
embarked on the steam transport _Ingoma_, the men, with their baggage,
stores, etc., and a number of carriers being conveyed from the landing
stage to the ship’s side in lighters. All were got on board by 6.30
p.m., and a rather comfortless night was spent, the _Ingoma_ being
crowded to the gunwales with the men of the Regiment, their carriers and
details belonging to other units. Very early in the morning of the 18th
November the ship got under way, and set off on her two-hundred-mile
journey down the coast to Kilwa Kisiwani.