CHAPTER X

NAHUNGU AND MITONENO

On the 27th September No. 1 Column broke camp at 5.30 a.m. and continued its march to Nahungu from the east, the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles forming the advanced guard, with the Gold Coast Regiment in support. Simultaneously the Nigerians were advancing upon Nahungu in two columns from the north. Very shortly after leaving camp, the King’s African Rifles came into contact with the enemy outposts. The latter fell back, and a ridge situated to the east of Nahungu was occupied without any serious opposition, by the King’s African Rifles, by the 27th Mountain Battery, and by the Headquarters and two companies of the Gold Coast Regiment with the Battery. The main road here runs east and west through fairly thick trees and underwood, with the river flowing parallel to it a few hundred yards to the south. The road ascends from a boulder-strewn hollow until the crest of the ridge above mentioned, which is in the nature of a long hogsback along the spine of which the road runs, is reached. It is overlooked on the north-west by Nahungu Hill, a bush and tree-covered eminence which the enemy had strongly fortified, and where a gun was now in position; and it is also commanded from the south-west by Pori Hill, a similar isolated eminence on the other side of the Mbemkuru to the left front of the British, upon which another gun was in position. This piece was of Portuguese manufacture—how obtained no man could say—and its fire proved completely ineffective. The shrapnel burst in the right spot with exemplary regularity, but thereafter pattered down through the trees with less violence than hail, exciting much derision from the men subjected to this innocuous bombardment. The gun at Nahungu Hill was more formidable, but it was put out of action by the 27th Mountain Battery at about 5 p.m.

The King’s African Rifles deployed along the crest of the hill, as soon as its summit was nearly reached. The position which they took up was roughly the segment of a circle, with its convex side toward the enemy, and the road bisecting it at right angles. The Pioneers and I Company of the Gold Coast Regiment reinforced the firing-line of the King’s African Rifles, which was extended on both sides of the road; and Colonel Rose, realizing that his left flank was exposed, posted a section of I Company with one machine-gun under Captain McElligott, halfway down the hill to the left rear of the firing-line, and there made them dig themselves in. He also sent an officer’s patrol furnished by the Pioneer Company, under Captain Buckby, down to the river to watch the movements of the enemy from that direction. Meanwhile A Company under Major Shaw, and B Company under Captain Methven, were held in reserve behind the shelter of the rising ground, and a few hundred yards to the rear.

The moment the presence of the British was discovered, the enemy guns on Nahungu and on Pori Hill both opened fire, and though the gun on the latter did no damage, it was recognized that this hill commanded the left of the Regiment’s position, and an officer’s patrol under Captain Buckby, as has been mentioned, was sent to the river at 4 p.m. to watch any movement that might be made from that direction. At 5 p.m. the troops on the right got into touch with the Nigerians, but shortly afterwards touch with them was again lost; and half an hour later the Pioneer Company joined up with the firing-line of the King’s African Rifles on the left. About the same time B Company, under Captain Methven, was brought forward from the reserve and was halted in the hollow at the base of the rising ground, on the crest of which the fighting was going on.

Though it was hardly anticipated that B Company would be called upon to take part in the action, Captain Methven sent out one native non-commissioned officer’s patrol to supplement Captain Buckby’s patrol which, earlier in the day, had been dispatched to the river on the south of the position, and he also established a picket of ten men, under Colour-Sergeant Naylor, to guard B Company’s left flank. At dusk he went forward to this picket with ten more men to see how the former was faring, and to tell them that they would have to remain for the night in the shallow excavations which they had made. Just as he reached them one of the men of the picket drew attention to a considerable commotion in the bush in the direction of the river, and presently an irregular line of men was seen to be scuttling through the trees and underwood. In the uncertain light the impression at first formed was that they belonged to the King’s African Rifles. One of them was carrying a machine-gun on his shoulder, which he set up with extraordinary quickness, and forthwith opened fire at Captain Methven, at a range of not more than thirty yards. He missed him, however, and the men of B Company, who were squatting down barely a hundred yards away, and who, clumped together as they were, presented at that moment an absolutely fool-proof target, were able to fling themselves flat upon the ground and to crawl into a line, whence they opened a hot fire upon the advancing enemy over the head of Captain Methven and his picket of twenty men.

Darkness was now falling, and the movement of the enemy presently developed into a strong attack, the object of which was to outflank the British left, and to work in to the rear of the positions on the ridge. In this attempt he very nearly succeeded, and might well have done so had it not been for the prompt action taken by Major Shaw, who, with A Company, was a hundred yards or more further down the road than the spot occupied by B Company. He rapidly deployed the men under his command, having in the darkness practically to assign his place to each individual, and he in an incredibly short time joined his line up with that formed by B Company, thus presenting a united and continuous front on the British left to the enemy’s determined and well-timed counter-attack, upon which A and B Companies now poured a heavy and sustained fire. The section of I Company which, with one machine-gun under the command of Captain McElligott, had dug themselves in earlier in the day on what was now the left of the enemy’s line of attack, also came into action with great effect.

Meanwhile Captain Methven’s picket had been joined by both the patrols that had been posted near the river, they having contrived to evade the advancing enemy. The little party, however, had a very hot time of it. From their rear, B Company was firing over their heads with machine-gun and rifle. Ahead of them, less than fifty yards away, the enemy was in considerable force and was busy with rifles and machine-gun; while the men of the picket, exposed to this double fusillade, and being compelled to lie as flat as they could to avoid British, no less than German missiles, threw the bombs, with which some of them were provided, with a wonderful recklessness that caused many to explode in a manner more dangerous to their friends than to their opponents. The fire, too, was very rapid, and its maintenance was essential if the picket were to avoid being rushed and overwhelmed by the enemy; yet it presently became evident that the supply of small-arms ammunition in the men’s possession would speedily become exhausted. No one with the picket, except Captain Methven, knew precisely where the Headquarters of the Regiment had been fixed, or could undertake to strike it in the dark; so Captain Methven decided to attempt to find it himself. It was a really desperate venture to try to make one’s way through the scrub, with the enemy firing from in front and B Company blazing away from the rear, but Captain Methven crawled and crouched and ran, now on his feet, now on all-fours, tearing his way through the underwood and scratching and bruising himself from head to foot until, luck befriending him, he contrived to reach headquarters. Here he procured some boxes of ammunition, and managed to impress a couple of Mendi carriers, with whom, dragging a box of ammunition in each hand, he returned to the picket by the perilous route whereby he had left it. It was a gallant deed dashingly done, and it saved the picket; and the prompt action taken by Major Shaw, combined with the pluck and steadiness of the men of B Company, prevented what might well have been an enemy success of some magnitude. On this occasion Corporal Bila Busanga especially distinguished himself by his steadiness and courage, and by the admirable manner in which he kept the men together. As it was, the attack was beaten off at the end of an hour; a perimeter camp was formed; and the night passed without further incident.

Considering the character of the fighting, and the confusion caused at dusk and in the darkness by the enemy’s attack upon the left flank, the casualties sustained by the Regiment on this day were light. They amounted to 1 soldier and 2 carriers killed, 21 men wounded, of whom 1 shortly afterwards died, and 13 carriers wounded.

Patrols sent out at dawn on the 28th September reported that, as usual, the enemy had retired during the night; and Pori Hill was forthwith occupied by a patrol of the Gold Coast Regiment under Captain McElligott, and Nahungu Hill by the 2nd Battalion of the King’s African Rifles. The rest of No. 1 Column moved forward and occupied the ground between Nahungu Hill and the river.

Two officers’ patrols of the Gold Coast Regiment were sent out, one along the road to the west, and one along the north, or left, bank of the river. The former reported that a gun had been retired by that route.

During the afternoon some officers belonging to the Nigerian Brigade, with about fifty men of that corps, came across from their camp to the north to call on the Gold Coast Regiment, they having now joined up with General Hannyngton’s force. In the mess great cordiality prevailed, and the incidents of the Nigerians’ big fight at Bweho Chini were discussed with eager interest; but among the rank and file of the Gold Coast Regiment this encounter created the greatest excitement and delight. They had long known by report that a host of “their brothers” from West Africa were co-operating with them in the fight against the common enemy; but this was the first time that they had actually seen any of them in the flesh. Many of the men composing both forces belonged to the same tribes, spoke the same language, and had innumerable memories and associations in common. Some may even have been personally known to one another; and this unexpected meeting in the dreary waste places of German East Africa with their kinsmen—men of the familiar types of whom they had seen no representatives for more than fourteen toil-laden months—held for the homesick men of the Gold Coast Regiment something of the reassurance and comfort which is felt at the sight of the welcome face of an old friend and by his warm hand-grip. Moreover, the rank and file of both corps were comfortably convinced that but for the West Africans the enemy would have had a comparatively easy time of it.

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On the 29th September, A, B, and I Companies, under the command of Major Goodwin, left camp at 8 a.m., the rest of the Regiment remaining at Nahungu. This force had instructions to push forward to Mihomo, _viâ_ Kihindi; along the north bank of the Mbemkuru. This river is at Nahungu about forty yards in width, but now, at the height of the dry season, the actual stream was greatly shrunken and ran for the most part little more than two feet deep, though here and there big still pools were occasionally met with. The banks of the river are covered with fairly high trees and bush. After the experiences in the waterless waste to the west of Mihambia, the men of the Regiment had greeted the sight of running water with enthusiasm, and during the preceding day had revelled in a bathe, by means of which the accumulated dust and dirt of ten laborious, parching days were at length scrubbed away.

The function assigned to Major Goodwin’s force was that of backing up the South African Cavalry, which had last been heard of at Mihomo Chini; and simultaneously an officer’s patrol of 20 men was sent out along the southern, or right, bank of the river with instructions to keep in touch with Major Goodwin if possible.

After advancing about seven and a half miles along the northern bank of the river, Major Goodwin was held up by an enemy party of about 70 rifles and a machine-gun; and on this being telephoned through by him to Headquarters, he was instructed to find a suitable position in which to camp for the night. This he did about half a mile further on. Later in the afternoon the enemy attacked this camp with about 80 rifles and 2 machine-guns. They were driven off without difficulty, but one man of the Gold Coast Regiment was killed and two were wounded.

On the morning of the 30th September the remainder of No. 1 Column marched from Nahungu along the north bank of the river to Major Goodwin’s camp; and from the latter place, before the arrival of the column, two officers’ patrols were sent out, one to Kihindi Hill and one to reconnoitre the crossings over the river in the direction of Mitoneno on the south bank. These two places are situated nearly opposite one another, with the river separating them, at a distance of about nine miles upstream from Nahungu.

When No. 1 Column arrived in camp, the enemy was found to be still in position on the hills in front of the camp, and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles were sent to attack him. By nightfall, however, the enemy had not been dislodged.

On the following morning the 1st Battalion of the King’s African Rifles, supported by the 27th Mountain Battery, renewed its attack on the enemy’s position in front of the camp, while the rest of No. 1 Column, which had now been reinforced by the 129th Baluchis and one section of the 22nd Mountain Battery, attempted a turning movement _viâ_ Kihindi and Mitoneno. The patrol sent to Kihindi Hill on the preceding day had left there a small picket of one officer and twelve men.

No. 1 Column marched at 6 a.m., the advance guard being formed of the Pioneers and I Company of the Gold Coast Regiment, with the Regimental Headquarters and the Stokes Battery. On reaching the main road, which here runs to the north of the river and parallel to its course, the picket at Kihindi Hill, which reported that the night had passed without incident, was relieved, the relieving party being instructed to remain on the hill till 5 p.m., at which hour it was to rejoin the column.

On reaching the river, patrols were sent out to scout the high ground on the southern bank, and when this was reported clear of the enemy, it was in due course occupied by the Gold Coast Regiment. These movements had resulted in No. 1 Column having slipped in behind the enemy’s rear, while his front was still being engaged by the 1st Battalion of the 3rd King’s African Rifles and No. 27 Mountain Battery. He was not, however, completely encircled, as a gap still existed toward the south, by means of which he was able later to extricate himself from the dangers that threatened him.

At 2.30 p.m. orders were received to push on towards Mitoneno by the main path running from the east along the south bank of the river, and the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the King’s African Rifles were at the same time ordered to advance by a track leading along the right bank. As Mitoneno was approached the King’s African Rifles became engaged with the enemy, and the Pioneer Company of the Gold Coast Regiment was pushed forward to get into touch with the right of their line, to achieve which the Pioneers had to cross to the north bank of the Mbemkuru.

At 4 p.m. it was ascertained that the enemy was in position on the south bank also, and two sections of I Company, under Captain McElligott, were sent forward to get abreast of the Pioneer Company and to attempt to envelope the enemy’s left. At the same time the rest of I Company and A and B Companies were brought up to be in a position to launch an attack when the exact disposition of the enemy’s forces were more clearly known, as, owing to the thick bush, the precise situation remained very obscure. Half an hour later the rest of I Company, under Captain Dawes, was sent forward to join up with the detachment under Captain McElligott, on the right. The 129th Baluchis had in the meantime dug themselves in to the right rear of the Gold Coast Regiment, and as a consequence a large gap was left between I Company’s right and the left flank of the Baluchis.

At 4.40 p.m. Captain Dawes reported that he was heavily engaged; that the enemy were working round his right flank; and that he required support. A Company was accordingly sent forward to his assistance, Major Goodwin assuming the command of the firing-line.

The firing all along the front was now fast and furious, and the reserve of small-arms ammunition with the Gold Coast first line was accordingly sent forward, and an urgent message for more was dispatched to the ammunition-column. It was then ascertained that the latter was a long way to the rear of the column and that no further supply of ammunition could be expected for some time to come. This rendered the position one of considerable anxiety, for the firing continued to be very heavy.

Two sections of B Company, under Lieutenant Woods, were now sent forward to reinforce and prolong Captain Shaw’s right. A little later a detachment of the 129th Baluchis, a corps which at that time had been almost depleted of its officers, were also sent to prolong the right; but pushing too far forward, and losing their sense of direction after they had come into contact with the enemy, they passed across the front of the right extremity of the firing-line, and as a consequence they suffered a number of unnecessary casualties. About 80 of them, however, eventually joined B Company on the extreme right, and were later joined by 40 more men of their regiment. The two remaining sections of B Company, under Captain Methven, had a little earlier been sent to reinforce the right, but very soon two sections, under Lieutenant Woods, had to be sent back to fill a gap between I and A Companies.

The position with regard to small-arms ammunition was now very serious. The transport-carriers had vanished to a man, and no word could be gained of the ammunition column. However, 20 boxes of cartridges were borrowed from the Baluchis by the Gold Coast Regiment and were taken to the firing-line by the battery carriers—trained men who had stuck to their duty—under the leadership of Captain Foley. Later, when at last a supply was received from the long-lost ammunition column, Lieutenant Baldwin, in charge of the carriers attached to that body, rendered great service in bringing ammunition up and taking it forward to the firing-line.

By 5.30 p.m. the Gold Coast Regiment had thrown the whole of its reserves into the firing-line, and the Pioneer Company, which had been sent to the left, was urgently recalled, but considerable delay inevitably occurred before it was able to rejoin the rest of the Regiment. On the arrival of the Pioneers, just as darkness was falling, one section was at once sent to reinforce Captain Shaw, the remainder being held in reserve.

At 6.15 word reached Colonel Rose that the King’s African Rifles on his left had been withdrawn, and Major Goodwin was accordingly instructed to draw in his left. The firing had now died down, only occasional shots being heard. The firing-line was therefore drawn in; a perimeter camp was formed; and the night passed without incident.

On the 2nd October, scouts sent out reported that the enemy had retreated; and patrols from the Baluchis and the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd King’s African Rifles were dispatched to the west and the south-west to try to pick up his spoor. The rest of No. 1 Column closed upon the camp formed overnight by the Gold Coast Regiment, where it duly dug itself in.

The casualties sustained by the Gold Coast Regiment in the fighting on the 1st October amounted to 5 men killed, and 3 Europeans, 50 rank and file and 10 carriers wounded.

On the 3rd October, the men of the Gold Coast Regiment enjoyed that, to them, unusual experience—a day of rest. Ever since leaving the camp at Narungombe, now more than a fortnight earlier, they had been incessantly on the march or in action, and during that time they had had scant leisure to devote to matters of even an essential character which merely concerned their personal comfort. Now at last, during all the hours of daylight, they were free to do as they chose, and to complete their well-being the shrunken stream of the Mbemkuru exhibited in the midst of this thirsty land the rare phenomenon of running water. The day of rest, therefore was converted into a monster washing-day, the men revelling in a succession of baths such as had not been enjoyed by any of them for months, and thereafter, subjecting their clothes and other belongings to an energetic washing and scrubbing and sun-drying till the whole camp was one large _dhobi_-green. It was real refreshment after all their labours and privations, and by evening the men, new-washed, cool and comfortable once more, were in high spirits and were thoroughly ready to resume their duties on the morrow.