CHAPTER III

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.

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.

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.