My Reminiscences of East AfricaLettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von
History
My Reminiscences of East Africa
Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Tanzania
In distributing the force by companies throughout the country it had
been necessary to accept the disadvantage that in many cases it was
impossible to employ them in large formations, or to train the senior
officers in this respect. It was evident that in war the movement and
leading in battle of forces greater than a company would be attended
with great difficulty and friction. According to my view, the force
had the double duty of preparing to meet an enemy from outside with
modern armament, as well as a native enemy within our borders; their
training for battle had therefore to take account of two distinct sets
of conditions. The exercises in native warfare presented a spectacle
which differed widely from our European inspections. At Arusha, on this
occasion, the company marched through thick bush, the “Pori,” and was
in native fashion surprised on the march. The enemy was represented
by Meru warriors, who, arrayed in full war-dress, with spears and
head-dress of ostrich feathers, remained concealed, and then at only
a few paces distance fell upon the Safari, the column of route, with
loud war cries. A fight at such close quarters, like the one in which
Zelewski’s expedition had been overwhelmed in 1891 at Iringa, is
decided at short range and in a very few minutes. The troops quickly
rally round their leaders and rush the enemy. In accordance with this
whole character of native warfare, careful and thorough musketry
training in the modern sense had hitherto been unnecessary. It was,
indeed, at a pretty low level, and it may interest the soldier to
hear that in some companies the average at two hundred yards standing
without rest barely attained Ring 3, and that only a few companies
got beyond Ring 5. Neither did the nature of native warfare provide
a sufficient inducement for thorough training with the machine gun.
Fortunately, however, I soon discovered among all Europeans of the
force a complete understanding of the importance of this arm, in
particular in modern battle. In spite of this not particularly high
standard of training, the results of field-firing, even at long ranges,
were not unsatisfactory, and in this the Askari profited in a high
degree by his sharp eyesight, which enabled him to observe his fire and
correct his aim accordingly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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