Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-04-20

VEIN ~ of Duala is perhaps typical
of the greater portion Of the Gamer
oons in which my troops have
operated, excepting beyond Northern
railhead where the country becomes
open and, on account of its greater
alt tudc, healthier, but all the coast
line, ana for some 50 miles inland,
one meets the same mOnotonouS i'm
penctrable African forest, fringcd on
the coaStlinc, by an area of mangrove
swamp II varying Depth
An officer serving with the Br fish
forces thus describes the country in
letter:
cribs everlasting forest! You go
marching along in single file, never
knowing whom you are going to be
shot at. The enemy may be only q
few yards away, but YOU cannot sec
thom. There is an eternal twilight
in these forests, the trees meeting
overhead and interlaccI by creepers.
II is Il fine sight to see the column
On the march; it covers two to three
miles OF road, taking nearly an hour
to. pass, a, 81 zen spot, and u Is q
serious matter to defend this long
line. And the heat" Crimes Ills
tory OF the Warp
The forest also contained deniZens
us form dablc as the human enemies
1--WE were having Il hot scrap with
the GcrmnnS, twritcs another onicer)
when suddenly an angry elephant
appeared between us, and darted first
one way and then the other. Before
you could cough, both sides had done
n bunk. Crimes "IIistory.") Wild
bees were equally successful in scat
tcring the combatants on more than
one OCCASION SCI. .
According to the German Official
statistics the garrison consisted Of
about 200 Germans and 1000 ma
tives. But by calling up all the
Germans OF military age in the
Colony. including the crews of all the
merchantmen which sought refuge in
the harbours on the declaration Of
war, the number OF Germans under
arms was increased to fully 5000,
while the native troops were in
creased to. about 900 by recalling
to the colours all the old soldiers
who had completed their service but
were st'l Of military age.
These troops were under the COM
mand of Colonel Zimmerman, who
proved himself an able and resolute
soldier. The native troops were di-
vided into two classes, the Pol;Zei-
truppen OPolice Force) armed with
a carbine firing a soft nosed bullet,
and the Schutztruppen Irregular
trOopS) who carried the regulation
German Army Rifle with saw-backe ed
sword bayonet. These troops were
well trained, plentifully supplied with
machine guns and we'll led
Immediately on the declaration OF
war General Aymerich, the command
or Of the troops in French Equatorial
Africa took steps to remove the
obstacles to communication between
that colony and Gaboon by seiZ 'ng
the two antcnnac of German territory
touching the Congo and the Ubangi,
described above.
4 small force under Inspector
Lcprince assembled the Congo from
BraZZaville and took Bonga by sur
prise on the 9Th Of August. The
next day Iinga was captured by a
company Of Senegalese Tirailleurs,
which descended the Ubangi from
Bangui, 60 miles higher up the river
under Captain Boon. At these places
documents were captured which
showed that the garrisons were in
structed to invade French territory
General Aymerich despatched two
columns to take the German forces
in the rear. Colonel Hut'n was to
advance from Bonga northward up
the valley Of the Sanga River. The
second, under Colonel Morrison, was
to move westward along the valley
OF the Lobagc River, which joins the
Uhangi River near Iinga. BY Octo-
Der this column had advanced 200
miles and occupied Carnot, near the
head of the River Sanga, and at
Bania, 70 miles lower down the
rvcr. got into touch with Colonel
Hutin's column.
This column, moving partly by
land an. partly by river, had ad-
vancod 800 miles by the 18th Of
October and captured the important
fortified post Of Nola, on tho Sanga
river, 80 miles below Bahia. At Nola
the German garrison was captured
with small cannon. four machine
guns and a quantity of ammunition.
Colonel Hutm now found his
communication with BOnpa threat