Found an account of a British civilian internee in German East Africa in a local newspaper. In it, there is a report of the death of a member of the Loyal North Lancashires, Pte. Sydney Goddard, which might be of interest.
It's reproduced below:
Reverend John T. Williams:
“I testify personally to the following episodes which occurred during my internment from August, 1914, to October 16th,1916:
“I was in Tanga two days before the outbreak of war, with Mr. Ransome and Miss Burn, of the mission, and the District Commissioner Aurercher refused to allow us to leave by sea. In consequence we were compelled to return to our stations, and were subsequently interned.
“On January 20th, 1915, myself, Archdeacon Birley, Mr. Hellier, Miss Blackburn, Miss Davey, Miss Perrott, and Miss Plant were made to go on foot from Wilhelmsthal to Mombo. We started at 9 a.m., and went without food until 8 p.m. We got to Mombo about 1 p.m., and asked for food at the hotel, for which we were prepared to pay, but we were refused on the ground that no orders were given. At the beginning of the journey we requested that ladies should be carried in native chairs, as is customary in the country. This was refused by our escort, who would not allow us access to the officer in charge at Wilhelmsthal, one Kustlin. At Mombo, Miss Davey fainted with exhaustion and want of food. The commandant merely said: “Anything is good enough for damn Britishers” (‘verfluchte Englanders’).
“At Hardeni there were several hundred Indian prisoners, many wounded. On the 24th January (I refer to my diary here) I saw the prisoners myself, wounded as well as unwounded, some of them hardly able to walk, with bloody bandages, forced into the bush to cut huge logs of firewood. They were guarded by native soldiers, who carried rifles and bayonet in the one hand and a kiboko in the other; and whenever the prisoner halted for a moment he was struck on the head or back with a rifle or kiboko, according to the convenience of the guard. I also saw that same day a squad of wounded Indians escorted to the hospital, meeting the same treatment on the way. It made my blood boil.
“We left Handeni on the 21st January. Before leaving Handeni (as before leaving Korogwe) we asked for our tents and for mosquito nets. We approached the commandant, under-commandant, and another German officer, but met with no answer at all. A Greek who was placed in charge of the porters for the safari also protested about these arrangements, an even offered to give up his own tent for the ladies. He informed us that he was told that if he showed such interest in the English prisoners he would be ‘suspect’.
“On the 3rd February, 1915, at a station on our route to Kimamba, the men of our party were compelled to sleep in the open with no protection of any kind, and the ladies were compelled to sleep in a shed with an open doorway. That day a party of German soldiers pitched their tents in front of the ladies’ sleeping place, and stripped and had their bath there, despite my protests. The next day the men of our party were forced to sleep in an open shed, which, having been used for slaughter of cattle, was in the filthiest condition imaginable. We protested, and even asked to be allowed to sleep outside. The request was refused. In consequence, Mr. Hellier and myself contracted tick fever, from which we suffered for two months.
“On February 8th, at Kimbamba, Mr. Hellier, Archdeacon Birley, and myself were going to sleep on a bataza which had been allotted to us by the Germa in charge, when a German sergeant arrived and ordered us to sleep in the open, despite the fact that he had a tent, and the weather was pouring with rain. He would not even allow us to occupy his tent. The soldier in charge of the station regretted this treatment, but was powerless, as he was only a private.
“On February 11th, we were compelled to march from 6.40 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., from Mpapwa to Kiberiani, at an altitude of 6,000 feet, about a journey of 29 miles. We asked for some means of conveyance for the ladies, and were refused, although there were horses and donkeys at the fort, and native chairs could easily have been obtained. We had no food on the road, although the guard were provided. The weather was terribly hot, and Miss Davey and Miss Blackburn broke down at about midday with exhaustion, and had to be helped for the remainder of the distance. On arrival at Kiberiani the soldier in charge, Dorrendorf, compelled the ladies to open their boxe and hold up all their garments to the view of the askaris and porters in the camp. To our protest, he answered that he was so ordered from Morogoro.
“On March 8th, Dorrendorf paraded us all, and raved at us, and I heard the word ‘swine’ used. This was because we had not taken off our hats to him. Next day a planter, named Malcolm Rose, was sentenced to three days cells for not saluting Dorrendorf. The cell was a tiny grass hut in a very incomplete condition. The weather was terribly cold. It rained every morning and there was thick mist surrounding the whole country. Ross was put on bread and water and was allowed only one blanket. We could not be comfortable with overcoats and a big fire in our store-building. When Ross was consigned to this cell we all protested to Dorrendorf, and said it would kill Ross. Dorrendorf said, “Very good” (Haya).
“A number of the prisoners had their own private beds. On the 13th March these were commandeered, we were told by the Government. The owners had to sleep for a whole month on the stone floor until native beds were brought. In answer to protests, Dorrendorf stopped our fires.
“I had been suffering from thick fever since the 14th February, and on the 24th March by order of the doctor at Morogoro, I was carried to the hospital there. Dorrendorf went in charge of me, and though he had his food with him, I was given neither food nor water from 4 a.m. till 5 p.m., on my arrival. On our halt at Kilessa, where there is a hotel, Dorrendorf went to eat, but refused me permission to buy food.
“From May 28th, 1915, to April 23rd 1916, I was at Tabora. During that period everyone had to work, except the clergy and officers. No other civilians were exempt. Daily I saw British prisoners drawing and carrying water emptying latrines – their own, the Germans, and even those of the native askaris. I saw our men working in the hot sub, digging the shambas, with inadequate headgear, some without footwear, and many with hardly any clothing. I saw batches of British prisoners sent to the station a mile away to drag a lorry of cement for native masons to work with – this despite the fact there were many native prisoners. One of the guards, Muller, time after time sent the British prisoners to draw water, which was merely thrown away. I have seen him go into the latrines and pull men from the seats to force them to work. One day he threw a bucket of water over a sailor named Ball, who was lying on his bed. On July 14th we sent in a protest to the commandant, Brandt, about our treatment in the camp. A message was sent to us that prisoners had no rights.
“On November 22nd, a man named Jackson told me that one of the guards named Erich had kicked him, sworn at him, and threatened him with a revolver. On December 10th I saw Erich bringing back three escaped prisoners (two British and one Indian) in handcuffs, and I saw him strike one named Roetz (a Boer) on the back with the butt of his rifle. On December 16th I saw Erich strike Indian prisoners working with a stick. On December 30th a corporal of the [Loyal] North Lancashires named Goddard was given three days cells without trial for an alleged offence of which he knew nothing.
“I was at Tanga from May 13th to May 27th, and there 110 prisoners, mostly British, were kept in a small enclosure, most of them without a change of clothing for ten days, although their boxes were just outside the fence. We were refused access to the commandant during this time.
“On the 19th he again paraded us, and said if any protests were sent, the person responsible would get three years, and the others six months. He added that as prisoners we had no rights, and he was surprised that a lot of swine like us should so behave. We were simply liable to be dealt with according to the German military punishment book.
Two prisoners died there, one – Corporal Goddard [1], from blackwater fever, and the other, Private Chance [2], from dysentery. Goddard was not taken to the hospital at all, and Chance only the day before his death. Proper food was not sent in for them, and Chance ought to have had milk, but got none. The commandant saw these men, but did nothing for them, and the German doctor who visited the encampment was drunk every time I saw him.
“On September 16th, when leaving Mahenge, I had to go with one loaf, and my boxes were detained, and I have not seen them since. I was not allowed to hire porters, although I asked permission. I told the commandant I would hold him responsible. He seized me and shook me, called me ‘Swine!’ and ordered the guard in change to tie me to a tree for two hours a day for three days – (Signed) John T. Williams”.
’Mansfield Chronicle’, 27th September 1917.
[1] 9177 Corporal S. Goddard, 2nd Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, died 3rd September 1915. Buried Iringa Cemetery, Tanzania. Iringa is on the top of a mountain, 505 kilometres west of Dar-Es-Salaam via Morogoro.
[2] 4928 Pte. F. Chance, 5th South African Infantry, died 20th September 1916 and also buried in Iringa Cemetery.
An article in the New York Times was published about the conduct of the Germans towards their captives on 21st October 1917. Dorendorf (as it is given in that article) gets a mention:
http://query.nytimes...78BD95F438185F9
Hope it's of some interest.
Regards,
Jim
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