tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13862879067107333112024-02-22T03:03:06.846-05:00Cornflower Blue & Corduroy: Wargaming the German-Herero & Nama Wars of 1904-1908Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-25611787853816540832020-10-26T09:49:00.002-04:002020-10-26T09:49:51.236-04:00Brand New Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company Schutztruppe Figures in 28mm!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9W6plgYvMNXj6Up1KKkWOCEnJ6Q5ZuBtkHqruQEy5xi-eFKobyz_tGwFUYRTmOdzSmGMMJrezglORuzKnK_awkGXQkcgNPthUOLw6maUwtm_chaRGCF7NWkyxEk1o22Sy44M7TWP0RhS/s819/HLBSC+2020+28mm+Schutztruppen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="819" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9W6plgYvMNXj6Up1KKkWOCEnJ6Q5ZuBtkHqruQEy5xi-eFKobyz_tGwFUYRTmOdzSmGMMJrezglORuzKnK_awkGXQkcgNPthUOLw6maUwtm_chaRGCF7NWkyxEk1o22Sy44M7TWP0RhS/w400-h229/HLBSC+2020+28mm+Schutztruppen.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />As readers of this blog will recall, I have always loved the old 28mm line of German Colonial figures once produced by the Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company. Today I received an unexpected but most welcome message from Richard at HLBC who remembered my interest and an old email query about his figures. Much to my delight, he told me that he has just reimagined and released a <a href="https://www.hlbs-redux.co.uk/28mm-german-colonial-1895-1918.html" target="_blank">new line of German Colonial figures in 28mm</a> and they are magnificent - easily the most detailed and accurately uniformed figures available. Naturally, I just placed a large order.<br /><br />There are plenty of excellent figures for use in German Southwest Africa, including those wearing field caps as well as the classic "sudwester" slouch hat, and a beautiful patrol of camel riders, complete with proper harness including the bucket style rifle holster used by mounted troops in the colony. There are also seebataillon in 1900 Bortfeldt helms, and machine gun sections for each head type. But there are also east Africa Schutztruppe Askaris, Schutzruppe in 1904 Bortfeldt helmets, and East Asian Expeditionary Force (in 1900 Boetfeldt helmets and side cocked straw hats)! All are stunningly and meticulously detailed with proper uniforms and equipment, and there are even heads wearing all the different hats and helmets to convert other figures for your table.<br /><br />It is a wonderful return to a fantastic range. I will lobby for more additions (Hereros and Namas? Heliographs and Feld Lazaretts?) and look forward to painting some of them up in the near future!<p></p>Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-80893852718104418732020-08-11T12:59:00.002-04:002020-10-08T10:15:03.134-04:00Building an authentic DSWA Schutztruppe NCO's M.1896 Kord Waffenrock<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face="" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFz4qRwe_Rxy53foEnUIvAzCylGDcKWM6QyUEu5Os9USi4CQWHq87PZSkvnl1u0HaTImTtDeTB38AKgT2pSN4LifYHHDN2XIIZ88S6obh8yoHUb5B_DgVeaplbCwlmD-dvXG392-KVNzHG/s2048/Sergeant+Schutztruppe+Landsturm+DSWA+d.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1240" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFz4qRwe_Rxy53foEnUIvAzCylGDcKWM6QyUEu5Os9USi4CQWHq87PZSkvnl1u0HaTImTtDeTB38AKgT2pSN4LifYHHDN2XIIZ88S6obh8yoHUb5B_DgVeaplbCwlmD-dvXG392-KVNzHG/w248-h410/Sergeant+Schutztruppe+Landsturm+DSWA+d.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>The </span><span face="calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px;"><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OtIqAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA302&lpg=PA302&dq=Kord+waffenrock+19+Nov+1896&source=bl&ots=hlWBlDhomu&sig=d4dCOzk-E-cNgFmi_L3CBz8QKc0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL5criwtLXAhVl4oMKHbN6DfUQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=Kord%20waffenrock%2019%20Nov%201896&f=false"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">uniform regulations of November 19, 1896</span></a></span><span face="" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> prescribed a new corduroy <i>waffenrock</i> for the enlisted men of the Southwest Africa <i>Schutztruppe</i>. Like those of the officers, it was: <br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br />“made of sand-colored corduroy fabric, in the same cut as </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the Prussian</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Waffenrock</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, but with an angular cut, turn down collar provided with a pair of hooks and eyes for closing, Swedish cuffs. Collar, cuffs as well as piping from cornflower-colored cloth.”</span><br /></span><span face="" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />The <i>kord Waffenrock </i>of the Southwest Africa<i> Schutztruppe</i> was based on the Model 1895 Prussian <i>waffenrock</i>, which by this time had </span><span face="calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/waffenrock.htm"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">undergone several design changes</span></a></span><span face="" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> since its first introduction in 1842. <br /><br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZMv1vrLtGiAT6850uvxpgiM56opLkX3P/view?usp=sharing" style="font-size: 12pt;">These guidelines </a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">present the research and documentation
that informed an authentic reconstruction of a</span><i style="font-size: 12pt;"> Schutztruppe</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Sergeant’s </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">kord
waffenrock</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> suitable for service in German Southwest Africa at the turn of
the 20</span><sup>th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Century. This project was a partnership with Matthew Williamson, a
skilled tailor and student of Victorian-era colonial uniforms who constructed
the </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">waffenrock</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and a
documented pair of </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Schutztruppe</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> corduroy
trousers based on documentation and materials I provided. For the benefit of others who may wish to acquire a Schutztruppe uniform of similar quality, it would be hard to imagine a better suited tailor than Matthew. He lives in Delaware and likes a challenge.</span><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This project<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;"> took <a href="https://omaheke.blogspot.com/2017/07/kord-waffenrock-m1896-kaiserliche.html">three years to research</a>, source and finally complete last May, and I am extremely <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgLuc11GV4MvpLfIJQu3S0Jeg4OkfXMR3t0DOFQ1IohsyOJkHc_nF7xV4eAsQLbCgGtCZ3Sk2dDY4twtgm5rrgw9DJFuF1EMrUqcmaBlSios5X32fz5x4czgfL7f8YeW-TC8tEE-s0H_x/s960/95340217_1112531152458319_7919136072745877504_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgLuc11GV4MvpLfIJQu3S0Jeg4OkfXMR3t0DOFQ1IohsyOJkHc_nF7xV4eAsQLbCgGtCZ3Sk2dDY4twtgm5rrgw9DJFuF1EMrUqcmaBlSios5X32fz5x4czgfL7f8YeW-TC8tEE-s0H_x/s320/95340217_1112531152458319_7919136072745877504_n.jpg" /></a></div>pleased with the results. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The resulting <i>kord waffenrock</i> is a faithful reproduction of the<i> </i>corduroy uniform authorized in November
1896 for colonial service in Southwest Africa. It uses cloth, cord, lace and buttons
that are as close as possible to those issued and available when the original
tunics were constructed. <br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />Matthew had the opportunity to examine a
surviving M.95 Prussian <i>waffenrock</i>
firsthand, though we did not have access to an original<i>
Schutztruppe kord waffenrock</i>. Our reconstruction therefore relies heavily on
photographs of original uniform details and Matthew’s knowledge of period
uniform tailoring techniques. Both Kraus and Müller’s
(2009) <u>The German Colonial Troops from 1889-1918 History - Uniforms - Equipment</u> and Chris Dale’s <a href="www.GermanColonialUniforms.co.uk ">German Colonial Uniforms</a> website </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">were essential
resources, as were many period photographs and images of surviving uniforms from museum and private
collections.<br /><br />Again, the link to our documentation and guidelines is <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZMv1vrLtGiAT6850uvxpgiM56opLkX3P/view?usp=sharing">here</a>.<br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsY9YuRc4d9QRrPMmezHvaEGZi9OqsEPaEnJYoGex6aaR7L_TgH3KzA2mKqFKOl4uTkIpJAVr6NwM9mayOp_Mh114zlirqXmb7JfKCu0bBrnZNmhv2J3UTcYP8xZQF3Rn5oOiWyhNuAyJ-/s2048/2020-05-26+16.03.09.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsY9YuRc4d9QRrPMmezHvaEGZi9OqsEPaEnJYoGex6aaR7L_TgH3KzA2mKqFKOl4uTkIpJAVr6NwM9mayOp_Mh114zlirqXmb7JfKCu0bBrnZNmhv2J3UTcYP8xZQF3Rn5oOiWyhNuAyJ-/s640/2020-05-26+16.03.09.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbPGEUcifOJyEa2os8mX50k1Z77uiuFCZeyr3yqWsRjbNyBmn426Rn15UuhnRmk-OSNYak1UZTbPfb16wzoOMgKxAywxDOKtN5arrwY8f_msprPfIufccCK9br1KBlkMLR1KMR0XU_grI/s2048/2020-05-26+16.04.10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbPGEUcifOJyEa2os8mX50k1Z77uiuFCZeyr3yqWsRjbNyBmn426Rn15UuhnRmk-OSNYak1UZTbPfb16wzoOMgKxAywxDOKtN5arrwY8f_msprPfIufccCK9br1KBlkMLR1KMR0XU_grI/w410-h307/2020-05-26+16.04.10.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfmxbXgrpa1FElhyaul8rgpjNGv-NbmP8kZRE26tkpDnFiTe4LD7SIjbCMFQvom63vzK-QpQK69KeQFiQHGTJGrY4GGaiLdXqkR9J0Ekwqcn1PnmxO4tTWp333fnnKFVVwU4mpzDJqre/s795/Reconstructed+Kord+Waffenrock+M96+corded+shoulder+strap+%2526+collar+Imperial+Sergeantenknopf+guard+lace.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="662" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOfmxbXgrpa1FElhyaul8rgpjNGv-NbmP8kZRE26tkpDnFiTe4LD7SIjbCMFQvom63vzK-QpQK69KeQFiQHGTJGrY4GGaiLdXqkR9J0Ekwqcn1PnmxO4tTWp333fnnKFVVwU4mpzDJqre/s640/Reconstructed+Kord+Waffenrock+M96+corded+shoulder+strap+%2526+collar+Imperial+Sergeantenknopf+guard+lace.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lvdLg1wDWA2YEIfSpwAceyHLeswPI5Dn0pHjJy-MGbMpkJmytczAQ7s3wJmkrPBSqVKeNWhdEaoXUCXfhBZSc3ZI_F3pHfPqx3fWMPVEWLK4ILZQP3rgxBR80PdgQ9r3RTNP3dDwBuSa/s2048/2020-09-30+10.13.33-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lvdLg1wDWA2YEIfSpwAceyHLeswPI5Dn0pHjJy-MGbMpkJmytczAQ7s3wJmkrPBSqVKeNWhdEaoXUCXfhBZSc3ZI_F3pHfPqx3fWMPVEWLK4ILZQP3rgxBR80PdgQ9r3RTNP3dDwBuSa/w300-h400/2020-09-30+10.13.33-1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkNzN9f4jTHoSnWewwkFldRrIvk2BMC1-dZFKALXX90LFiEqQns1rVu8j2bWA73YS8jmnzR_rGucGl7SZzZe85uhvIhi386NjEBvliwjOf7E8VCGrOezray6lsvpGIpX_eBXDaQKWqVVo/s2048/2020-09-30+10.08.01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkNzN9f4jTHoSnWewwkFldRrIvk2BMC1-dZFKALXX90LFiEqQns1rVu8j2bWA73YS8jmnzR_rGucGl7SZzZe85uhvIhi386NjEBvliwjOf7E8VCGrOezray6lsvpGIpX_eBXDaQKWqVVo/w300-h400/2020-09-30+10.08.01.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFVfBqmfmXjTyQQpp48ThwGuh2jxxCU7cUpmk7nYcC02Cml55iIgYz_fZ32_1uwlMYd1ZxvnOOd-DXME6ZfAwq_UEy3RS7OTfWAnRjs6OZGOlK1AhS5R2sceMVeALg8q3Co_XPn8__kQX/s2048/2020-09-30+10.08.17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFVfBqmfmXjTyQQpp48ThwGuh2jxxCU7cUpmk7nYcC02Cml55iIgYz_fZ32_1uwlMYd1ZxvnOOd-DXME6ZfAwq_UEy3RS7OTfWAnRjs6OZGOlK1AhS5R2sceMVeALg8q3Co_XPn8__kQX/w300-h400/2020-09-30+10.08.17.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-22825393948525815222020-04-30T17:07:00.004-04:002020-04-30T17:07:37.529-04:00Kord Waffenrock Project update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHo1PbXZRB8AaM3HTVWqys-8J48V9xf0ahJmRaAYS5utbJf-EkxRagFttSi1HgMTGat_3xtzNiAuYiMA5ZRfXX5v9NokfKEU-EZ0aqr3cBVKOF7mQUsrPRVSAADadszjYu1fbK8dyPuMS/s1600/95340217_1112531152458319_7919136072745877504_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHo1PbXZRB8AaM3HTVWqys-8J48V9xf0ahJmRaAYS5utbJf-EkxRagFttSi1HgMTGat_3xtzNiAuYiMA5ZRfXX5v9NokfKEU-EZ0aqr3cBVKOF7mQUsrPRVSAADadszjYu1fbK8dyPuMS/s400/95340217_1112531152458319_7919136072745877504_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Almost three years ago, I posted<a href="https://omaheke.blogspot.com/2017/07/kord-waffenrock-m1896-kaiserliche.html"> here </a>about my intention to research, source materials for, and construct a "museum quality" Southwest Africa Schutztruppe model 1896 <i>kord waffenrock</i>. I learned a great deal in this process and found a premier tailor and 1850s-1900s colonial-era uniform specialist with whom to collaborate. He is almost finished with the<i> waffenrock</i> (front view shown here) for an <i>unteroffizier ohne portapee</i> (in this case, a Sergeant), with original Prussian Guard silver metallic <i>tresse </i>at the cuffs and collar<i> </i>and original imperial <i>sergeantenknopf </i>on the collar (and not visible in this shot). There are also kord trousers and I'll have more construction details and pictures of both to share shortly.<br /><br />I am building the entire impression, minus the rifle, and will post documentation and sources of the uniform parts and accouterments in subsequent posts. I am down to the final missing piece (properly constructed tall brown riding boots that will fit my wide calf) and may have found a workable solution.Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-59678372892596959062018-11-27T16:21:00.001-05:002018-11-29T11:59:58.062-05:00Review: The Battle of Waterberg, 1904 by the Historical Gaming Company<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9W0Q_BOklvFjBqbWhjyo5QIPUdZCAwM7OABEECcBgBWWtmgsbS0elK1VcSrqP5qVC8XxeL5iXSJCYK3spON6UE3PWaCi01j88Ch-wNYCjk4A6EXE8LkrQPWpOknICV9y4zk2bsq7dEMJ/s1600/german+piece.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="60" data-original-width="62" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9W0Q_BOklvFjBqbWhjyo5QIPUdZCAwM7OABEECcBgBWWtmgsbS0elK1VcSrqP5qVC8XxeL5iXSJCYK3spON6UE3PWaCi01j88Ch-wNYCjk4A6EXE8LkrQPWpOknICV9y4zk2bsq7dEMJ/s1600/german+piece.png" /></a></div>
I was invited recently to playtest a new 2player board game called <i>The Battle of Waterberg, 1904</i> developed by Steve Kling at <a href="http://www.thehistoricalgamecompany.com/">The Historical Game Company</a>. During the last two months, I've had the change to play it several times with my teenage son, as well as to play out a couple of test runs on my own and provide feedback to the developers. With their encouragement, I'm pleased to share this review of the product in its current form and look forward to playing the finished product when it comes to market.<br />
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The Battle of Waterberg - the largest battle of the German Herero War of 1904 in what was then <i>Deutche Suedwestafrika</i> - is little known outside of modern Namibia except for a small group of scholars of early twentieth-century genocides and historians specializing in German colonialism. It followed several months of stagnation and setbacks for the German forces in the face of spirited and effective indigenous resistance. It was fought in the dense thornveld beneath the high escarpment of the Waterberg Plateau where thousands of Herero fighters with their families and vast cattle herds confronted six converging German <i>Abteilung: </i>detachments comprising two full <i>Schutztruppe</i> Regiments, supported by native auxiliaries, field artillery, machine guns, and a communications network that included heliography and wireless radio (<i>funkenstation</i>). Despite these advantages, the German sections fought isolated engagements, suffered considerable losses, and failed to meet their primary objective of containing and preventing the Hereros from escaping envelopment. Nevertheless the Hereros were deprived of most of their cattle and were ruthlessly pursued into the arid Omaheke in the East where untold thousands perished.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpq8NI5SPTYMaZw9MDMKGeSJ2O8EcJ3e-lSXcjkvaiBWHs4YyGjITMoYcvMovD9uyV-eJzRe3iHvxhWnaPrSfucUzu7nXoD0l8OGD8_1euw5v3RvflSp8OkJjLcrRrUDTGPx4Isi8JJqW/s1600/map+hexes.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="407" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpq8NI5SPTYMaZw9MDMKGeSJ2O8EcJ3e-lSXcjkvaiBWHs4YyGjITMoYcvMovD9uyV-eJzRe3iHvxhWnaPrSfucUzu7nXoD0l8OGD8_1euw5v3RvflSp8OkJjLcrRrUDTGPx4Isi8JJqW/s320/map+hexes.png" width="320" /></a></div>
The rules for this game draw closely from historical sources. The layout is attractive with a hexagonal grid overlying terrain that depicts the Waterberg Mountains (treated as a barrier for game purposes), Herero settlements, waterholes and a large cattle grazing area. The hexes within the large Herero staging area are honeycombed with thorny hedges that provide considerable obstacles for the advancing Germans while conferring the advantages of concealment, extra defensive value and free movement to the defending Africans. While this reflects the battle tactics and conditions of the historical engagements fought at the Waterberg, in game terms it reduces<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> German penetration of the Herero setup area to an exercise in close combat trench clearing. As with the tactics used on the Western Front, the German player is wise who takes advantage of ranged artillery before launching strong attacks across a wide front rather than driving right into close combat with whatever <i>Abteilung</i> reaches the battlefield first.</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />As a student of this battle and the history of German colonialism in Namibia, I appreciated the small "Easter egg" details in the design of the game pieces, from the initials used to delineate each <i>Abteilung</i> that are the first letters of their historical commanders, to the unique and appropriate headgear on the pieces that represent each of the three "native auxiliary" units in the German force and the <i>seebatallion</i> helmet on the elite Herero unit that was equipped with captured gear and uniforms taken after the annihilation of a German marine company the previous April at Okaharui. These touches are for the most part left unexplained in the game rules but add to the sense of fidelity to the source material cited at the end of the short rule book. I also enjoyed the artwork used for the cover and the game cards - color paintings by Carl Becker that were first published in 1908 as part of Freherr von Dinkelage-Campe's lavishly illustrated <i>Deutsche Reiter im<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></i></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Südwest</i></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Game play is driven by a set of 8 cards for each player that determine which what forces are available </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECjADOnT7sC3g2SGKQDtlm2gMyWjaALgOCuHszDJ5dnQQ5TqYpTOH32y82JLehP7i9SNut5wEZQTbu20AoqRZzbIwztk8RyhFsZVFU6TqbheH5erdNfKTEkPmECR3oziH5QmF_tbe9oBg/s1600/game+card.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="243" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECjADOnT7sC3g2SGKQDtlm2gMyWjaALgOCuHszDJ5dnQQ5TqYpTOH32y82JLehP7i9SNut5wEZQTbu20AoqRZzbIwztk8RyhFsZVFU6TqbheH5erdNfKTEkPmECR3oziH5QmF_tbe9oBg/s320/game+card.png" width="231" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">and modify their movement and combat effectiveness. </span><span style="background-color: white;">The cards add a random element that nicely simulates the contingencies of combat, including those unique to this battle: thorny obstacles, cattle stampedes, overheating machine guns. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Hereros have much more latitude to move individual pieces where they are most needed, while the Germans predominantly "phase" and engage by </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Abteilung</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. While that is indeed how the Germans fought, in game terms it leads to inadequate forces, stalled advances and, because of the current rule that requires disordered units to withdraw out of the enemy zone of control (ZOC) if they are able or be eliminated, causes irreplaceable losses in </span><span style="background-color: white;">front-line</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> troops. I have recommended that this rule be changed for the German player so that disordered units go prone and remain in place unless successfully attacked again in the same turn which would result in elimination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A turn consists of each player's opportunity to draw a card and complete a sequence of phasing affected units, movements and defensive fire, ranged and close combat and rallying disordered units. A game can involve as many as 24 turns, which at least when we were familiarizing ourselves with the rules meant that our games lasted longer than the designers envisioned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a number of factors for the German player to consider during the early turns when not all the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Abteilung</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> are in play, and later when they have been reduced to the point where </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Abteilung</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> may no longer have the combat strength to function effectively. Although the German forces are more powerful than most of their adversaries, they have fewer numbers and limited options to replenish their numbers as the game progresses. The German player in our games often performed very well but was unable to meet its victory conditions (all five strategic locations occupied and at least 18 Herero forces eliminated). A few changes to the line of sight rules and recognition of the fire suppression capacity of the machine gun units helped to better the odds, as did allowing disordered German units to go prone. In the one game where the Germans eliminated more than 18 Herero pieces, these forces were able to escape to the edge of the game board before the Germans ran out of time to occupy the waterholes, settlements and grazing herd that were among the conditions of victory. The reason the German plan in August of 1904 involved approaching the Waterberg region from multiple directions was precisely to prevent such a breakout and inflict a decisive defeat. Stressing this containment role in the German victory conditions would be </span>consistent<span style="font-family: inherit;"> with historical objectives and give the converging </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Abteilung</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> the incentive to utilize their artillery, machine gun and ranged attacks to best effect before slowly tightening the noose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite these factors, we found The Battle of Waterberg 1904 to be a highly enjoyable game to </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHqoStq-HQCnXw-Uqc3SWOJNw2JqH_yxH5RVn0wUqWs4NAUwqLA6HZ3KH4Tv6ZlusjziYCpXHLm1xGPDB3Uud_x-I2OMX6GHh3CO5xLdCg9Cn0jS0O-uGGw-my_722vkYQCq_DXRya-tV/s1600/turn+piece.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="62" data-original-width="62" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHqoStq-HQCnXw-Uqc3SWOJNw2JqH_yxH5RVn0wUqWs4NAUwqLA6HZ3KH4Tv6ZlusjziYCpXHLm1xGPDB3Uud_x-I2OMX6GHh3CO5xLdCg9Cn0jS0O-uGGw-my_722vkYQCq_DXRya-tV/s1600/turn+piece.png" /></a></span></div>
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play, and one that challenged us to find ways to overcome the advantages that familiar terrain afforded to the Herero player. I commend Steve Kling for bringing this game concept to execution. As one who has written two tabletop scenarios for miniature </span>war-gaming<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in this period, I appreciate the care that he has taken to simulate historical combat with fidelity while striving for a positive and playable experience. The Germans, if well deployed, should be able to hold their own, even as they penetrate deeper into Herero territory, but even in 1904, it was a near run thing for two of the <i>Abteilung</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-3148052279302844242017-08-10T15:54:00.001-04:002017-08-10T15:54:28.416-04:00Doctors and Nurses at the Marine-Feldlazarett in Okahandja, 1904<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3O4mMcWrrNia1DRomafQRI3ptmiEQw_4ciLOV8pUoPXRjvIR14BN94g0O_gyl9ORXvALcj2FqPUBljSL1OATmpUYCugTODYXHYmNbY_iMCstTlVSOIoOULlElT0WnMH-uxz3Jv4v01Xn/s1600/Drs+and+nurses+without+names.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3O4mMcWrrNia1DRomafQRI3ptmiEQw_4ciLOV8pUoPXRjvIR14BN94g0O_gyl9ORXvALcj2FqPUBljSL1OATmpUYCugTODYXHYmNbY_iMCstTlVSOIoOULlElT0WnMH-uxz3Jv4v01Xn/s400/Drs+and+nurses+without+names.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
<br />Here is an image from 1904 of German medical personnel at the <i>Marine-Feldlazarett </i>in Okahandja, Southwest Africa. The identities of all six individuals are known. <br /><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seated in the center is </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr.
Gappel, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Marine-Stabsartz</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Chefartz</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> of the <i>Marine-Expeditionskorps</i>. He was based at Helgoland before shipping out for Africa in late January, 1904 on </span>board<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the <i>S.S. </i></span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Darmstadt. </i></span>Initially based with the 2nd <i>Marine-Kompagnie </i>at Okahandja, he established the Marine base hospital here, which is also where this photograph was taken. He returned to Germany at the end of September, 1904.<br />
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Seated in the front row are "Sister" Lili Hartoy (at left) and "Sister" Helene Doll (at right). I wish I knew more about these nurses. In the end of march and beginning of April, reinforcements started to embark for Southwest Africa that included "62 hospital nurses and bakers". Perhaps these two women were among this group. It could also be that they were members of the German "Womens' League*" which sent an initial seven "sisters" to nurse the sick in the Colony in January and February, followed by another twenty. It is unclear whether there were any female nurses with the Marine- Expeditionskorps or whether some of these Women's League nurses may have been assigned to it. The main <i>feldlazarett </i>at Okahandja would have been a logical place for some of them to be posted.<br /><br />Standing at left is <i>Marine-Assistenzartz </i>Dr. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Br<span style="font-size: 11pt;">ü</span>ggmann, </span>who was assigned to the <i>Schutztruppe</i> on January 27, 1904. Next to him is Oberassistenzartz Dr. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Jan</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">ß</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">en, who sailed on </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Darmstadt</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> with Dr. Gappel and was assigned from the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Ostsee</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> station. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He served with the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Ostabteilung</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> in March and April, 1904, returning to Germany in the Spring of 1905. Standing at right is <i>Lazarett-Inspektor</i> Br</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ück,</span> about whom I have learned nothing further.<br /><br />* Possibly the German-National Women's League</span><br />
<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-10367011277182026612017-07-17T14:55:00.000-04:002017-07-19T16:52:46.659-04:00Images of Artillery used during the German Herero-Nama Wars<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_RXeSnB4nRkjFplR8X7YqVpEjzTGf6916D0NKDZ7WJb0dqUJ0Ky0T5odpzJywQu46wqzWmw5fVfqPdg6WwNg9Iiq0KalaC6qLTIRwDQCz1MNziJhbf33PHluZBgY9ZNXiZcdzQRg7eFc/s1600/gebirgschutz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="630" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_RXeSnB4nRkjFplR8X7YqVpEjzTGf6916D0NKDZ7WJb0dqUJ0Ky0T5odpzJywQu46wqzWmw5fVfqPdg6WwNg9Iiq0KalaC6qLTIRwDQCz1MNziJhbf33PHluZBgY9ZNXiZcdzQRg7eFc/s400/gebirgschutz.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">7.2 cm <i style="text-align: start;">gebirgskanone</i><span style="text-align: start;"> L/14 M98</span></span></td></tr>
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The <i>Schutztruppe</i>, <i>Seebatallion</i> and<i> Landungskorps</i> from S.M.S. "<i>Habicht</i>" had a range of artillery and machine guns available during the German/Herero War of 1904. <a href="http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/">Other sites </a>do an excellent job of describing most of these artillery pieces, although machine guns will require a bit more research to determine what version of the Maxim gun was provided by the navy and marines, as these branches received machine guns before they were adopted by the army in 1901. My intention here is to briefly describe the artillery and then provide some historic photographs.<br />
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The <i>Schutztruppe</i> had both C73 and C96 <i>feldkanone. </i>The C73 came in two calibers: 7.85 <i>Leichte feldkanone</i> and 8.8 cm <i>Schwere feldkanone</i>. The C96 fired a 7.7cm projectile. At the outset of the Herero war, the <i>Schutztruppe</i> in DSWA had five C73 <i>Leichte feldkanone</i> and was later reenforced with C/96aA and C/96nA field guns from Germany and two <i>feldkanone</i> 91/93 from Kameruun.<br />
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The colony also had at least four 5.7 cm quick firing guns or <i>schnellfeurgeschürtzen</i>. Although these saw service during the Herero War as part of Battery 1 under Hauptmann v. Oertzen, I have not been able to locate any good photographs or even details about the design of these weapons.<br />
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Four mountain guns were issued to the <i>Schutztruppe</i> and were in service at the outbreak of the German/Herero war. These were 7.2 cm <i>gebirgskanone</i> L/14 M98 and saw hard service between 1904 and 1908 when the colony received the new 7.5 cm <i>gebirgskanone</i> L/17 M08.<br />
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Four outdated 10.5 cm fixed recoil field howitzers (<i>feldhaubtize</i> M98 by Rheinmetall) were sent to Southwest Africa during the German/Herero War.<br />
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The <i>Seebataillon</i> and <i>Landungskorp</i>s from S.M.S. "<i>Habicht</i>" contributed 2 or 3 cone-mounted 3.7 cm <span style="text-align: center;">Gruson-Hotchkiss</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://hererowars.com/new-the-revolverkanone-and.html"><i>revolverkanone</i> </a>and 8 M97 Krupp 3.7cm <i>maschinenkanone</i>.<br />
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There were several machine gun sections, served both by marines and sailors and by <i>Schutztruppe</i>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKD5LRWTYj8KG77Zyl5jerPIjuCWoQH9wdh0xQr0ArHtc9EkATvvECmrsjlhT5kq5R0wu26uPaYlksBk0qfD_KAGBeBBg2R_4fS5_dotPlBTYbyrmYvE4tcr_4XG3-IFrwvNUEzVPVV0Qr/s1600/c96+from+battery+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="637" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKD5LRWTYj8KG77Zyl5jerPIjuCWoQH9wdh0xQr0ArHtc9EkATvvECmrsjlhT5kq5R0wu26uPaYlksBk0qfD_KAGBeBBg2R_4fS5_dotPlBTYbyrmYvE4tcr_4XG3-IFrwvNUEzVPVV0Qr/s400/c96+from+battery+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7.7cm C96 Feldkanone, Battery 5, 1904</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYcSJrHCvkyuXSEck6hBrK7WVrxY6JZ6tgLvYkZUHpfdoLF0PcjSz1HuD2MeMX5nQKfEhgrWAvOpCiaMXSOk1oEHXGdOg02b_npvCxhIk7IrwasKJe5vcGGcoGvPnn1SVIXioatTgI801/s1600/mountain+gun+emplacement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="516" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYcSJrHCvkyuXSEck6hBrK7WVrxY6JZ6tgLvYkZUHpfdoLF0PcjSz1HuD2MeMX5nQKfEhgrWAvOpCiaMXSOk1oEHXGdOg02b_npvCxhIk7IrwasKJe5vcGGcoGvPnn1SVIXioatTgI801/s400/mountain+gun+emplacement.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain gun emplacement</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6ZZtr-ZmhrlebhyphenhyphenD7p9Lwiz5lGoYfP20ae7x0KgLwpTDVi9uTKvAHZptolUTrxrObhynvERkKmHnpflRWcWhjyi1rZeZHvGJf67zHtEgZbpQKKAjkMMxpCHAuRFpC7WlsVhELCSTT6hJ/s1600/Mountain+gun+battery+on+mules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="1080" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6ZZtr-ZmhrlebhyphenhyphenD7p9Lwiz5lGoYfP20ae7x0KgLwpTDVi9uTKvAHZptolUTrxrObhynvERkKmHnpflRWcWhjyi1rZeZHvGJf67zHtEgZbpQKKAjkMMxpCHAuRFpC7WlsVhELCSTT6hJ/s400/Mountain+gun+battery+on+mules.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain gun battery on mules</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNVURrx5FTLnGxmz6Ocf0_fyiYBJa3yxp4gOEcztPE5_xZn_yLkGgYcXOm1kk3L7s9-UftCo4SVoIHCdZ3NrxNbQOn9sK-Co3qSVWfeXsDe-Bg9ndACDjj1yN2bwJmqRcUASJqrCGiQe/s1600/Screenshot+2014-08-03+09.13.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="374" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNVURrx5FTLnGxmz6Ocf0_fyiYBJa3yxp4gOEcztPE5_xZn_yLkGgYcXOm1kk3L7s9-UftCo4SVoIHCdZ3NrxNbQOn9sK-Co3qSVWfeXsDe-Bg9ndACDjj1yN2bwJmqRcUASJqrCGiQe/s400/Screenshot+2014-08-03+09.13.58.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain guns firing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe7oixsxVXhyphenhyphen5H-fsJFoliz1ua48xgzYXWl-10r2JMbIVgf5levP5jzVhyphenhyphen6m96yK668yr3Yu1xJl1oVrX3CslH95aWOaFhpbZR6enRtV_doTP37C3r5p9LCUlGVMdDhgOQFE8mFg32p9y/s1600/machinenkanone+crew+on+Darmstadt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="575" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe7oixsxVXhyphenhyphen5H-fsJFoliz1ua48xgzYXWl-10r2JMbIVgf5levP5jzVhyphenhyphen6m96yK668yr3Yu1xJl1oVrX3CslH95aWOaFhpbZR6enRtV_doTP37C3r5p9LCUlGVMdDhgOQFE8mFg32p9y/s640/machinenkanone+crew+on+Darmstadt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sailors </i>with M97 Krupp 3.7cm <i>Maschinenkanone </i>on <i>Darmstadt</i> transport, 1904</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxWXxr-y2_A2UDgCGYus3Q73YNbfSBMLt0FdnQuAt7Vp5XZSLoixndjtGAKhpWS_dC2pYdGn9fPVP3813iRkkLzDMia-niHC5nv1Pcth9xHQTTy5IYiIZZRBsbCZ2kNxGn9Z__6D4bd2L/s1600/Cone+Mounted+revoler+cannon+schutztruppe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxWXxr-y2_A2UDgCGYus3Q73YNbfSBMLt0FdnQuAt7Vp5XZSLoixndjtGAKhpWS_dC2pYdGn9fPVP3813iRkkLzDMia-niHC5nv1Pcth9xHQTTy5IYiIZZRBsbCZ2kNxGn9Z__6D4bd2L/s400/Cone+Mounted+revoler+cannon+schutztruppe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Schutztruppen</i> with cone mounted 3.7cm Gruson-Hotchkiss <i>revolverkanone</i> from SMS <i>Habicht</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdJd25hrc3j1H7vykVYF5HjPdsCoCJqhwPaJb8Cr_OQ_tHqPRL6XBBdAt8AFqkohOD5-fkhbzNvuurPm_E2eAPx_7J4WIx2tcA7Wnkfettxq7f6q2R0M5bbu4tAF53CP2RlDRa_nrOlEs/s1600/troopers+and+machine+gun+on+firing+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdJd25hrc3j1H7vykVYF5HjPdsCoCJqhwPaJb8Cr_OQ_tHqPRL6XBBdAt8AFqkohOD5-fkhbzNvuurPm_E2eAPx_7J4WIx2tcA7Wnkfettxq7f6q2R0M5bbu4tAF53CP2RlDRa_nrOlEs/s400/troopers+and+machine+gun+on+firing+line.jpg" width="361" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maxim Gun:<i> Maschinengewehr</i><br />
(probably purchased in 1901)<br />
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Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-28010425087901869692017-07-13T10:17:00.001-04:002017-07-13T10:17:55.997-04:00Kord Waffenrock M1896: Kaiserliche Schutztruppe Deutsch-Südwestafrika<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7HGzgje_0IlUzZnMkoU6NOBEw1WCVHGFiaGCbNNOlsWHUgVMd_kAOLYyCGuVK8Ro2oqgskQ97YK7YTZUtZHBlxy8_W6tQ7RDxzrvf-P10osQLux12dkVjrcI1_Il0f7luNYgkhRfV6M2/s1600/633928845303095000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1181" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7HGzgje_0IlUzZnMkoU6NOBEw1WCVHGFiaGCbNNOlsWHUgVMd_kAOLYyCGuVK8Ro2oqgskQ97YK7YTZUtZHBlxy8_W6tQ7RDxzrvf-P10osQLux12dkVjrcI1_Il0f7luNYgkhRfV6M2/s640/633928845303095000.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>Die Deutschen Kolonial und Schutztruppen von 1889 bis 1918</i></td></tr>
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One of the most distinctive uniforms used in German Southwest Africa during the period of the Herero and Nama wars and for some years before and after was the model 1896 corduroy <i>waffenrock</i>.<br />
I've decided to try to recreate this uniform tunic, and possibly fashion a complete reenacting impression for a sergeant of the <i>landsturm</i>, which presents a number of challenges, the most significant of which is that I do not have an original uniform to examine in person. There are, however, many contemporary images, as well as photographs of surviving examples, and by examining the differences between the Prussian M1895 <i>waffenrock</i> on which it is based, I believe a credible interpretation may be achieved. I have also been able to source most of the trimmings needed to complete this coat as well, and have every expectation that I will be able to gather the materials I require.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlbRWJvqfcK4GYLGdsxCbu2bvWEN5bA6zJ-2rdzYs-B7ePIdBxtciyi6I9v2eDeA4PutymE7ynjeko4h5HvbqMzHj4xkmzKwfRoIPAWvMAyP9OD-VVYggFe2VLIQLP0Hy3-g1SZFhzb6D/s1600/Prussian+Waffenrock+field+artillery+1895+rear.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="678" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlbRWJvqfcK4GYLGdsxCbu2bvWEN5bA6zJ-2rdzYs-B7ePIdBxtciyi6I9v2eDeA4PutymE7ynjeko4h5HvbqMzHj4xkmzKwfRoIPAWvMAyP9OD-VVYggFe2VLIQLP0Hy3-g1SZFhzb6D/s320/Prussian+Waffenrock+field+artillery+1895+rear.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prussian Field Artillery M1895<i> waffenrock</i>, <br />
rear view</td></tr>
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The imperial German<i> waffenrock</i> <a href="http://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/waffenrock.htm">went through a number of iterations</a> during the 19th century. The model 1895 Prussian <i>waffenrock</i> was the basis both for the <i>Schutztruppe</i> gray Home Uniform and corduroy <i>waffenrock</i> tunic and trousers that were issued to soldiers in Southwest Africa as a suitable winter weight alternative to wool or tropical khaki. The DSWA <i>Schutztruppe</i> variant differed in several respects from the basic Prussian design. It featured a stand and fall collar, Swedish cuffs and piping in cornflower blue: the color prescribed for the troops of the Southwest Africa colony. Because the Schutztruppe were imperial troops, it had white metal buttons with the imperial crown. It also featured a single white <i>Litzen </i>(silver metallic for senior NCOs and officers) with an internal red stripe on the 5cm collar and two on each cuff. For my sergeant's impression, I will need to add 2cm wide silver lace on the front edge and bottom of the collar and the edge of the cuffs, along with a large white metal NCO's collar button. There were eight buttons down the front of the uniform, and an internal cloth drawstring at the waist to adjust the fit. There were also 2 buttons on the cuffs and s split vent with an internal, small white metal button attached with four holes as a closure.<br /><br />I'm less certain about the top buttons on the rear flaps of the tunic, and whether these should be imperial crown belt hooks or not. I have a pair just in case. All the imperial buttons were pressed through the fabric and attached with what look like split brass rings. The collar was closed by one or two long hooks that also attached to a brass ring. Button holes were hand sewn but the rest of the tunic was machine stitched.<br />
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The issued <i>waffenrock</i> was lined. I doubt that the skirts were in black cotton or silk like the Prussian <i>waffenrock.. </i>My interpretation will have white linen lining above the skirts (with an internal pocket at the left breast) and heavy khaki poplin to line the skirts. The back of the tunic has a working vent which allows access to two skirt pockets. The skirt flaps and the open edge of the tunic are piped in cornflower blue. There were reinforcement bars stitched at the top, rear of the cuff adjustment slits and above the rear vent of the tunic.<br />
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The enlisted <i>Schutztruppe</i> uniforms also had shoulder boards made from white mohair cord with imperial black and red chevrons backed with cornflower blue wool. I was able to get some reproduction cord and will make the shoulder-boards myself. Officers had silver bullion cord with imperial black and red chevrons.<br />
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Aside from these details, sourcing the uniform fabric has been challenging. I am going with wool felt in cornflower blue for the collar, cuffs and shoulder board backing. I've requested a swatch of the <a href="http://www.hainsworth.co.uk/apparel/uniform/true-heritage/">Hainsworth True Heritage</a> brown khaki whipcord uniform fabric. Contemproary Germans called corduroy trousers <i>Manchesterhosen </i>after the famous English corduroy manufacturing center, and the color <i>sandfarben </i>specified for field service was variously colored sandy brown corduroy that lightened in the desert sun. I have an original M1893 canteen cover made from brown corduroy and if the Hainsworth stuff is a close match, that is what I'll use.<br /><br />As a junior NCO (<u><i>Unteroffizier ohne Portapee</i></u>), there is no difference between the insignia on my <i>kord waffenrock </i>and that of a <i>vice-feldwebel</i>. These ranks are distinguished by <a href="http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/bayonet%20knots.htm">bayonet knots</a>. <i>Unteroffiziers</i> and Sergeants wore a <i>troddel</i> knot in imperial colors, and I have one of those though I do not yet own an appropriate bayonet. Senior NCOs and Officers were entitled to the more ornate <i>Portapee</i>, which was worn by the <i>vice-feldwebel</i> and<i> feldwebel</i> with a sword while on parade and on the bayonet when on campaign. Those for DSWA were closed knots with white metallic lace with the lanyard threaded in imperial black and red colors. I do not have one of these. On very rare occassions, an historic image shows an <i>unteroffizer</i> wearing both the <i>kord waffenrock</i> and a detachable shoulder chevron such as were worn on the <i>kord litewka</i> and<i> khaki feldrock</i> uniforms, but this was not according to regulation.<br /><br />I'm far too old to depict the young regular army volunteers who customarily served 3 year terms in the <i>Schutztruppe </i>in southwest Africa. My impression, should I ever complete it, will be of a reservist from the <i>Landsturm, </i>an old retired member of the Protection Force who settled down int he colony and was called up during the Herero uprising. I'll wear a mix of uniform types and Schutztruppe kit, which was quite common even for regular S<i>chutztruppen</i> while on campaign.<br />
<br />If anyone reading this post has firsthand knowledge or documentation for the lining of the <i>kord waffenrock</i>, whether it had belt hooks or not at the top of the vent flaps, and what specific fabric comprised the collar, cuffs shoulder-board backing, I would be deeply appreciative of your sharing you knowledge and source material.<br />
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<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-64450865639044429592016-12-22T13:39:00.002-05:002018-08-21T14:52:54.297-04:00Owikokorero Officer Casualties and Medical Personnel in Bivouac.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been looking for an un-watermarked version of this historic image for a long time. It was taken during the German-Herero War in 1904 shortly after the battle of Owikokorero, where an advanced party from Major von Glasnapp's <i>Ostabteilung</i> was ambushed and took very heavy casualties, 10 out of 11 officers in the engagement were hit, with 7 outright fatalities. The Major commandant was lightly wounded in the head, and the other two more seriously wounded officers appear in this image, along with some of the expedition's medical personnel.<br />
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Lying in the cot is <i>Oberleuntnant</i> <i>zur See</i> Friedrich Hermann, part of the <i>Landungskorps</i> from S.M.S. "Habicht". He was in charge of a machine gun section and was shot through the left shoulder and also in the left hip. Seated to his right is <i>Marine</i>-<i>Leutnant</i> Theobald Sch<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">äfer, who was also adjutant of the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">Ostabteilung</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">. He was shot through the bone of his left underarm and also in the buttocks.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">T<span style="font-family: inherit;">hey are attended by several known</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;"> medical officers. Standing in the rear at right is <i>Marine-</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;"><i>Assistenzartz</i> Dr. Jan</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">ß</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">en. Seated third from the right is one-year<i> Schutztruppe</i> medical volunteer (<i>Einj</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;"><i>ährig-</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;"><i>freiwilliger</i>) Dr. Ersnt August Kaerger</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">,</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;"> and seated to his right is <i>Marine-</i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">Stabsartz</i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525;"> Dr. Wiemann. Following the death at Owikokorero of <i>Marine-Oberassistensartz</i> Dr. Wilhelm Belden </span></span>of the <i>Landungskorps</i> from S.M.S. "Habicht", th<span style="color: #252525;">ese were the three senior medical personnel attached to the </span><i style="color: #252525;">Ostabteilung</i><span style="color: #252525;"> along with a 30 man medical department. Possibly the other Germans in the image were part of that hospital section.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">The two native </span><span style="color: #252525;">auxiliaries remain unidentified. They could be orderlies or batmen (<i>bambuse</i>)</span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> or they could be soldiers serving with the column. They do not appear to be wounded.</span></span></span><br />
<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-50533720071210476662016-10-25T16:02:00.001-04:002016-11-21T12:12:10.541-05:00Images of Native Auxilaries in German Service in DSWA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The participation of some indigenous people on the German side was awkward fact of the colonial wars in southwest Africa between 1904-1908. The bulk of the German forces used in these conflicts were imperial Schutztruppen on detached service from their parent units, augmented by local reserves from the settler population, along with certain marine and naval elements that deployed at the outbreak of the Herero War. Nonetheless, there were three native auxiliary units - the Rehoboth Bastards, the Witbooi Orlam (<span class="st"><i>ǀKhowesin</i>) </span>and a half company of Bethanie Orlam (<i>ǃAman</i>) - that fought alongside the Germans in 1904. There were also indigenous people who accompanied the Schutztruppe in the capacity of officer's servants (<i>bamusen</i>), wagon drivers (<i>treibern</i>), and occasionally even as soldiers attached to predominantly white units, as depicted in the photograph above. Standing at the far right is a soldier identified as<i> farbiger </i>(colored) Abraham.<br />
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The following images from German archives and period publications depict native auxilaries with the Schutztruppe in DSWA both prior to the German-Herero war and during that conflict. Some of them served with the Germans prior to 1904 and against them afterwards. The Witboois and some of the Bethanie men fought against the Germans during the Nama War of 1904-1908 after serving with them against the Herero. The Rehoboth Bastards fought by their side throughout, but so did individual Hereros..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dUOPi8-g0ZYG1F2mcMT7zVxHCfGRWM2gR3nauSYpfZqTjCJxG0Sqp76gh8VoNDQYIxFhRnaASYdk-AG8ZLoMtI32ac0jXb1Md_ikT2yA3Zl4ERvk4bTZXzUCQLJC8XYvOin87dYY-8bJ/s1600/Witboois+in+okahandja.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dUOPi8-g0ZYG1F2mcMT7zVxHCfGRWM2gR3nauSYpfZqTjCJxG0Sqp76gh8VoNDQYIxFhRnaASYdk-AG8ZLoMtI32ac0jXb1Md_ikT2yA3Zl4ERvk4bTZXzUCQLJC8XYvOin87dYY-8bJ/s640/Witboois+in+okahandja.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Witbooi native auxiliaries (at right) in Okahandja in 1904</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhRyTSKZkh-6-KeV1HdDlzTGxdoxC8k-srnR4j3lQuX7M2EeOpNWmT5nRVht4733pIHXYbOkydZyOCWEsXgBYRj3PJDiVHV3GMcFBB9tXiCrKd3AuH9SHuIrBgWYeOS_yUQUaDkGGbKXa/s1600/Mounted+Witboois.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhRyTSKZkh-6-KeV1HdDlzTGxdoxC8k-srnR4j3lQuX7M2EeOpNWmT5nRVht4733pIHXYbOkydZyOCWEsXgBYRj3PJDiVHV3GMcFBB9tXiCrKd3AuH9SHuIrBgWYeOS_yUQUaDkGGbKXa/s640/Mounted+Witboois.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mounted Witboois 1904</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjIridmfQOfAwp2gFMz5lHFJbcWriDdsSy2FDT_JgwjA5Nn1UBOBIUdQzWWeWaCXAwrpzEj89BCY2h3QFGYxfq2ymCkw71XVtnrWoSUiLDSmWd9egJrmNDtwu9R1vgpZmXZnxQ4ELBAnH/s1600/Witboi+in+Windhuk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjIridmfQOfAwp2gFMz5lHFJbcWriDdsSy2FDT_JgwjA5Nn1UBOBIUdQzWWeWaCXAwrpzEj89BCY2h3QFGYxfq2ymCkw71XVtnrWoSUiLDSmWd9egJrmNDtwu9R1vgpZmXZnxQ4ELBAnH/s640/Witboi+in+Windhuk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Witboois in Windhuk</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baster Company</td></tr>
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<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-42238143635867134112016-06-02T16:09:00.000-04:002016-06-02T16:09:43.912-04:00Askari Releases Mounted SchutztruppenAskari Miniatures has filled a much needed gap in 28mm Colonial German wargaming with the release this March of <a href="http://www.askari-minis.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=53">four sets of Mounted Schutztruppen</a> - horses and camels. They are the same excellent quality as previous releases of Schutztruppen in this scale, which run closer to 26mm than true 28mm but still work with the larger scale. The sets includes six troopers on either horses or camels, and a 3 person command pack with bugler, NCO and officer for each time of mounted troops. One interesting feature is the ability to include rifles either in their scabbards or withdrawn.<br /><br />I plan to pick up several of these sets. Mounted officers are very rare in this scale from any current manufacturer, as indeed are mounted troops. The camel riders will only be used in the final expedition of the Nama War in 1908, though they were around in SWA afterwards.Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-9430684698996792392016-02-26T22:38:00.003-05:002016-02-26T22:38:24.156-05:00Schutztruppe Feldwebel Shoulder Insignia <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGuno9ZZuv6PS1jLR5n3iB_JRkEYEQrNEfaTLSEvHnRiVYiZgJsCQdlvqyhgEvUfMuGm3-Og5jKURSsnp3nFLwGdFxrpfBsBhz_mbgWJ99bsSRr2LAZ-vjpEKHJR25GoWeaNA1ZShHpTC/s1600/feldwebel+DSWA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGuno9ZZuv6PS1jLR5n3iB_JRkEYEQrNEfaTLSEvHnRiVYiZgJsCQdlvqyhgEvUfMuGm3-Og5jKURSsnp3nFLwGdFxrpfBsBhz_mbgWJ99bsSRr2LAZ-vjpEKHJR25GoWeaNA1ZShHpTC/s400/feldwebel+DSWA.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reproduction DSWA Feldwebel Shoulder Insignia </td></tr>
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Here is a modern recreation of the shoulder insignia of a senior NCO in the <i>Deutsch Südwestafrika Schutztruppe</i>. The feldwebel was the highest level NCO in Imperial Germany and functioned as Company Sergeant Major. The triangular chevron with four metallic silver stripes (with blue cloth backing for DSWA) was worn by the <i>feldwebel </i>on the left shoulder as a detachable shoulder patch with hooks at the corners. However, such chevrons were only worn with the tropical uniforms (either white or khaki (<i>feldrock</i>) and also the <i>kord litewka</i>. The home and <i>kord waffenrock</i> uniforms, on the other hand, featured collar and cuff rank insignia instead. <br /><br />The diligent painter, therefore, should indicate NCO rank based on the appropriate style for the uniform. Senior NCOs (<i>feldwebe</i>l or <i>vice-feldwebel</i>) also wore the closed sword knot without fringe (<i>Portapee</i>), as seen on the feldwebel in the image, below.<br /><br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyyrZ-DOIyh8Gemp-Vl9FIwXRaZAIgU0qp4Ys0AUesB6_-aoOpGefNGtOCzJ2yyn-3ch3mSLP1GsLnNV8Myb-GFrogJpMTgjV5bv6xVjZcweBvCg2tVUyRafDRVaLdwoqFOkzQYEr43cP/s1600/Feldwebel+Wenrauther.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyyrZ-DOIyh8Gemp-Vl9FIwXRaZAIgU0qp4Ys0AUesB6_-aoOpGefNGtOCzJ2yyn-3ch3mSLP1GsLnNV8Myb-GFrogJpMTgjV5bv6xVjZcweBvCg2tVUyRafDRVaLdwoqFOkzQYEr43cP/s640/Feldwebel+Wenrauther.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-66551930247169585582015-12-11T15:47:00.002-05:002015-12-11T15:47:21.056-05:00Heliography and Funkentelegraphy in the Herero War"<i>The headquarters took its place behind the lead company and sent up a
balloon antenna. With this we hoped to make contact with v.d. Heyde and
v. Estorff. Rückforth set up his heliograph and began to exchange
signals with Auer on the Waterberg. Auer was able to report about all he
was able to see below him.</i>" - Major Max Bayer<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heliograph team in Southwest Africa</td></tr>
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At the very outset of the German-Herero War in 1904, the Southwest Africa protectorate's single telegraph line along the train tracks from Swakopmund to Windhuk was cut in several places. Protecting these vital links from further sabotage tied down considerable resources, including heavy automatic weapons that could otherwise have been deployed against the Hereros. <br />
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Communication between isolated commands over vast distances and across varied topography in this region would require portable, wireless technologies. The Germans came to rely on two different systems during the war with the Herero: one with its roots in the armies of antiquity and the other a product of the modern age. Neither offered a perfect solution, and both would later be supplanted by subsequent advances in radio development, but together they had advantages that the Germans came to appreciate and which ultimately influenced the course of the decisive action at the Waterburg in August 1904.<br />
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The heliograph was a simple concept that used mirrors to direct the rays of the sun and communicate between observers using Morse Code. It required no other power source and was mounted on a simple surveyor's tripod. While reliance on the sun restricted heliography to daylight conditions with clear skies, it was well suited to the highveld and arid conditions of southern Africa. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65wm0EicqRvekVwV6qCUmR9vO9JE-NBMBw9R8nxW0c_G_Ck1rRD_XOILOXbAv25ItNdYYfz_ygQbPGzN29SThPY2SV0SQ4XDQLZ_7GzSqabm5-dwyISbiNjf2Q7q8puOguQD_MlW4Xycs/s1600/Heliograph+postcard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65wm0EicqRvekVwV6qCUmR9vO9JE-NBMBw9R8nxW0c_G_Ck1rRD_XOILOXbAv25ItNdYYfz_ygQbPGzN29SThPY2SV0SQ4XDQLZ_7GzSqabm5-dwyISbiNjf2Q7q8puOguQD_MlW4Xycs/s640/Heliograph+postcard.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The British had uses heliographs during the Zulu War in 1879 and in the Sudan in the 1880s, while the American General Nelson Miles employed them during his campaign against Geronimo. Both the British and the Boers employed heliography during the 2nd Boer War (1899-1902), and it may have been this conflict that caused Imperial Germany to reconsider investing in this technology. They adapted the British Mark V heliograph with additional refinements in 1900, and initially used them in Southwest Africa at fixed stations to communicate with distant outposts that were not yet served by telegraph lines. <br />
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As long as the receiver's location remained fixed or could be identified by the sender, sending messages this way was a reliable means of communication, bu there were disadvantages for its use in the field. Heliography required a clear line of sight between sender and receiver, ideally transmitted from high elevation, but the dense thornfeld along the Swakop River and its drainages to the North and East of Okahandja offered few natural eminences, forcing troops in the field to improvise signal stations atop termite hills and thorn trees. Von Glasenapp's <i>Ostabteilung </i>spent over a month maneuvering in pursuit of the Herero and was seldom in one place long enough to establish heliograph contact with the station atop Kaiser Wilhelmberg at Okahandja or with Winhuk via a heliograph station at Seeis, requiring riders to carry messages part of the way. Intermittent heliograph communication delayed reporting the defeat of von Glasenapp's section back to headquarters, and it was impossible at this stage for mobile sections to coordinate their efforts, even when separated by as little as 50 miles, because the low topography and dense thorns prevented signalers for fixing the position of their counterparts.<br />
<br />
During the build up of troops under Lothar von Trotha in May and June, 1904, the Germans added wireless radio communications capacity in the form of three (some sources say four) <i>funkentelegraph</i> equipped carts and wagons, each able deploy either a 12 ft<span class="st"><sup>2</sup></span> kite or a 350 f<span class="st"></span>t<span class="_Tgc"><sup>3</sup> </span> hydrogen-filled balloon to extend its antenna in the field. Four commissioned officers, four NCOs and 27 men assigned to these wireless sections departed Hamburg on April 30th in the transport "<i>Herzog</i>", arriving at Swakopmund on May 24th, 1904. <br /><br />The portable wireless stations or <i>funkenstationen</i> were first used against the Herero during the Waterburg campaign that August, where their relative strengths and weaknesses soon became apparent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_bZ5CSZ2vwOCGYyIK8MOB_DHZL866MDg8MqyVOp9R-IiVxb-ortbiR4xgsxcoDz31TclSz7RbiefVvu02fjhGYRmqxPxorJSQ-HO1CvPjzl_O_L_CT0kqtVlBFlImdnlBKQYydQoP5rF/s1600/Funkenstation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_bZ5CSZ2vwOCGYyIK8MOB_DHZL866MDg8MqyVOp9R-IiVxb-ortbiR4xgsxcoDz31TclSz7RbiefVvu02fjhGYRmqxPxorJSQ-HO1CvPjzl_O_L_CT0kqtVlBFlImdnlBKQYydQoP5rF/s640/Funkenstation.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Each wireless station required at least three two wheeled support vehicles, which together transported a broad array of equipment, including gasoline powered generating plant, cable drum for hauling the balloon, the receiving apparatus, and the hydrogen tanks and balloon. The Germans found two wheeled cars less stable and prone to tipping than four wheeled wagons, and each weighted nearly a ton when loaded. High winds tore kites and prevented the balloons from reaching an ideal elevation, and the balloons themselves, soaring well above the thorn trees, clearly marked the location of the units they served and made them attractive targets for Herero rifles.<br /><br />The converging German sections that fought below the Waterburg included several that were wireless equipped, including the headquarters section (von Muhlenfels), von Heyde's and von Estorff's sections. While these allowed sporadic communication among these separate German elements, it was the simpler heliograph technology that played the divisive part in establishing communication between them, for Oberleutnant Richard Volkmann who was stationed to the North of the plateau wisely dispatched Lt. Auer. with a heliograph to the top of the Waterberg where he was able to communication with the various sections far below.<br /><br />After the battle the wireless units were soon taken offline for servicing as the campaign against the Herero was winding down and war with the Nama shifted German attention to the south. While these initial<i> funkenstationen </i>were down for repairs, an additional three units arrived from Germany and were deployed in the field. The heliograph was a necessary supplement, and unlike the original wireless units remained in use by signal corps in many armies well after World War II.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs5unVKMoBbU-MFSkSHMUZsQ-BYXShIEF9DebJD9YW-IoIS6XJe7b0mbK-BL37LLENFA969AN4fJp2vmiLXUDMcG1S0vBPO2kiI4FPzitIGLMrSwXXdm1KKFKOzT_NYE3JtEejK1ontk_/s1600/Heliograph+windhuk+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs5unVKMoBbU-MFSkSHMUZsQ-BYXShIEF9DebJD9YW-IoIS6XJe7b0mbK-BL37LLENFA969AN4fJp2vmiLXUDMcG1S0vBPO2kiI4FPzitIGLMrSwXXdm1KKFKOzT_NYE3JtEejK1ontk_/s640/Heliograph+windhuk+2.jpg" width="440" /></a><br />
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<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-83064688028114990512015-06-16T10:09:00.001-04:002015-06-16T10:09:20.195-04:00New Skirmish Scenario "Incident at Osona": Armored Trains and Herero Rifles (Part IV)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsRoDkX7AYCaRYm0h6J-LKdUL4tgO4dulp1tjyXa6NO6oxwylLwPcqD6WCHPeNtvx8p2CUuer-44fRXtv3n1wvsrfLwLMF-BJJIPia4m77w3-FmQElkAojnlP9cRy88Ul2y09WejFUuZ6/s1600/Incident+at+Osona+cover+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsRoDkX7AYCaRYm0h6J-LKdUL4tgO4dulp1tjyXa6NO6oxwylLwPcqD6WCHPeNtvx8p2CUuer-44fRXtv3n1wvsrfLwLMF-BJJIPia4m77w3-FmQElkAojnlP9cRy88Ul2y09WejFUuZ6/s400/Incident+at+Osona+cover+page.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Download .pdf of Playtest Version <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-ytEp-6CGiEbnc0N2lBVFhVMlU/view?usp=sharing">Here</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here is the play test version of a new German-Herero War skirmish scenario I have developed for use with the <a href="http://hererowars.com/new-update-on-the-herero/">Jones/Alvarado Herero Wars Scenario and Rules</a> book (based on TSATF Rules system). It follows on the <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/search/label/Uitkomst">Ambush at Uitkomst</a> scenario I developed in collaboration with Roy Jones last year. Previous posts on this blog in the <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/search/label/Armored%20Trains%20%26%20Herero%20Rifles%20in%201904">Armored Trains and Herero Rifles in 1904 </a>category provide the historical documentation and assumptions that inform the design of this scenario.<br /><br />The German force has two significant assets that require careful handling in order to function property and upon which the success of their expedition to relieve Okahandja depends. They have a train pushed by paired <i>Zwillinge</i> engines and open cars with sides that have been hastily reenforced with sandbags. In addition two 32 Schutztruppen (4 foot elements in game terms), the train carries a machine gun in one of its open cars. Maintaining proper speed, avoiding derailment and keeping the machine gun on line, all the while repairing sabotaged sections of track under enemy fire, presents a significant challenge for the German player, as indeed was the case during the historical <i>Maschinengewehr-Expedition</i> on which this scenario is based. The train crew members are essential, and the loss of all four puts the train out of commission and means certain defeat.<br /><br />The Hereros have excellent cover in the dense bushes, among nearby steep cliffs and within a large stone house, but perhaps not quite enough riflemen to pour on a devastating fire and disable track simultaneously. In the actual fight at Osona, the tracks were broken in three places before the Germans arrived and the Hereros had perhaps as much as a 7:1 advantage in riflemen. The numbers are reduced for this scenario, and not all of the 8 Herero Foot units are available when play begins.<br /><br />Until it has been play tested, I'm not sure that I have the forces balanced appropriately, and am eager to see how new rules I have developed for causing and spotting track sabotage, derailment, track repair, train movement and cover will function. If you decide to give this scenario a try, I would be grateful for detailed feedback on your results. Further updates to the scenario will be posted <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-ytEp-6CGiEbnc0N2lBVFhVMlU/view?usp=sharing">here</a>.Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-31351041938276750532015-06-15T14:21:00.003-04:002015-06-15T14:21:32.314-04:00WTB 28mm HLBS German Colonial SetsThe Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company (HLBS) stopped making its 28mm German Colonial line before I had the chance to start collecting them, so I have been haunting eBay and various message boards for the last couple of years with decent results. <br />
<br />
I think the following is a near complete list of the old HLBS German Colonial Range, including set numbers and descriptions. <br />
<br />
<span id="yui_3_15_0_1_1434384554780_894" title="ireply">GC1 Schutztruppe in slouch hat with colonial service cartridge belt (5 different figures)<br />
GC1a Command Group (3 different figures)<br />
GC2 Schutztruppe in peaked cap w/neck curtain, with colonial service cartridge belt (5 different figures)<br />GC2a Command Group (3 different figures)<br />
GC3 Marines (seebatailon) in Pith Helmet with standard cartridge pouches (5 different figures)<br />
GC3a Command Group (3 different figures)<br />
GC4 Schutztruppe in Tropenhelm with standard cartridge pouches (5 different figures)<br />
GC4a Command Group (3 different figures)<br />
GC5 Askari in Fez with standard cartridge pouches (5 different figures)<br />
GC6 Askari in Fez with standard cartridge pouches (5 different figures)<br />
GC6a Askari N.C.O.s (3 different figures)<br />
GC7 schutztruppe with maxim with colonial service cartridge belt (2 figures with gun&tripod)<br />
GC8 Seebatailon with Maxim in Pith helmet with standard cartridge pouches (2 figures with gun&tripod)<br />GC9 Askari with Maxim (2 figures with gun&tripod)<br />
GCM1 Camel Corps in slouch hat with colonial service cartridge belt (2 different figures and 2 different camels)<br />GCM2 Camel Corps (2 differing poses to GCM1)<br />
GCM3 Camel Corps Command (2 different figures and 2 different camels)<br />
GCM4 2 baggage Camels <br />
GCM5 2 Kneeling Camels, with saddles for dismounted troops with holder</span><span id="yui_3_15_0_1_1434384554780_910" title="ireply">GCM6 Mounted Infantry, in slouch hat with colonial service cartridge</span> belt (2 different figures and horse poses)<br />GCM7 Mounted Infantry (2 differing poses to GCM6)<br />GCM8 Mounted Infantry Command (2 different figures on two different horses)<br />GCM9 Two dismounted horses and holder<br /><br />
I have plenty of dismounted slouch hatted Schutztruppen (GC1 and GC1a) and machine
gunners (GC7), though I wouldn't say no to adding more. I have 26 mounted
Schutztruppen (GCM6, GCM7, GCM9), including 2 commanders (GCM8), and would like to have another 3 sets including the command set. I have a large number of Askaris (GC5, GC6, GC6a, GC9) and Asia
Corps types in peaked cap (feldmutze) (GC2 and GC2a) that will be useful
for East Africa/ the Middle East.<br />
<br />
What I still do not
have nearly enough of, and would dearly like to acquire, are HLBS
Schutztruppen or Marines in pith helmets and tropenhelms (GC3, GC3a, GC4, GC48, GC8), and Schutztruppen mounted on camels (GCM1, GCM2, GCM3, GCM4 or GCM5). <br /><br />I will gladly acquire
individual figures or entire collections in this range, painted or unpainted. Message me in
the comments if interested and I'll make you a good offer.<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-57446135784280293562015-05-20T14:56:00.002-04:002015-06-16T10:10:02.681-04:00Osona Scenario Development - Armored Trains and Herero Rifles in 1904 (Part III)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Ptet8bHOpw-4UYZpPtF457W730nuj8sfCBopB6S5_oDrAZ-HmI1Ymi1ZBodxTPaLKXXuyzoeTZqaKm30OJcs2fVMe25S_ACwdFx09DUWRoyoGMhBmFxYqNQ3Zz6KtOU10IWIuyDGoYl/s1600/Osona+Gameboard.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4Ptet8bHOpw-4UYZpPtF457W730nuj8sfCBopB6S5_oDrAZ-HmI1Ymi1ZBodxTPaLKXXuyzoeTZqaKm30OJcs2fVMe25S_ACwdFx09DUWRoyoGMhBmFxYqNQ3Zz6KtOU10IWIuyDGoYl/s400/Osona+Gameboard.bmp" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Osona gameboard<br />
Armored Trains and Herero Rifles at Osona Skirmish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here
is a work in progress: <span style="font-family: inherit;">t</span>he main elements of a scenario I'm designing to wargame <i>Leutnant</i> Voigts' <i>Maschinengewehr</i> Expedition by train
to relieve Okahandja on January 13, 1904 and the fight near Osona
station. <br /><br /> For scale, the train bridge over the dry Swakop River on the base map at left is 16"
on a 3' x 4' table. There is dense bush near the river on both sides
and the cliffs to the East are as steep as those at Otjosongombe described in the Jones/Alvarado <u>Herero Wars Scenario and Rules Book</u> (which forms the basis for the modified rules used for this scenario). The
river banks are steep as well. The stone house near the North edge of the board belongs to Herero
Councillor Barnabas.<br /><br />When play begins there are 3 <i>Schutztruppen</i> scouts in the riverbed at the bridge led by <i>Unteroffizier</i> Bahrs. The
rest of the Germans have entered from the South with the train and are
repairing the rails at the south end of the bridge. The Germans
have one pair of <i>Zwillinge</i> (twin) locomotive engines pushing from the
rear served by two white engineers and two native train crew. In front
of the engines are a water tender and t<span style="font-family: inherit;">wo</span> open cars reenforced with
sandbags. The second car has a machine gun served by 3 men. The train
can be used as excellent cover for men on the far side but must stand
still or move slowly. The machine gun is vulnerable to fire from above
if the train stands still. <br /><br />Lt. Gustaf Voigts was a resourceful officer and has multizug leadership abilities under the <u>Herero Wars Scenario and Rulebook</u> rules. He has 28 <i>Schutztruppen</i> on the train in addition to the machine gun crew at the
train and enough officers (Lt. Maul, Lt. Boysen and <span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Deckoffizier</i> </span>Uhlmann)
to field 4 <i>Schutztruppe Zug<span style="font-family: inherit;">e</span></i>. Some of these, however, are needed as
laborers assisting noncombatants <i>Eisenbahn-Direktor</i> Henning, Senior Mail
Clerk Bartoschad and Postman Wolter with repairing the track and
telegraph lines.<br /><br />The
German objective is to repair any breaks in the line or wires and
advance off the Board at the north end with the train. The yoke rails
have been repaired at the south end of the bridge when play begins.
They can earn points by repairing track and telegraph wire, clearing any
derailed cars, and killing Hereros and Herero leaders.<br /><br />The
Hereros have 8 horsemen who are scouting downriver of the Bridge when
play begins, four 8-man <i>Zuge</i> concealed in the dense thorns north of the bridge, and four
more <i>Zuge</i> concealed on the cliffs to the East. There are two more Herero <i>Zug</i> that
enter from the NW in turn 3 with Samuel Maherero himself. Accounts
vary as to their actual numbers and for game balance I've kept them
lower than the Germans estimated. We do not know who lead them, but
candidates include Ouandja, who was at Okahandja, and both Assa Riarua
and Samuel Maharero who were both at their hilltop refuge at Osona (not
the station where the action took place but 20K sw of Okahandja. At
the actual fight, the rails had all been disabled when the Germans
reached each section (derailing the lead car the final time). In this
scenario, the Germans can discover that the rails north of the bridge
are disabled if they scout north of the bridge before the train
crosses. Otherwise the lead car risks derailing and the Germans will have to try to push it over off the embankment and clear the tracks before they can proceed with repairs and advance. The yoke rails have been removed
on the north side of the bridge and the Hereros can disable two more
sections of track if they are not interrupted (in the dense thorns north
of the bridge and opposite the stone house). It takes 2 Herero <i>Zuge</i> to
remove a section of track each turn and two German <i>Zuge</i> to repair it or overturn a train car.
The Hereros will start to remove rails under cover of the dense thorns closer
to the bridge in Turn 1 and will only break off if attacked.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Herero objective is to drive off the Germans and prevent the train from
passing on to Okahandja. They can earn points by disabling track,
killing the train crew and killing Germans. German wounded rules apply. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm working on rules for train speed, spotting broken track and derailments. Ideas welcome.</span></span></div>
Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-47642450045434535892015-04-09T14:52:00.000-04:002015-04-10T13:28:08.647-04:00"It was nearly by a hair that we weren't all killed." - Armored Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904 (Part II)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLyl7Mccwswc_PtAHh7A03XpKxKJNDTJOUgYJEHDpnyOpL2hmRHFDGI_AFD3yXy6nr3fzPSG9yNrB6vhyC5eadjsCpuSkacDDt9XJHdJ6cMGg0f7Bm_rXdU7JPM_MdyhNF2tnPptVSrd_/s1600/P4070379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLyl7Mccwswc_PtAHh7A03XpKxKJNDTJOUgYJEHDpnyOpL2hmRHFDGI_AFD3yXy6nr3fzPSG9yNrB6vhyC5eadjsCpuSkacDDt9XJHdJ6cMGg0f7Bm_rXdU7JPM_MdyhNF2tnPptVSrd_/s1600/P4070379.jpg" height="400" width="328" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from <i>Blatt Windhuk, Kriegskarte von Deutsch-Südwestafrika</i> <br />
showing railway line and stations between Winkhuk and Okahandja</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Okahandja during the first weeks of 1904, tensions between the settler community in <i>Deutsch-S</i><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>üdwestafrika</i> </span></span>and the indigenous Herero people had reached the
crisis stage. On January 11th, <i>Distrikstchef</i> Leutnant Zürn placed a panicky telephone call to headquarters in Windhuk believing that a revolt was imminent, if not already underway. In response, a train
left Windhuk for Okahandja carrying 20 soldiers led by <i>Bergrat</i>
Duft, who hoped to negotiate with the Hereros. Although this train arrived later that afternoon without
incident, this proved to be the last time the line would be open for more than a
week. Armed Herero fighters soon surrounded Okahandja and attacked
isolated farms throughout the district.<br />
<br />
With Governor
Leutwein and most of the regular <i>Schutztruppe</i> units far away to the South responding to the Bondalswart uprising that began the previous October, the nearest relief forces were reservists from Windhuk and regular <i>Schutztruppen</i> based in Swakopmund under <i>Oberleutnant</i> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Theodor Kurt Hartwig </span></span>von Zülow. <br />
<br />
Conrad Rust's <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=EOkxAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank"><i>Krieg und Frieden im Hereroland </i></a>(1905) provides the most complete account of the first patrols and skirmishes along the railway attempting to reestablish contact with Okahandja from both ends of the line. Other reports, including the official <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=970oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=Leutnant+boysen+Paech&source=bl&ots=17a02L2m5z&sig=At7Lf2-b4D2JXvkF43C8M3fuJzw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5ckmVYrkNIXPsAXz0IDQBg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Leutnant%20boysen%20Paech&f=false"><i>Generalstab</i> History</a> of the war, are quite brief and pass over many of the details needed to develop a more complete tactical understanding of these engagements. They also tend to conflate several railroad episodes that took place near Okahandja on January 12th and 13th, and even confuse casualties from other contemporary events with those who fell during these railway actions. <br />
<br />
This post summarizes the opening skirmish on the outskirts of Okahandja on January 12th, and the sharper fight the next day on January 13th beyond the Swakop Bridge. It is based on my translation of the relevant pages in Rust (pgs. 153 - 156), supplemented where indicated by other contemporary documentation. It describes what happened when reserves from the depleted Windhuk garrison attempted to reach Okahandja by rail. A subsequent post will address von Zülow's effort to secure the railway from Swakopmund.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_B_q6vM8XQ0vUoArzjLJglji6CHcdAdijMePtjl5G2mWESvrwy-ekoWAGg5t3t7tMt4ZbGivrTcBkLbdLMRNF1OxmaIMzds63XLKww_J0UQQWE78sUDHqaep2ItHHlDR_0kvmCOiubS-/s1600/Voigts+and+Maul.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_B_q6vM8XQ0vUoArzjLJglji6CHcdAdijMePtjl5G2mWESvrwy-ekoWAGg5t3t7tMt4ZbGivrTcBkLbdLMRNF1OxmaIMzds63XLKww_J0UQQWE78sUDHqaep2ItHHlDR_0kvmCOiubS-/s1600/Voigts+and+Maul.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Leutnants </i>Voigts and Maul<i> </i>and <i>Deckoffizier </i>Uhlmann, with <i>Schutztruppen<i><br /></i></i>(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>
</i> On January 11th, a seven-man detachment left Windhoek for Brakwater Station under the command of <i>Leutnant der Landwehr </i>Gustav Voigts. <i>Leutnant</i> Voigts was a prosperous trader whose business continues today in modern Namibia as the family-owned Wecke & Voigts department store
chain. <i>Leutnant</i> Voigts summarized the fighting on January 13th in a brief <a href="http://www.freiburg-postkolonial.de/Seiten/FreiburgerZeitung1904-03-16.htm" target="_blank">letter to his brother Albert</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>"Ich
wurde am 13. Januar gegen Okahandja vorgeschickt, um das
Maschinengewehr hineinzubringen mit den Reserve leutnants Maul, Boysen,
[Director] Henning, Bartotschat und etwa 30 Mann. Bei dem Missionshause
waren 60 Meter Schienen ausgerissen, die ich reparieren sollte – ich
hatte das Kommando. Aber zwischen Viehe und Barnabas-Klippen faßten mich
mehrere hundert Hereros derart hart an mit meinen wenigen Leuten, daß
wir um ein Haar fast alle kaput waren. Leider blieb der junge Boysen mit
vier Mann und zwei Maschinisten im Feuer."</i><br />
<br />
"<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en">I <span class="hps">was</span> <span class="hps">sent forward</span> <span class="hps">on 13 January</span> <span class="hps">against</span> <span class="hps">Okahandja</span> bringing <span class="hps">a machine gun</span> <span class="hps">together with </span><span class="hps">R</span><span class="hps">eserve</span> <span class="hps">Lieutenant</span>s <span class="hps">Maul</span> & <span class="hps">Boysen,</span> <span class="hps">[Director] Henning,</span> <span class="hps">Bartotschat</span> <span class="hps">and about</span> <span class="hps">30 men</span>. <span class="hps">By the Mission House</span> <span class="hps">60</span> <span class="hps">meters of track</span> <span class="hps">were</span> <span class="hps">torn</span> that <span class="hps">I should</span> <span class="hps">repair</span> <span class="hps">-</span> <span class="hps">I</span> <span class="hps">was in command</span>. <span class="hps">But between</span> <span class="hps">Viehe</span> <span class="hps">and Barnabas</span> <span class="hps">Cliffs</span> <span class="hps">I found</span><span class="hps"> several</span> <span class="hps">hundred</span> <span class="hps">Herero</span> who pressed <span class="hps">so</span> <span class="hps">hard on</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">my few</span> <span class="hps">people that it was nearly by a hair that we</span> <span class="hps">weren't all</span> <span class="hps">killed</span>. <span class="hps">Unfortunately, the</span> <span class="hps">young</span> <span class="hps">Boysen</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">four men</span> <span class="hps">and two</span> <span class="hps">machinists</span> <span class="hps">was killed in the fire.</span><span class="hps atn">"</span></span> (translation mine).<br />
<br />
Voigts' letter establishes that he was the senior officer during this engagement and pinpoints the general location of the fiercest fighting, but a carefully reading of Rust reveals that there were actually two engagements, at least two train engines, and several German detachments that came together prior to the second, fiercer combat as Voigts and his force approached "Barnabas Cliffs".<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ08giCSn6JSOFj59JyOpbSuInHAHh0r8m1I6XRNCG_AvXDfp7d3kohYM7myTXJLDVRVCeMAoYZ_d0xOl3PvWLJ-Jzwg8J1thY80BaVXP2bPplt3w5YjpotcX8lzyZK6PmtBSWxHtPRRBn/s1600/Brakwater+Bahnstation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ08giCSn6JSOFj59JyOpbSuInHAHh0r8m1I6XRNCG_AvXDfp7d3kohYM7myTXJLDVRVCeMAoYZ_d0xOl3PvWLJ-Jzwg8J1thY80BaVXP2bPplt3w5YjpotcX8lzyZK6PmtBSWxHtPRRBn/s1600/Brakwater+Bahnstation.jpg" height="409" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brakwater bahnstation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According to Rust's account, early on January 12th <i>Leutnant </i>Voigts received a telegraph from Windhuk
informing him that the wire had been cut at Okanhandja and that <i>Waffenmeister </i>(Armorer) Trampaneau
was heading to Okahandja by train with a machine gun and a seven-man detail to repair the wires. Learning that <i>Leutnant</i> <i>der Reserve</i> Maul was also on his
way to relieve him at Brakwater with a six-man detachment, <i>Leutnant </i>Voigts and his men saddled
up and headed out to secure the line towards Teufelsbach, using the
railway, according to Rust, "<i>als Reitweg" </i>(as a bridle path)<i>.</i> <br />
<br />
Reaching
Teufelsbach at 3 o'clock that afternoon, <i>Leutnant </i>Voigts learned from
the local inhabitants that"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">die
Weißen sein mit dem Zuge, aus dem sich mit das Maschinengewehr befand, sämtlich
nach Okahandja gefahren</span></span></i>" (the Whites, together with the train and the
machine gun, all went to Okahandja). A mile further down the track he
encountered <i>Waffenmeister </i>Trampaneau coming back with the train and quite a tale to tell. <br />
<br />
Having
reached the outskirts of Okahandja, <i>Waffenmeister </i>Trampaneau's train hit a section of torn up
track, sending "<i><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">der
erste Wagen</span></span></i>" (the first car) off the rails into the sand. While
attempting to repair the rails, Trampaneu's detail came under heavy fire from
Hereros concealed in the town. The machine gun expended more than 2,000
rounds of suppressing fire "<i>eine gute Wirkung</i>" (to good effect), but the Herero gunfire
increased in intensity. After four of his seven men had been wounded, Trampaneau extricated his battered force and retreated with the train, though probably not with that upset first car. How was that possible?<br />
<br />
The best
explanation is that that the train actually approached
Okahandja in reverse. If so, then what Rust reported as the "first car" was in
fact the last in line and the first to enter. That is certainly the position of the train during the second attempt to reach Okahandja by rail, as is discussed below. Quite possibly the train had twin or <i>zwillinge</i> locomotives, coupled end to end to facilitate transitioning from forward to reverse using just a single engine crew. This was the most common configuration for <i>feldbahn</i> engines in use on the Swakopmund-Windhuk line. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAqYEiqEn077pLxVqLJ1S7JoNd9n9jDhfRPs7PDcde9qB-LKYqgCXYynhgazoENgSSI3HvZ-BTZ5o2ZDXIs3gW8EJbKRbdZn7rzhbYnoXNxPzk8oHpJwn2jHDuFDqHrLf6vz8yKeaYFSr/s1600/Boysen+and+Reserves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAqYEiqEn077pLxVqLJ1S7JoNd9n9jDhfRPs7PDcde9qB-LKYqgCXYynhgazoENgSSI3HvZ-BTZ5o2ZDXIs3gW8EJbKRbdZn7rzhbYnoXNxPzk8oHpJwn2jHDuFDqHrLf6vz8yKeaYFSr/s1600/Boysen+and+Reserves.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Boysen family is on the horse at left. It is probably <i>Leutnant</i> Boysen's father, but if it is actually the son, this <i> </i>may have been taken shortly before he lead his <span style="font-size: x-small;">re<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">ënforcements toward Okahandja, possibly even that very day.</span></span></span><br />
(Photo from database maintained by<a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor.php?source_opus=8038588&la=de"> </a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Back
at Teufelsbach, <i>Leutnant</i> Voigts reported these developments by
telegraph to Windhuk. He learned that a strong re<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">ë</span></span>nforcement was on
the way by train. This force of twenty-one men was commanded by <i>Leutnant der Reserve</i>
Raimund (Reimund) Boysen, who had settled in the colony with his parents after serving in 1899 as a one-year volunteer and became in the Schutztruppe. He was,
like Voigts, a merchant and farmer as well as a reserve officer. Boysen
had twenty-one soldiers with him, along with Railroad Director (<i>Eisenbahn-Direktor</i>) Henning,
Senior Mail Clerk <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(<i>Oberpostsekretär</i>)</span></span></span> Bartoschad and Postman (<i>Postbeamte</i>) Wolter, who were sent to repair the tracks
and communications with Okahandja. The train included two open
provision cars, with the sacks stacked up along the inside walls of the
cars to provide cover. <i>Leutnant </i>Boysen's train would reach Teufelsbach at 7
o'clock that evening.<br />
<br />
<i>Leutnant</i> Maul also reported that
he was now on his way from Brakwater with his six-man force. The night,
says Rust, was pitch dark and rainy ("<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">regnerisch und stocksinster</span></i><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">")</span></span> and it took <i>Leutant </i>Maul six hours
to travel the short distance between Brakwater and Otjihavera Station, at which point the Germans left their fatigued horses and went on toward
Teufelsbach on foot.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZolDtsF-KfBPIRUMrl9nI03wE2SVdyJPRaIEOqDamz0Y1b8CFNlrolqw50jeHk9zGLcPjbfaDBPLM6vEQaiwRlqPXzw-EXLhFJl6hm8JksHv-UQrdJf1841o5s3y-fim9JCEwg7u1X0I/s1600/Bridge+by+Osona.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZolDtsF-KfBPIRUMrl9nI03wE2SVdyJPRaIEOqDamz0Y1b8CFNlrolqw50jeHk9zGLcPjbfaDBPLM6vEQaiwRlqPXzw-EXLhFJl6hm8JksHv-UQrdJf1841o5s3y-fim9JCEwg7u1X0I/s1600/Bridge+by+Osona.jpg" height="449" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second or Okahandja bridge (Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Voigts understood from past experience that there Hereros were likely to occupy the granite hills near the rail line to the south of Okahandja, and that these offered additional cover to Herero Councillor Barnabas' massive stone house on the outskirts of the settlement that could easily be fortified and defended by the besiegers. The key to relieving Okahandja was to prevent this from happening and to do that, the line needed to be secured.<br />
<br />
At midnight, January 13, <i>Leutnant</i> Voigts send
<i>Unteroffizier</i> Bahrs and two men to scout the railway line in the
direction of Okahandja and determine whether the tracks were in order. <i>
Leutnant</i> Maul had still not arrived by 3 o'clock in the morning when
<i>Leutnant</i> Voigts decided to follow the scouts by train with his
strengthened force. It was still very dark and the train moved very
slowly. <br />
<br />
As they approached the first (160m long) bridge over the
dry, ephemeral Swakop river, one of <i>Unteroffizier</i> Bahrs' men came back and
reported that the connecting rails on the near or South side of the bridge had
been pulled up. The train reached the site of the damage at 6:30 in the
morning, when the men discovered that not only the rails but the
telegraph wire and rods as well had been heavily damaged. The Hereros
evidently took these steps after the<i> </i>fight with<i> Waffenmeister </i>Trampaneau's train on January 12th which had been able to pass over the rails the previous afternoon.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from <i>Blatt Winhuk, Kriegskarte von Deutsch-Südwestafrika.</i> <br />
<i>Osona</i>, shown to the West of the rail line, refers to a hill 20 km SW of Okahandja, <br />
not to Osona Station which was a short way beyond the Swakop Bridge</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Leutnant</i> Voigts sent six flankers out into the riverbed to either side of the bridge and across toward the far shore where they found the connecting rails had been torn up and removed a considerable distance away. They could see a few Hereros also, withdrawing deeper into the bush A few distant shots came from the direction of Okahandja, and they learned from Unteroffizier Bahrs that there had been heavy firing in the town all through the night. Herero horsemen also appeared in the riverbed in the distance.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Oberpostsekretär</i>
</span>Bartoschad </span></span>attached a telephone to the damaged wire and reestablished contact with Windhuk. Because the track proved to be more severely damaged than had been previously thought, <i>Direktor</i> Henning odered up an engine car with replacement track yokes from Teufelsbach. The engine that brought these supplies forward also carried <i>Leutnant</i> Maul and his half dozen men. The rails were reconnected at the South end of the bridge and the train with the machine gun started across at a slow pace so the six flankers could make use of it for cover.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyp31lAmj9qGa1ouNYMtSuKOyDDcIUVFPHO3Q0L55NIgpKKLmhGnbhqXhbjx9EkCOiGf2Kmoc5LZOf_E9ozbIrI8O1CtrpL5ZogDB7Oqa4mFxRKACnysWNO8NZiyVcGmi8IFFOi8RNZV3E/s1600/Machinengewehr+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyp31lAmj9qGa1ouNYMtSuKOyDDcIUVFPHO3Q0L55NIgpKKLmhGnbhqXhbjx9EkCOiGf2Kmoc5LZOf_E9ozbIrI8O1CtrpL5ZogDB7Oqa4mFxRKACnysWNO8NZiyVcGmi8IFFOi8RNZV3E/s1600/Machinengewehr+1.jpg" height="411" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machine gun emplacement with a low barrier of sacks <br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps">There was dense bush on the far side, and as the engine entered the thickets it came under brief but heavy fire from <span style="font-family: inherit;">up ahead, though this was quickly silenced when the machine gun came into action. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sJOtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=maschinengewehr+okahandja+13+Januar+9&source=bl&ots=7wxESfHHbT&sig=NKFtFYrOpldvLqJhYQ3QROJ9apI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gcQmVd3MD8iwsAWB74HgAQ&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=maschinengewehr%20okahandja%2013%20Januar%209&f=false">Reports </a>from Okahandja later stated that <span style="font-family: inherit;">machine gun</span> firing was heard at 9:30 coming from the direction of Osona (station), <span style="font-family: inherit;">which helps to establ<span style="font-family: inherit;">i<span style="font-family: inherit;">sh <span style="font-family: inherit;">when the fighting bega<span style="font-family: inherit;">n along the rail line.</span></span></span></span></span>As the train approached the granite cliffs <span style="font-family: inherit;">t<span style="font-family: inherit;">hat came near</span> the track, it once again came under brisk <span style="font-family: inherit;">attack by Hereros firing</span> from <span style="font-family: inherit;">good cover above. Ten more <span style="font-family: inherit;">rails </span>had been removed at this point and the train could not proceed until these had been repaired. </span></span></span></span><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was going to be very hard work under enemy fire, but <i>Leutnant</i> Boysen had <span style="font-family: inherit;">brought with him instructions from Windhuk that the work parties must advance and repairs go forward</span></span> under all circumstances. <br /><br />The train <span style="font-family: inherit;">slowed<span style="font-family: inherit;">. T</span></span>h<span style="font-family: inherit;">ose in charge</span> intend<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ed</span> </span>to bring the train as close as possible to the place where <span style="font-family: inherit;">the rails had been removed since the replacements were so heavy. The signal of the platoon leaders was heard but the engine failed to stop in time, and three axles of the first carriage went of the tracks so that only one remained on the rails. The <span style="font-family: inherit;">situation</span> was critical<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and</span> the <span style="font-family: inherit;">Hereros took advantage of the <span style="font-family: inherit;">situation</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">and <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">to</span> increase<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> their fire</span>. <span style="font-family: inherit;">T</span></span></span>he Germans <span style="font-family: inherit;">hurriedly</span> brought out the machine gun and 18,000 cartridges <span style="font-family: inherit;">in</span> the second car, <span style="font-family: inherit;">piling sacks of rice from the first car around it to provide hasty <span style="font-family: inherit;">protection</span>. <br /><br />To make the line free, there was nothing for it but to quickly decouple the <span style="font-family: inherit;">derailed first car and heave it over the embankment. This was a piece of work, says Rust<span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span>that proved to be "<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">schwierig als gefährlich</span></i>" (as difficult as it was dangerous)<span style="font-family: inherit;">, and it took three attempts<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>under heavy fire for <span style="font-family: inherit;">a</span> combined effort<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>to overturn the car.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rust reports that the Hereros <span style="font-family: inherit;">re<span style="font-family: inherit;">sponded to the disorder on the tracks with "<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Größerem Wagemu</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">t</span></i>" (greater daring). <span style="font-family: inherit;">Just how m</span>any Herero fighters were involved at this point is <span style="font-family: inherit;">not known beyond Voigt's estimate of "se<span style="font-family: inherit;">veral hundred", nor is it clear who <span style="font-family: inherit;">led them. Samuel Ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">h</span>arero <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">was </span>not in</span> Oka<span style="font-family: inherit;">handa at this time but instead gathered with hundreds of armed supporters at Osona, a defendable hilltop 20 <span style="font-family: inherit;">kilometers to the</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">S</span>outhwest of the settlement. This put them <span style="font-family: inherit;">well in range of the <span style="font-family: inherit;">action on the rail line on January 13th<span style="font-family: inherit;"> that</span> the Germans came to call Osona because <span style="font-family: inherit;">Osona <span style="font-family: inherit;">S</span>tation was a short distance further down the tracks. Samuel would later write; "Here in Okahandja we have fought three times with the machines and I won", a <span style="font-family: inherit;">statement</span> that <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8AjKi2SUV2AC&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=Hereros+Osona+train&source=bl&ots=gkQCcc5-S5&sig=06qeboNRpszAEIYYyrTthbfL78U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=c5gmVdrgBIG6sQWU1YCgDw&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Hereros%20Osona%20train&f=false">historian Jan-Bart Gewald</a> <span style="font-family: inherit;">believes refers to <span style="font-family: inherit;">separate</span> engagements against German trains<span style="font-family: inherit;">. W</span>hether the paramount chief as actually in command during these actions<span style="font-family: inherit;"> is not clear. He very well could have been, but he had many of his <span style="font-family: inherit;">Councillors with him at Osona and some of these were excellent war leaders.<br /><br />The German leaders at this point, incl<span style="font-family: inherit;">uding <i>Leuntant</i>s Voig<span style="font-family: inherit;">ts, Maul<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and Boysen, <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">D</span>eckoffizier</i> Uhlmann and <i>Dire</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>cktor</i> Henning, were on either side of the railway line in the <span style="font-family: inherit;">riverbed. The enemy fire came from the Viehe house about 250 meters <span style="font-family: inherit;">ahead</span> and also rattled down from the hilltops above. <i>Leutant</i> Voigts ordered the machine gun in the second car to come into action but it remained silent. The weaponmaster reported that despite the rail car being well entrenched, it was impossible to bring the machine gun i<span style="font-family: inherit;">nt</span>o position while it was under heavy fire. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Going back</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">down the track</span>, however, was going to be difficult<span style="font-family: inherit;">, for by this time the train crew was taking heavy <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">casualties</span>. One <span style="font-family: inherit;">locomotive operator <span style="font-family: inherit;">(</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Phillip Fackert) was <span style="font-family: inherit;">dead, and the second (<i>Maschinenf</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--></span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>ührer</i> </span></span>Feldmann) severely wounded. Rust makes it clear that Voi<span style="font-family: inherit;">g<span style="font-family: inherit;">ts went to the rear to confirm this was the case, <span style="font-family: inherit;">pr<span style="font-family: inherit;">o<span style="font-family: inherit;">of</span> that the train had approached Okahandja with the <span style="font-family: inherit;">locomotive<span style="font-family: inherit;">(s) <span style="font-family: inherit;">behind.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br /><br />The situation deteriorated by the second as the Hereros moved closer. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Leutant</i> Voights gave the order to give covering fire and slowly <span style="font-family: inherit;">move the train <span style="font-family: inherit;">back down the track</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Getting the <span style="font-family: inherit;">train in motion had little success. "<i>Unter Wutgeheul</i>" (<span style="font-family: inherit;">w</span>ith a furious howl) the Hereros sprang forward<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to within 30 paces. Voig<span style="font-family: inherit;">ts yelled; "<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alle Mann zu den Wagen! Maschine schneller rückwärts!</span></i>" (All men back in the carriages! <span style="font-family: inherit;">Engine quickly to the rear!). <br /><br />It was very difficult both to save the machine gun and its ammunition and provide cover for the sold<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">iers</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">returning on the train, the Hereros all the while converging <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">in </span>a closing ring. <span style="font-family: inherit;">German<span style="font-family: inherit;"> reports f<span style="font-family: inherit;">rom </span></span>Okahandja also mention that <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sJOtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=maschinengewehr+okahandja+13+Januar+9&source=bl&ots=7wxESfHHbT&sig=NKFtFYrOpldvLqJhYQ3QROJ9apI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gcQmVd3MD8iwsAWB74HgAQ&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=maschinengewehr%20okahandja%2013%20Januar%209&f=false">G</a></span><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sJOtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=maschinengewehr+okahandja+13+Januar+9&source=bl&ots=7wxESfHHbT&sig=NKFtFYrOpldvLqJhYQ3QROJ9apI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gcQmVd3MD8iwsAWB74HgAQ&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=maschinengewehr%20okahandja%2013%20Januar%209&f=false">egen 12 Uhr arbeitet das maschinengewehr nur kurz und unregelmäßig" </a>(at 12 O'Clock the<span style="font-family: inherit;"> machine gun operated but it was brief and irregular firing<span style="font-family: inherit;">). It seems that the machine gun <span style="font-family: inherit;">attempted to give cover as the <span style="font-family: inherit;">train withdrew<span style="font-family: inherit;">, and that three hours had elapsed between the first shots and the last. <span style="font-family: inherit;">It</span> does not appear to have jammed<span style="font-family: inherit;"> but rather th<span style="font-family: inherit;">at the</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Germans were only able to bring it to bear <span style="font-family: inherit;">as they were coming and going and not when the train was stationary.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br /><br />Getting the train moving <span style="font-family: inherit;">quickly</span> was easier said than done, be<span style="font-family: inherit;">cause one engine had a dead operator and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Maschinenf</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>ührer</i> </span></span>Feldmann who drove the other was almost unfit for service because of his wound. These<span style="font-family: inherit;"> w<span style="font-family: inherit;">ere </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">twin or <i>zwillinge</i> engines, coupled cab to cab<span style="font-family: inherit;">, and could therefore be driven by a single operator. The<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Ge<span style="font-family: inherit;">rmans were lucky that on this day they had two drivers, because without them they would have been stranded, without horses, and surrounded by <span style="font-family: inherit;">well concealed enemies. As <span style="font-family: inherit;">it was, the<span style="font-family: inherit;">y took significant c<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">asualties</span> extricating the train.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, the engine started going faster - almost too fast for the soldiers who were still trying to get on board. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> A native member of the train crew seems to have opened the steam valve too far. Rust wrote that "<i>nicht alle die mann auf den Zuge zurückerwartete, trafen ein</i>." (not all the men who were expected were met back on the train) and gives the names of five men among the missing who soon proved to be among the fallen. Whether they were left behind, or were shot down prior to withdrawal, is not clear from his account.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkWpM_mZhPGVIL-JNp_OgWz06PLmgKMBP0nGrW1OoLTmx1rre8VAnzXtZMxURxSKXeUBm3jwahRGUZF9ZgNrUr4YrlN-MheJToKTlyrtx97uvuVYp7OnvG1uaTj84_1iNO6mbAK-u5xBE/s1600/Boysen+train.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkWpM_mZhPGVIL-JNp_OgWz06PLmgKMBP0nGrW1OoLTmx1rre8VAnzXtZMxURxSKXeUBm3jwahRGUZF9ZgNrUr4YrlN-MheJToKTlyrtx97uvuVYp7OnvG1uaTj84_1iNO6mbAK-u5xBE/s1600/Boysen+train.jpg" height="440" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pair of twin or <i>zwillinge</i> 0-6-0 engines and carriages in front of the Boysen & Wullf Co. store in Windhuk<br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The dead soldiers were <i>Leutnant </i>Reimund Boysen, <i>Unteroffizier</i> Paech (who came to the <i>Schutztruppe</i> from Ulan Regiment No. 1), <i>Gefreiters</i> August Rudolph and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="st">Josef </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps">Z</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps"><span class="hps"><span style="line-height: 115%;">ülot (both builders) and <i>Reiter</i> Wilhelm Gerwinsky (a </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="hps"><span class="hps"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="st"><i>Magazin-Aufseher</i> or Magazine Supervisor)</span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Herero losses are unknown, but we<span style="font-family: inherit;">re likely very slight </span>given that they fired from concealment and from above the
stranded train. <br /><br />After withdrawing about 1500 meters, the train slowed, and the Germans considered making another attempt to press forward. After cafeful consideration, they concluded the risks were too great and withdrew back toward Windhuk.</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">"<i>Der Feind erw<span style="font-family: inherit;">ies sich als übermächtig</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">" says Rust succinctly; "The enemy proved to be overpowering." He concludes;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> "</span><i>Die Maschinengewehr=Expedition
schnitt schlecht ab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aber es hätte noch
ärger kommen können</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">." <br /><br />"The <span style="font-family: inherit;">M</span>achine<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">g</span>un<span style="font-family: inherit;">-</span>Expedition faired poorly. But it could have been worse."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-68345497913888078872015-04-06T12:53:00.000-04:002015-04-06T12:54:31.752-04:00"We Have Fought Three Times With The Machines, And I Won." - Armored Trains & Herero Rifles in 1904 (Part I)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi743M1zpy3QDxYdDwidSbC8IXsyZblRWzYUSu9xTEHxGiz_UFqF4CeHj7XTL_FNzyNdEVDvm51uU1B-B8SmsFtK7flfXfpj6zOnZBHvhiXH5v26y3IGjA4AqMNHfguvqs-LKvWOApExb90/s1600/Becker+Train.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi743M1zpy3QDxYdDwidSbC8IXsyZblRWzYUSu9xTEHxGiz_UFqF4CeHj7XTL_FNzyNdEVDvm51uU1B-B8SmsFtK7flfXfpj6zOnZBHvhiXH5v26y3IGjA4AqMNHfguvqs-LKvWOApExb90/s1600/Becker+Train.png" height="465" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustration by Carl Becker, in <span class="st"><i>Deutsche Reiter in Südwest </i>(1907)<i><br /></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The narrow gauge railway in German Southwest Africa connecting Swakopmund to Windhoek played a significant part during the opening weeks of the German - Herero War in 1904. At least three times, Herero forces fought off and turned back relief forces trying to reconnect Okahandja and Windhoek by rail. They tore up tracks and destroyed key bridges at Wilhelmstal and near Osona Station, further hampering German efforts to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpi8BRReETktiW5LmQ1zhHcTXXh41wxe2PYvuZvkiN9_3HYEIOOW4QHozYegk16dp4yYTDnyAwmeJo0gr_tAVZlyQSo0u3DUpSwYWsVHsM487flj9aks-wQKSpMENTr5PMk7TAgKnKlOqM/s1600/Namibia+railway.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpi8BRReETktiW5LmQ1zhHcTXXh41wxe2PYvuZvkiN9_3HYEIOOW4QHozYegk16dp4yYTDnyAwmeJo0gr_tAVZlyQSo0u3DUpSwYWsVHsM487flj9aks-wQKSpMENTr5PMk7TAgKnKlOqM/s1600/Namibia+railway.jpg" height="230" width="400" /></a>respond to the widening uprising. They also attacked a separate rail line then under construction to Otavi. Even after rail service was restored between the coast and the capital, a considerable number of troops was required to fortify the towns and stations along the railway , as well as several rapid firing artillery pieces that together with the additional manpower might otherwise have been available for combat operations in the field.<br />
<br />
The need for a railroad in Southwest Africa had become a transportation necessity following the outbreak of the livestock disease Rinderpest in 1897 which killed at least half of the settlers' oxen and nearly destroyed the vast Herero cattle herds. By mid June, 1902, the Germans had completed a <i>feldbahn</i> or narrow gauge railway between Swakopmund and Windhoek. The line gained nearly a mile of elevation (1654 m) as it traveled inland. It was operated by the Imperial Railway Command and possessed a small number of passenger carriages (1st and 2nd class) along with more than three hundred (mostly open) goods wagons.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3X_Bf2ZdOSBqBH3qBn9VeLLzWLSVYX0_Necm2UPznKnPwJnaxUDpSDd-YFkyqO7N8jDBIaAZp5S06VFfka9AzBrphGlBBveIxkd2u1NmJS9bZmHswbUcI26H7jFY1DP3kgH6JS7Kf6c3/s1600/Zweillige+Engines+and+water+tender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3X_Bf2ZdOSBqBH3qBn9VeLLzWLSVYX0_Necm2UPznKnPwJnaxUDpSDd-YFkyqO7N8jDBIaAZp5S06VFfka9AzBrphGlBBveIxkd2u1NmJS9bZmHswbUcI26H7jFY1DP3kgH6JS7Kf6c3/s1600/Zweillige+Engines+and+water+tender.jpg" height="295" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zwillinge steam locomotives, water tender and loaded trucks on the Swakopmund - Windhoek line<br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy18lmawazzLGzNNxnLDDFzZ4ihJar62XcWI82woASj9DZ7W_5VZwhCmgshNBl-lIaStR42vEl4UsS6i95nT5ykeedWi-l2A-k7UdrSMUYBOjUcQAWxajbPfzdCX_n2u7dFnR5hyq02Qh/s1600/DSWA_Zwillinge_73A_&_B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvy18lmawazzLGzNNxnLDDFzZ4ihJar62XcWI82woASj9DZ7W_5VZwhCmgshNBl-lIaStR42vEl4UsS6i95nT5ykeedWi-l2A-k7UdrSMUYBOjUcQAWxajbPfzdCX_n2u7dFnR5hyq02Qh/s1600/DSWA_Zwillinge_73A_&_B.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zwillinge engines, nearly identical except for the overhanging cab of the engine at right <br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The trains were very slow (8.6 mph /14km/hr) but much faster than ox wagons and could make the 237 mile (382 k) journey in just 2-3 days. Most were drawn by twin (<i>zwillinge</i>) locomotives with wheels in a 0-6-0 configuration, paired cab to cab so a single engine crew could simply step across overlapping plates to run them forward or in reverse. There were more than fifty of these steam engines on the line, of which just a single specimen survives and is on display outside the train station in Namibia's capitol Windhoek. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxipnM-git8voSVDfzCEIB8xwkXU9GJhpkWGgdonAgdQzVzovVydni29lQpqKT_jlBNokLvXrDj_7PAfeoUHIMjlJceeH05fQGiUxEcay6YEAw_p7IGTojlCXQVpvRHv3vjAMh-BMg4xh/s1600/Wounded+train.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxipnM-git8voSVDfzCEIB8xwkXU9GJhpkWGgdonAgdQzVzovVydni29lQpqKT_jlBNokLvXrDj_7PAfeoUHIMjlJceeH05fQGiUxEcay6YEAw_p7IGTojlCXQVpvRHv3vjAMh-BMg4xh/s1600/Wounded+train.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wounded soldiers at Abbabis station<br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The railway featured prominently in the events just prior to and following the Herero uprising. The first of these, centered around a disabled section of track where the line between Windhuk and Okahandja crossed the Swakop River, will be the topic of the next post in this series.Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-88447966389401201572014-12-09T15:26:00.001-05:002015-06-10T08:13:15.399-04:00Ambush at Uitkomst by Abbott and Jones: Herero War Skirmish Scenario Playtest Version<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBqQNobDF-N3U73ErOGAcN3ZSLs27sp5lE2O112-7yuDhG460cWZx99HQ1E_hHh0d1qg-B38_dIQYLk5WurS3jSL86jmj_UZDEqVPriWLV2OW0VAo79H39S1pOog7FNPrMtD-4Xqur0qp/s1600/Uitkomst+scenario+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJBqQNobDF-N3U73ErOGAcN3ZSLs27sp5lE2O112-7yuDhG460cWZx99HQ1E_hHh0d1qg-B38_dIQYLk5WurS3jSL86jmj_UZDEqVPriWLV2OW0VAo79H39S1pOog7FNPrMtD-4Xqur0qp/s1600/Uitkomst+scenario+cover.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Dr. Roy Jones, Jr. and I have finished editing our skirmish scenario: <i>Ambush at Uitkomst; Volkmann's Gambit</i>, and it is now ready for playtesting. Northern Virginia Gamers (<a href="http://www.novag.org/" target="_blank">NOWAG</a>) will give it a try on January 18th, 2015. If you would like to do the same, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-ytEp-6CGiEWU5PdE9uNG8xU28/view?usp=sharing">a .pdf can be downloaded here</a>. Please let us know how it goes.<br />
<br />
The scenario is designed for use with Roy and Eric Alvarado's <i><a href="http://hererowars.com/new-update-on-the-herero/" target="_blank">The Herero War Rules and Scenarios</a> </i>book based on The Sword and the Flame (TSATF) system. You can get a copy of Roy and Eric's Book in the US from <a href="http://www.recreationalconflict.com/" target="_blank">Recreational Conflict</a> and <a href="http://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfsearch.php?term=keywords&data=THE+HERERO+WAR%3A+Rules+%26+Scenarios&submit=Search" target="_blank">On Military Matters</a> and in the UK from <a href="http://www.caliverbooks.com/bookview.php?dcb9c23fa2035befe2032d67a7871ade&id=22876" target="_blank">Caliver Books</a>.<br />
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If you do decide you'd like to ride out into the bush with Oberlt. Volkmann, or lead Mbatona's Herero war band against him, you will need figures representing mounted troops (with foot dismounts and horse holders) for Volkmann's small force of 20 <i>Schutztruppen</i> and war volunteers (including boers), and also for 16 of the 64 Herero and two of their commanders. If you would prefer to read the extensive documentation for the historic battle that informs this scenario, there is a twelve part series archived with the label <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/search/label/Uitkomst" target="_blank">Uitkomst</a> that should keep you busy for a while.<br /><br />More: A playtested revision of the Uitkomst skirmish scenario is downloadable here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-ytEp-6CGiEWU5PdE9uNG8xU28/view?usp=sharing">Uitkomst Skirmish Scenario by Abbott & Jones</a>. Thanks again to NOWAG for helping improve it through play!Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-82962988457045579062014-11-29T20:53:00.000-05:002014-11-29T20:53:03.754-05:00The Herero Kapitän in the Coat of the Kaiser's GuardIn June, 1894, a succession dispute over the Herero chieftaincy of Okahandja turned violent. Samuel Maharero, son of the dead chieftain Maharero Tjiamuaha, had a weaker claim under the laws of Herero inheritance than his other rivals. Samuel and his followers were driven out of Okahandja and took refuge on a hilltop at Osona, about a dozen miles to the South. There they ran up a German flag and waited for military aid from the colonial authorities who had backed Samuel as Herero paramount chief. When the soldiers arrived from Windhuk, they were greeted by Samuel's cousin and <i>veld-cornet</i> Assa Riarua, wearing "<i>a uniform of the German Kaiser's French Guard regiment</i> (<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=8AjKi2SUV2AC&pg=PA57&dq=assa+riarua+kaiser+french+guard&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kls1VKiOIJOcygTlyoDYBw&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=assa%20riarua%20kaiser%20french%20guard&f=false" target="_blank">Jan-Bart Gewald 1999:57</a>)."<br />
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Assa Riarua's appearance must indeed have been very striking in the Prussian cuirassier uniform of the elite Imperial Body Guard. The regular uniform was almost cream colored white wool piped with red. It had a red stand up collar, facings and cuffs that for the enlisted men were trimmed with white tape and for the officers in heavy silver bullion. It is not known how Assa came by the uniform, whether it was an enlisted man's or officer's, nor whether it was complete or only included the coat. Perhaps it was sold to him by a German trader. The men who served in the Kaiser's guard were all at least six feet tall, and judging from <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/2013/12/images-of-herero-leaders-assa-asser.html" target="_blank">a contemporary photograph</a> taken of Assa in the late 1890s the coat would have been large for him.<br />
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A decade later during the German-Herero war, Assa fought in a German uniform and carried a sword. By that time, his old cuirassier <i>koller</i> may have seen better days, but since we have a description of him wearing it in the 1890s I've decided to paint a mounted figure of Assa in the coat of the Kaiser's bodyguard.<br />
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<a href="http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8136921" target="_blank">The full uniform</a>, it would have included the gilt helmet of the <i>Guard du Corps, </i>possibly<br />
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even surmounted by its ceremonial eagle with outstretched wings instead of a spike. That seems a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkalXJE8Ql4DjXbaFNYe8bx62WfZMI5ov0L0h7f8t9DdDYpdFT5D_XTH1z5ExEF64aoKkyXjgCv7fOtgy7oC8PElq1OYNRT2gwuE2nccLArXfv1tkUkxs_yutEeSVIyD26h84DGjFcWL5/s1600/Bamuse.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkalXJE8Ql4DjXbaFNYe8bx62WfZMI5ov0L0h7f8t9DdDYpdFT5D_XTH1z5ExEF64aoKkyXjgCv7fOtgy7oC8PElq1OYNRT2gwuE2nccLArXfv1tkUkxs_yutEeSVIyD26h84DGjFcWL5/s1600/Bamuse.png" height="320" width="198" /></a>stretch, both from an historical point of view and as a practical matter to find a suitable figure to represent an African wearing this uniform. There is better documentation, though, for a spiked cork sun helmet such as the Schutztruppe wore before 1896. There is even an image from 1904 of a "Bambuse" - a German officer's native orderly - standing at a railroad siding and wearing what is probably the Schutztruppe tropical helmet authorized in 1891. I have selected a figure to use for Assa Riarua who is wearing one as well.<br />
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I'm very fond of the sculpting that Paul Hicks has done for Empress Miniatures and its Anglo-Zulu War line, and have used his Natal Native Horse figures (sans the spears in their shoulder quivers) for mounted Hereros. For Assa Riarua, though, I wanted something special and selected one of two figures in a set of Mounted Natal Carbineers.<br />
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<br />The cuffs of this figure are pointed, but a little green stuff helped to modify it satisfactorily. I painted up Assa Riarua in the <i>koller</i> and trousers of an enlisted soldier in the <i>Garde du Corps</i>, mixing Vallejo Sand Yellow and White to get the color of his proud but well worn off white wool uniform. I painted the old 1891 Schutztruppe spiked pith helmet with Vallejo New Wood for the darker colors, working up through German Ochre Orange with a touch of Dark Sand. I'm pleased with the finished product, which unfortunately I had to photograph inside with the flash rather than in natural light, but the end result is a proud Herero commander in one of the most unusual uniforms ever to grace a colonial Africa gaming table.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-82744790150918396432014-11-25T12:48:00.003-05:002014-12-31T10:40:29.620-05:00Images of Seesoldaten from DSWA in 1904<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Marine infantry or <i>Seebataillon</i> companies that arrived in German Southwest Africa in February, 1904 saw heavy service in the months to follow. Those in the 1st Company suffered the most, taking early casualties at Swartklippe and then joining the ill-fated expedition of the <i>Ostabteilung</i> under marine Major von Glasenapp during which they lost dozens of men fighting as the rearguard or <i>nachspitze</i> at Okaharui. The 4th Company also served in the <i>Ostabteilung</i>, while the 3rd was initially with Major Estorff's <i>Westabteilung</i> and fought a hard engagement at Otjihinamaparero and a skirmish near the Omatako Mountains on the way back to Okahandja to where Estorff joined forces with Governor Leutwein's main section or <i>Hauptabteilung</i>. The 2nd Company fought at Klein-Barmen and also joined the <i>Hauptabteilung</i>. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seesoldaten with the Ostabteilung traveling in open rail trucks<br />(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Typhus devastated the 1st and 4th companies, and the remnants of these units along with a detachment from the 3rd company served at Waterburg under Graf von Brockdorff. Members of the Seebataillon's <i>Maschinengewehre Zug </i>under Oberieutenant zur See Wossidlo later garrisoned Fort Namutoni at the very edge of German settlement in the far north of the colony. The <i>Seebataillon</i> also provided medical staff to the German forces.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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There are more images of the Seebataillon forces in DSWA than I have located for the sailors in Landungskorps Habicht that I wrote about in the previous post. Most of these are from the 1st or 4th Companies, though there is at least one from the 3rd Company with Estorffs <i>Westabgteilung</i>. In this image at left, the overall commander of the Seebataillon in DSWA, Oberst Dürr can be seen together with his staff and naval officers on board the troop ransport ship en route to the colony.<br />
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Marine uniforms can be distinguished from those of the Schutztruppe by their bordtfeld <i>tropenhelms</i> (with or without helmet plates) or the white bands on the visored <i>feldmutz</i> that appear lighter in period photographs than the cornflower blue of the Schutztruppe. Instead of cord shoulder straps in imperial colors, <i>seesoldaten</i> wore detachable white shoulder boards with a gold crown and crossed anchors, but these appear to have been removed while on campaign. There are also differences in NCO insignia.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the Black Nossob<br />(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Sometimes other types of equipment typical of the Seebatallion can be seen in the photographs, such as naval bread bags with belt clips worn by <i>seesoldaten</i> in the <i>Ostabteilung</i>, <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2002/8052766/" target="_blank">shown in the image above</a> as marines in the 1st or 4th company cross the ephemeral Black Nossob river. In the image, below, an NCO from the 3rd Seebataillon Company (seated at right, possibly a vice-feldwebel based on his uniform collar and cuff insignia) and a detachment of marines posted near Omaruru prepare a meal while others stand watch.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bcq29jYBUsvkugKhSV0Qu_RhFTAmYW-1j9ZWpOxhLLhyBsoZDVM6w775qMH4gKQl0E4CGJel98pQ9y5bPp9EVcxnjleXdt_WXmpmBQnptVlP4CPswnm6v9enlSvhfzxOVRN6tkaT6_FX/s1600/3rd+Company+seesoldaten.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bcq29jYBUsvkugKhSV0Qu_RhFTAmYW-1j9ZWpOxhLLhyBsoZDVM6w775qMH4gKQl0E4CGJel98pQ9y5bPp9EVcxnjleXdt_WXmpmBQnptVlP4CPswnm6v9enlSvhfzxOVRN6tkaT6_FX/s1600/3rd+Company+seesoldaten.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seesoldaten from the 3rd Company<br />(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Below, another group of <i>seesoldaten</i>, this time from the 1st or 4th company, contrives to heat numerous kettles over a single campfire.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HAIczNCOu6qZ7wrSMqWiIK07H1NLCaz4_s0wDzA73ipCK4kR6nC-ZvCFTopLIVguwO95_HvOM0VF2CWA82_INUmrH2eniKLBeALDrOekrI14ptdtv5OYGyW_GalRcIHCpfZY9csmpfiF/s1600/Seesoldaten+Ostabteilung+a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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The shoulder boards of the marines in the next two images are quite distinct. The senior NCO in the first picture, identified as feldwebel Peters, as indicated by his collar and cuff insignia. They were both taken at Otjosazu near Okahandja. The other pictures show <i>seesoldaten</i> (including a junior and senior NCO), in an open train car, and another marine with a pet zebra. Most of these pictures are made available by the University of Frankfort and are part of its <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">outstanding digital library</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACWHLuU-IJUOiYuGYK2yT8rwG9cvO2AstlTja3f9i32crYuso_gxIhnxUiC2b__oqM8vwiHhGS-gFPh1yPU9_gW0YjWPUJiu9vW18ntcuLNo0Thc8zW1cNJ4LbR7LYxatyZIr6UJh3hYl/s1600/Seesoldat+NCO.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACWHLuU-IJUOiYuGYK2yT8rwG9cvO2AstlTja3f9i32crYuso_gxIhnxUiC2b__oqM8vwiHhGS-gFPh1yPU9_gW0YjWPUJiu9vW18ntcuLNo0Thc8zW1cNJ4LbR7LYxatyZIr6UJh3hYl/s1600/Seesoldat+NCO.jpg" height="504" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> (Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnyYbwEpx5IXPEpGJC7-_VVO_81qw9bsFxoLiI_doBY5QAc8z_AVdm6rhZ0af4McIGC-KUE9ob6zUaC2q1gTDoAyin-UZafoAj6tl8OP2RA-IXYwi36ECDXgKa2CjoemF7v5EI7blIosB/s1600/Seesoldaten+train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnyYbwEpx5IXPEpGJC7-_VVO_81qw9bsFxoLiI_doBY5QAc8z_AVdm6rhZ0af4McIGC-KUE9ob6zUaC2q1gTDoAyin-UZafoAj6tl8OP2RA-IXYwi36ECDXgKa2CjoemF7v5EI7blIosB/s1600/Seesoldaten+train.jpg" height="382" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Marines served both machine cannons (<i>maschinenkanonen</i>) and machine guns (<i>machinengewehre</i>) in southwest Africa during 1904. Two machine guns were assigned to a section under Oberleutnant zur See Wossidlo, and dispatched north to Grootfontein in June, 1904 along with Oberleutnant von Zülow's 3rd Schutztruppe Company. Here they met up with the District Commander Oberleutnant Richard D. Volkmann, who featured prominently <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/search/label/Uitkomst" target="_blank">a series of posts early this year on the Battle of Uitkomst</a>. Wossidlo had previously served with Estorff, and would later deploy his machine guns to help defend the heliograph station which Volkmann ordered Lt. Auer to establish at the top of the Waterberg prior to the battles there in August. <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2002/8040934/" target="_blank">In the photograph, below, taken in Grootfontein</a> that June, Wossidlo wears his blue naval officer's coat. From left to right, adults in this image are identified as Oberlt. <span class="st">Böttlin</span> (in charge of the Bastard <i>Abteilung</i>); Lt. Lehman (field artillery); Frau Gathmann; Oberlt. Richard Volkmann; Werner (possibly Oberarzt Dr. Werner); Theodor Gathmann; <span style="font-family: arial,; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial,;">Frau Kühnehold</span></span>; Oberlt. z. See Wossidlo; Lt. Freiherr von Reibnitz; Oberlt. von Madai (field artillery) and Oberlt.
v. Zülow.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-67688275198491594672014-11-23T11:03:00.002-05:002017-07-19T18:23:22.354-04:00Images of the Landsungskorps from S.M.S. "Habicht" in DSWA in 1904<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj786aqCC95cFluOdiOzNaHDjepwUyVtVfybQZGIEDReZuYvikX-Harfr4N-bagBrJKoCfhPG88iBJhRZiC8pf-X6Bz6LSJ-yyp89d24wL2m6RhWNI3nNkih62rZRCfMBDi8VQImEEX1enb/s1600/Sailors+Teufelsbach+0.50.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj786aqCC95cFluOdiOzNaHDjepwUyVtVfybQZGIEDReZuYvikX-Harfr4N-bagBrJKoCfhPG88iBJhRZiC8pf-X6Bz6LSJ-yyp89d24wL2m6RhWNI3nNkih62rZRCfMBDi8VQImEEX1enb/s1600/Sailors+Teufelsbach+0.50.54.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
A detachment of sailors from SMS "<i>Habicht</i>" was the first reenforcement to arrive in German Southwest Africa at the outbreak of the 1904 war with the Herero. <i>Landungskorps</i> "<i>Habitcht</i>" guarded railway stations along the narrow gauge line between Swakopmund and Okahandja and fought several sharp actions at Liewenberg at Groß-Barmen. Sailors from "<i>Habicht</i>" helped serve in a <i>Machinenkanonen</i> section with Ludwig von Estorff's Westabteilung. Dr. Belden and two sailors from "<i>Habicht</i>" were killed, and Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Hermann, was wounded at Owikokorero with the Ostabteilung. Several more died of typhus.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Several sailors visible, in both blue and white uniforms, 2 with the 1902 Bordtfeld Tropenhelm<br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Images of sailors from <i>Landungskorps </i>"<i>Habicht</i>" are few and far between. Those that I have been able to discover show a mix of uniforms (the white <span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><i>Arbeitsbluse</i></span>, winter blues and perhaps even work shirts stained khaki with a dye of coffee and tobacco) and head wear (naval caps, Bordtfeld tropenhelms and even a Sudwester or two). If there is a unifying feature it is the blue, removable naval collar, with or without a black neckerchief , and an open, V necked blouse.<br />
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Here is an image of Waldau station on the railway line a few kilometers west of Okahandja before the war began, followed by one after it had been burned and was reoccupied and fortified by Schutztruppen and sailors from the Landungskorps. You can see two sailors in the second image, one in a Sudwester hat, and the corrugated sheet metal used to make the burned out station defensible.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waldau Station, 1903<br />
(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Many of the sailors in the Landungskorps served automatic artillery pieces, including machine cannon (<i>maschinenkanonen</i>), revolver cannons (<i>revolverkanonen</i>) and machine guns (<i>maschinenegewehre</i>). The following image from Okasise station on the railway line on June 30, 1904 includes a <i>revolverkanone</i> crew and gun platform, and includes a significant number of sailors from the <i>Landungskorps</i> (and one or more officers).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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A close up of the gun crew in this photograph (from the <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2002/8039621/" target="_blank">digital library of Goethe Universit</a><a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">ät</a><a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2002/8039621/" target="_blank">, Frankfort am Main</a>, which has <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">a wealth of period images</a>), reveals soldiers in their winter blues - appropriate for this time of year in the southern Hemisphere - and summer whites or work blouses. The officer in front strikes a jaunty pose.<br />
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Small detachments of Sailors from the <i>Landungskorps</i> also served machine guns and other automatic cannons with Estorff's Westabteilung at Omaruru and with Glasenapp's Ostabteilung. One of the former is shown, below, at the grave of Leutnant Erich Georg Kuno Freiherr von Woellwarth-Lauterburg who died of wounds received during the siege of Omaruru on February 14th, 1904.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Another sailor stands at a pair of graves, unfortunately just too pixelated for me to determine their names, in the image below. His collar is darker than his blouse but the shirt is no longer white. It may be an example of one of the sailor uniforms that was stained khaki with coffee and tobacco. It is just possible that the same sailor, in different clothing, appears in this photograph as the one above. Hard to tell, but there is a resemblance...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Photo from database maintained by <a href="http://edocs.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/abfrage_suchen.php" target="_blank">Goethe Universität</a> Frankfort am Main)</td></tr>
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Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-48481437615144936872014-10-22T11:27:00.000-04:002014-10-22T11:28:53.465-04:00Images of Hereros in Colonial DSWA from German Texts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-29459679969323371962014-10-16T10:12:00.000-04:002014-10-16T10:12:07.306-04:00And Now the Namas Too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27PNYssHm_ToiqJcruNBFCsugQGae7MtMTfnzCgx5yaTXkwiRXchbJzAKTJk1b8xawKlhFO5f9Bo1hhCxLs5GAsc87ExRQsqBPzyUH0-rTKgWqbkfQAjfvZf9-Nz_qDn8gQ_MEeYM83sN/s1600/Screenshot+2014-09-22+07.20.22.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>When I started this blog a year ago, I focused on the German war with the Herero. I once lived in parts of Northeastern Namibia where this conflict took place, and the war itself is better documented in the secondary sources to which I felt limited given my basic German language skills. The development and release earlier this year of the Roy Jones/Eric Alvarado <u>Herero War Scenario and Rules Book</u> was a happy coincidence, and I've got my hands full painting up the figures that these games will require. <br /><br />I might have stuck with 1904, but along the way my German translation skills have started to improve and I keep finding more primary sources that have bearing on this period as well as the war with the Nama that began as the Hereros were driven into the Omaheke and continued in various stages into 1908. Having finished researching a little known skirmish near Uitkomst in the Grootfontein District and developed a game scenario based on what I discovered, I find I have a taste for more, but Roy and Eric have already covered most of the fights from the Herero War that have tabletop potential.<br /><br />Roy has long had in mind a second volume in his Kaiser Over Africa series dealing with the Nama <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27PNYssHm_ToiqJcruNBFCsugQGae7MtMTfnzCgx5yaTXkwiRXchbJzAKTJk1b8xawKlhFO5f9Bo1hhCxLs5GAsc87ExRQsqBPzyUH0-rTKgWqbkfQAjfvZf9-Nz_qDn8gQ_MEeYM83sN/s1600/Screenshot+2014-09-22+07.20.22.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27PNYssHm_ToiqJcruNBFCsugQGae7MtMTfnzCgx5yaTXkwiRXchbJzAKTJk1b8xawKlhFO5f9Bo1hhCxLs5GAsc87ExRQsqBPzyUH0-rTKgWqbkfQAjfvZf9-Nz_qDn8gQ_MEeYM83sN/s1600/Screenshot+2014-09-22+07.20.22.png" height="352" width="400" /></a>War of 1904-1908, and I look forward to its development. For my part, I may from time to time turn my researcher's eye toward the arid mountains and dunes south of Windhoek where Hendrick Witbooi, Simon Koper, Cornelius Fredericks and Jakob Morenga made life very difficult for the Schutztruppen who were sent to oppose them. <br /><br />Some of the Germans who served in the South were also involved in the Herero conflict (Estorff, Volkmann and Deimling, among others), while some 250 Hereros fought alongside the Nama at <span class="st">Groß</span>-Nabas in January of 1905: months after their defeat in the North. This is also the conflict where camels come into use by the Schutztruppe both as draft animals and (in the final campaign) as cavalry mounts, and pack mules were used to transport mountain guns.<br /><br />To acknowledge this expanded focus, the subtitle of this blog has been updated accordingly.<br />Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-84898560429559871782014-10-10T11:08:00.001-04:002014-10-10T11:08:15.391-04:00The Lost African Penguin Colony of Cape Cross<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The African penguin (<i>Spheniscus demersus</i>) once numbered in the millions. Today its population has declined by 95% and if the trend is not reversed the species risks extinction in the next two decades. There are about 5,000 breeding pairs left along the Namibian coast and another 21,000 in South Africa. <a href="http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/pdf/bclme29_food%20in%20benguela.pdf" target="_blank">Industrial fishing</a> is the main culprit.<br /><br />Most of the remaining penguin colonies are on offshore islands, and I saw them off Luderitz in Namibia when I visited there in 1991 and 1992. At one time, however, there was a large mainland breeding colony in German Southwest Africa at Cape Cross, north of Swakopmund, as the above photograph from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=RqUUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207&dq=Herero+Osondema&hl=en&sa=X&ei=64UpVIj4L8unyASy8YDgDQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=swakopmund&f=false" target="_blank">a book published in 1904 by Franz Seiner</a> clearly illustrates. Today, Cape Cross hosts a very large (and very pungent) Cape Fur seal colony, but the penguins that were once there in vast numbers have vanished. There may still be a few that come ashore, but their last strongholds are far to the south along the <a href="http://www.nacoma.org.na/Our_Coast/WalkOnOurCoastline.htm" target="_blank">Namibia Coast</a>. Cape Fur seals compete with the penguins for food and <a href="http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/mammals/carnivora/arctocephalus_pusillus.htm" target="_blank">sometimes consider them as prey</a> as well.<br /><br />Alas, there is no historic scenario from the German-Herero war that would call for penguins on the tabletop. Sadder still is the thought that these marvelous birds may soon have no place in the wild either.Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1386287906710733311.post-11001451511984816082014-10-09T18:03:00.000-04:002014-10-09T18:03:35.955-04:00Back to the German-Herero War Painting Table: What's on Deck in 28mm? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoV_imvAh4x-whLqVIqIo0HTTBYmikLTM0bnsRVCYbb0lWy2Af0epm-DsCqZVVRLIjzEZZ_hjG251Cmo91rkQak7bZoL3E5ocZ7tRtc6dcm4WN-0TR0yL3VFl4kcAnugimnyd-6ilWedy3/s1600/Men+of+the+Troop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoV_imvAh4x-whLqVIqIo0HTTBYmikLTM0bnsRVCYbb0lWy2Af0epm-DsCqZVVRLIjzEZZ_hjG251Cmo91rkQak7bZoL3E5ocZ7tRtc6dcm4WN-0TR0yL3VFl4kcAnugimnyd-6ilWedy3/s1600/Men+of+the+Troop.jpg" height="521" width="640" /></a></div>
The last four months spend researching and developing a skirmish scenario based on the historical battle of Uitkomst have been an exciting and rewarding interlude for me, as I hope they have been for those of you who have been following along with the 12 part series that resulted from that effort. Although I am considering tackling a <i>second</i> battle scenario from this period, I don't have the bandwidth to take on that project right away: certainly not while also addressing the huge backlog of figures that await my paints and brushes.<br />
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It won't surprise readers of this blog that I now possess a large number of Boer figures in 28mm scale, mounted and on foot, that I should start painting in earnest so I can begin play testing the Uitkomst skirmish. They are a selection of mounted (Black Tree Designs, Foundry and Redoubt) and dismounted Boers (all of the above, plus North Star Africa and Empress). The Black Tree horsemen are just slightly larger than Foundry's but usable together. Redoubt's are both stylistically different and as a rule slightly too small for use with Black Tree. For Uitkomst I'll be using five of Black Tree's and three of Foundry's mounted Boers, and a probably will favor North Star and Empress for the foot figures. Redoubt's Boer horse holder is not ideal, with extremely long legs and a rough and ready sculpt, but I have not yet found a good alternative.<br />
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I've got 12 Mounted Hereros to paint (Empress Natal Native Horse with the spears removed from their quivers), and a really neat idea for one of the Herero's most effective war leaders - <a href="http://omaheke.blogspot.com/2013/12/images-of-herero-leaders-assa-asser.html" target="_blank">Assa Riarua</a>. Then there are the German civilians who fought at Uitkomst (represented thus far by figures from North Star, Foundry and Redoubt), and a growing number of vehicles with draft animals, drivers and figures representing native handlers (<i>Treiber</i>) that are needed for scenarios such as Groß-Barmen in the Jones/Alvarado Herero War Scenario and Rules Book<br />
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I may start, however, with a scenic vignette, featuring an ubiquitous sight characteristic of the terrain in central and eastern Hereroland, along with one of its associated denizens. It provides a welcome contrast to an otherwise flat and mundane landscape of thorn and savannah, not to mention a bit of cover. Your guesses are welcome in the comments, but you will need to wait for the big reveal...Tim Abbotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06849640818435610465noreply@blogger.com0