Von Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial

The Von Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial in the Northern Province of Zambia commemorates the final cessation of hostilities of World War I, three days after the Armistice in Europe.

The reasons for the Memorial

The Memorial bears a plaque which reads:

"On this spot at 7.30 am on Thursday 14th November 1918, General von Lettow-Vorbeck, commanding the German forces in East Africa, heard from Mr Hector Croad, then District Commissioner Kasama of the signing of the Armistice by the German government, which provided for the unconditional evacuation of all German forces from East Africa".

A second plaque in the Bemba language ends with the words

"Twapela umuchinshi kuli bonse abashipa abalwile mu nkondo iyi"

which means "we honour all brave soldiers in this war". (More Africans than Europeans fought and died on both sides in the East African campaign, thousands more Africans who served as porters (sometimes under force) also died, and the civilian population suffered tremendously). [Fred Reid: "In Search of Willie Patterson: A Scottish Soldier in the Age of Imperialism" Cualann Press, Dunfermaline (2002). p.121.]

The message given to General von Lettow-Vorbeck was a telegram sent to Croad which read:

'Please send the following to General von Lettow-Vorbeck under a white flag - The English Prime Minister sent notice that on 11th November an Armistice was signed and that the fighting on all fronts should cease on 11th November at 11 o'clock. I order my troops to end hostilities as from now and I expect you to do the same. General van Deventer'.

Hence the Memorial marks the cessation of hostilities, not the surrender itself.

Location

The location of the Memorial is near the north end of the Chambeshi Bridge (which was built later) on the Mpika-Kasama road. Most accounts of the war say that Lettow-Vorbeck surrendered at Abercorn (now Mbala), 250 km to the north, giving the impression that he penetrated just the few kilometres to Abercorn from German East Africa, but that is only because he was instructed by the British imperial commanders in Northern Rhodesia to march his undefeated troops there for the official surrender on 23 November 1918.

Historical background

The British force had been waiting in the Abercorn area to attack the German forces coming from northern Mozambique, thinking they would make for Lake Tanganyika, but General von Lettow-Vorbeck had evaded them by turning south-west towards Kasama. Its tiny British population evacuated to Mpika, [ [http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V4N5/V4N5.htm "The Northern Rhodesia Journal" online] , Vol IV No 5 (1961) pp440-442. “The Evacuation of Kasama in 1918”. Accessed 7 March 2007.] except for nine who set up two Maxim guns at the Chambeshi, but they did not know how to work them. One, Charlie Simpson, had with him about £10,000 which was all the cash from the government offices and buinesses in Kasama, which he buried in a goat pen near the rubber factory he ran, thinking that the goats' hoofprints would hide evidence of digging, and that the Germans would probably be more interested in the goats than looking for the money. On arrival at the Chambeshi the Germans machine-gunned the rubber factory before Croad arrived with the telegram. [ [http://www.greatnorthroad.org/bboard/archived/2002_10_Oct.php Great North Road website accessed 23 February 2007] ]

If the war had gone on a few weeks longer, von Lettow-Vorbeck's rapid, light force could probably have reached the mines and railway in Katanga or at Broken Hill (now Kabwe) and all their supplies before General van Deventer could have caught up with him from the north.

etting up the memorial

The Memorial was unveiled on 14 November 1953 as a National Monument of Northern Rhodesia (as it was then) and consists of a large stone platform with the plaques set into a stone pillar, next to a cannon of the era (but not one used by the Germans).Sir Stewart Gore-Browne: "The Chambeshi Memorial", "The Northern Rhodesia Journal", Vol 2 No 5 pp 81-84 (1954).]

ee also

* East African Campaign (World War I)
* German East Africa
* General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck

References