GERMAN POST OFFICE

German nationals Clement Denhardt and G. A. Fisher first made contact with the Lamu hinterland in the late 1870s. They became friends to the Sultan of witu, Ahmed Abdullah Simba, who at the time was having trouble with the rulers of Lamu and Zanzibar. Witu became a German protectorate.They built a building that was the first German Post Office ever established along the East African coast in November 22nd 1888 by the Germans, led by Clement Denhardt. The communications and trade contacts for the German Protectorate in Witu could at the time be served through Lamu, which was a well established town with links to the outside world.The Post office operated for more than two years before its closure on March 3rd 1891 after the withdrawal of the German settlement in Witu.German Post Office now a Museum is located in Lamu old town, Lamu district in Coast Province Kenya.

WW1 BALL ROUND

Manufactured April 1910 (4-10) by ( S) Indian Government Ammunition Factory Kirkee, Southern Circuit, INDIA expended at Salaita hill,most likely fired from an SMLE rifle learn more about the battle of Salaita hill

BATTLE OF SALAITA HILL

TSAVO RIVER BRIDGE

 

Logo of the then Uganda railways

                          In 1898 the British with the Indian and native railway constructors reached Tsavo River.They had to build a  permanent bridge to replace a temporary wooden trestle.Col J H Patterson was tasked to build the bridge..

                                                       Bridge construction

                                                         Tsavo River bridge inspection by Patterson

.....from then on unfolded a lion story like no other....An epic of terrible tragedies spread over a number of months.The construction was halted for several months after a scare, the scores laborers –Indian and African were mauled by two lions. The two felines were later shot by Patterson and their remains are currently preserved at the Chicago field Museum. The bridge the one below is still in place and functional. Patterson later wrote The Man-Eaters of Tsavo a non fiction published in 1919. The Germans would later during WW1 attempt to reach and destroy this bridge to halt the penetration of the British in East Africa..see more on HISTORY OF THE IRON LINE

                                              Col Patterson with the remains of the first man-eater to be shot

                                      Below is the Tsavo River bridge still functional 110 years later

THE BATTLE OF LATEMA REATA HILL

MARCH 11 – 12, 1916 latema-Reata, Taveta,  Kenya

 “DO NOT BE AFRAID OF TRYING ANYTHING NINETY-NINE TIMES, IF THERE IS A CHANCE OF SUCCEEDING AT THE HUNDREDTH”

  

Many lessons, though costly were learnt at Eldorobo Salaita hill, the British knew why the assault failed and the Germans got to know the areas to improve on, the determination of their opponents and the cost should they have lost. The mountain was to be renamed slaughter, chilling enough to instil fear and be a reminder of difficult times.  But that done it was not enough to stop another attack under the same commands, similar terrain, same year in the month of March, the battle of LATEMA-REATA.

From his account in the book “MY REMINECENCES OF EASTAFRICA” Gen VON-Lettow writes of hostile spies. They were called “Shenzi” innocent looking locals. They were spying the Usambara railways and as a proof of having reached their objective they were to bring back to their masters part of Railway line. They deciphered the enemy was making a detailed reconnaissance of the Usambara railway and approaches to it. The usambara railway was the Germans principal line of communication. A look at a map showed that if the enemy advanced from Salaita and Longido enroute to new Moshi they stood the risk of losing Kilimanjaro country.

Due to anticipation of this assault, the Salaita position following its earlier successes was maintained but with a lesser force. German forces moved south to Latema-Reata hills. By March 8, 1916 the two major positions were manned by Major George Kraut who had earlier successfully defended Salaita hill. General Malleson of the British forces was faced with a new problem despite similarities in circumstances to the Salaita battle, two hills covered with dense vegetation that became worse as one ascended.

The first attack began on March 11, 11:45am. Brigadier Malleson flesh from defeat at salaita had at his disposal the 1^st East Africa Brigade for the operation consisting of, Belfield’s Mounted scouts, Mounted infantry company, No’s 6 and 8 field batteries, no 184 Howitzer battery, 2^nd Rhodesian Regiment, 3^rd Kings African Rifles, 130^th King Georges own Baluchis, a machine gun battery of the Loyal North Lancashires and volunteer machine gun company.

Malleson ordered his men on a frontal attack on Latema hill. A deception attack was not possible due to dense vegetation and a swamp on the south. The Rhodesian regiment was held in reserve while The Baluchis and 3rd Kings African Rifles went to attack holding the right and left positions respectively. The attack was supported by Artillery which bombarded German positions from arrange of 3,000 yards.

Major Kraut reported from Reata that hostile forces were moving towards his direction from Taveta. An attack was made by several thousands of men on the three German companies holding this position. The enemy suffered heavy losses and reported hundreds of stretchers were used to ferry the wounded and by evening the enemy attack had been repulsed with heavy losses. In the darkness captain kohl’s forces had pursued the enemy with energy and opened machine gun fire inflicting further casualties on their enemy when he tried to make a stop. After the attack failed, Malleson requested to be relieved from his command position due to sickness.

Gen Mallesons position was taken over by Brig. Gen Tighe who ordered a second assault. That night Krauts detachment telephoned again that the enemy had attacked with great force and penetrated his position. The Rhodesians and the Kings African Riffles were the leading units, the 130^th Baluchus covering the right flank and the 9^th and 5^th Field batteries supporting the attack. Among the casualties was the commander of the Kings African Rifles, Lieutenant-Colonel B R Graham. Early in the morning of 12^th Kraut found some of his detachment on their positions on Reata Mountains. The enemy had fallen back to Taveta.  Lots of confusion had occurred at night during the close quarter battles. Despite heavy losses on the German side the British had many casualties, and the wounded were moved without a hitch.

The British would make the third attack forcing the enemy to concede defeat, under Tighe’s command the 7^th Southern Africa Regiments would attack at night with their Bayonets fixed. The south Africans’ managed to find their way up the two hills, in the darkness and confusion  Gen  Tighe lost control of the units and fearing heavy losses ordered a retreat at 0430Hrs. But when the patrols reached the heights of the hill to convey the order they found, Lieutenant-Colonel Freeth and Major Thompson at the summit and in command, the Germans were in a full retreat. The British consolidated this position to be their strong hold.

THE BATTLE OF OLDOROBO ( SALAITA HILL)

Salaita  is near modern day Taveta town, Kenya, it  is a sun baked hill in isolation, were it not for occasional cartridges, unexploded ordinance and trenches very little gives it away as a scene that has witnessed a major historical battle. It was a strategic look out post and major base for German railway communication and an important tactical point for the British ambitions to penetrate German East Africa. British intelligence showed it was defended by a small detachment of 300 men with no artillery, an error that would cost them dearly. The British command tasked to attack Salaita was led by brigadier General Beve’s  2^nd South African Infantry brigade and first East African brigade. In addition was the Indian artillery brigade, in total there were 6000 men.

The allied forces began their assault on the morning of February 12 1916 with the bombardment of German positions on the hill.  Unknown to them Salaita hill was highly defended by approximately 1,300 men under the command of local commander Major George kraut. Due to poor intelligence they attacked trenches and positions in the summit, instead of the front lines further downhill. It alerted the Germans of the impending attack with little disorganisation or determent of their ability to repulse the enemy.

Allied forces with aerial support began to advance at 0500 hrs, supported by scouts, armoured cars, artillery and machine guns. After 0700hrs, 2 KM short of Salaita, Beve’s brigade assumed a loose formation; they came under sporadic fire from the enemy artillery. The brigadier deployed the 7^th SA Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. J. C. Freeth) leading. 5th SA Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. the Honourable J. J. Byron) echeloned on its left and the 6^th SA Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. G. M. J. Molyneux) extending on the right. They penetrated the core positions of the enemy but were forced to withdraw due to heavy enemy fire. While withdrawing they were attacked on the right wing by the German relieving force commanded by Captain Schultz from Taveta, the brigades withdrew with some disorder to the northeast, having sustained 172 casualties. One of the principle reasons for the reverse is the lack of coordination between the South African and East African brigades. Their respective attack time had a difference of over 3 hours despite the fact they had a common target.

 The South African losses at Salaita hill are given as 138, 83 were from the leading unit the 7^th SA Infantry,6 killed,47 wounded and 30 missing.

A similar account was given by Gen Von-Lettow Vorbeck, leader of the German East Africa forces. In his book “REMINISCENCES OF EAST AFRICA” he recounts of considerable build up of troops to the East of mount Eldorobo. Mount Eldorobo would later after the battle be renamed Slaughter and corrupted to modern day Salaita. He beleaved the considerable build up was to train young European fighters from South Africa of how to manoeuvre and engage the enemy in the bush. He recounts how early in February the enemy advanced from the East with several regiments. He had plans the enemy would not get away, he would achieve this by means of a counter attack with Captain Schulz detachment in Taveta.  On 12^th February 1916, European troops advanced to 300 meters from Oldorobo Mountains. Head quarters at new Moshi considered an opportunity had presented its self and ordered fire to be opened. Schultz detachment was ordered to match from the rear and make a decisive attack on the enemy’s right or northern wing. He was to be later informed that the enemy had been repulsed with heavy losses. The numerous Howitzers shells that fell on their position hardly did any damage. The enemy retreated through the bush in disorder. They buried more than 60 Europeans. According to the prisoners of war and recovered documents the troops were 3 South African infantry Brigades and It seemed the men were recruited on the promise of acquiring farms and plantations.

MONEY AS A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE IN EAST AFRICA

The world probably  owes its currency origins to Maria Theresa Thaler.  East Africa was not exempt . Maria Theresa was the queen of Hungary and Bohemia who ruled from the age of 23 yrs in the years from 1740 to1780. She introduced the silver bullion coin to be used for trade in her country. The coin’s use spread far and wide, the British, Italians, Belgium’s used it to trade and sustain war in countries they wanted to conquer. It was used in the Kenyan and Eritrean coasts and despite its popularity its use did not penetrate inwards. 

The German East Africa Company acquired the right to mint coinage in 1890 and issued Rupees which were equivalent to the Indian and Zanzibar Rupee. The Company retained its coinage rights even after the takeover of German East Africa by the government later in 1890. In 1904 the German government took over currency matters and established the Ostafrikanische Bank.

During the First World War, gold from the Sekenke Gold Mine was used to mint coins to pay German troops fighting against the allied forces in the Belgian Congo. Senkenke was the largest gold mine in Tangayika modern day Tanzania. The coins are highly sought after and valued by collectors due to their gold content.

HELLER

Heller is a common name in East Africa referring to coins of small value but little is known of its origins.The Heller or Häller was originally a German coin valued at half a pfennig and named after the city of Hall am Kocher (today Schwäbisch Hall). The coin was produced from the beginning of the 13th century based on a previously produced silver pfennig (Häller Pfennig, sometimes called Händelheller for its depiction of a hand on the front face), but was deteriorated by mixing in copper little by little so that it was no longer considered to be a silver coin. The term Heller came into wide use as a name for coins of small value throughout many of the German states up to 1873 when, after German unification, Mark and pfennig were introduced as nationwide coinage.

PICE

In 1897 the leader of the British East Africa Protectorate (B.E.A.P) introduced a new currency called the ‘pice’ or ‘specie’. It was not successful and hence the rupee was made the official currency in 1905.

INDIAN RUPEE

The Indian rupee was used to pay Indian workers during building of the railway from 1896, it managed to penetrate inwards as the railway construction progressed. The rupee was readily accepted and its name was corrupted and called by different names such as rupiah or pesa. Kenya attained a colony status in 1920 when the Imperial British East Africa’s mandate was abolished, the use of the Indian rupee was also abolished at this time.

The East African Currency Board was established, it was a central body formed to oversee the issuance of currency in the region.

EAST AFRICAN RUPEES

 The Indian Rupee was quickly replaced with the East African Rupee. The E A Rupee was the currency of Britain's East African colonies and protectorates between 1906 and 1920. It was divided into 100 cents. In 1920, the Rupee was revalued against Sterling to a peg of 1 Rupee = 2 Shillings (1 Florin). The currency is noteworthy for including the world's first aluminium coin, the 1907 1 cent. It was however was short lived as the East African Florins were instead introduced.

FLORIN

The Florin was the currency of the British colonies and protectorates of East Africa between 1920 and 1921. It was divided into 100 cents. It replaced the East African Rupee and was replaced by the Shilling at a rate of 2 shillings = 1 florin. The florin was equivalent to 2 shilling sterling. Because of its short period in existence, few of the coins minted were actually issued and are consequently scarce today. Coins were minted in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents and 1 florin but, the 50 cents coins were not released for circulation and only 30% of the 1, 5 and 10 cents coins produced were issued for circulation. On January 1, 1922 the shilling equivalent was introduced in all the three East African countries and by June 1923, the E.A. Shilling was firmly established as official currency in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika.

CURRENCY AFTER INDEPENDENCE
In 1964 after the independence of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, there was a desire to establish a common East African Central Bank. Interim currencies were therefore introduced by the EACB to circulate within the region. For banknotes, the interim currency was commonly known as the Lake Victoria Money because of the background of Lake Victoria on the notes. The Lake Victoria designed notes were in the denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 100 shillings. There were also a number of coins minted and referred to as the “Uhuru” coins since they too had no head or monarch on them. Individual countries in East Africa were to follow with their own currencies with Kenya in 1966 under the central bank.

Theresa Thaler coins

German East Africa Rupee

THE IRON SNAKE

 African seers predicted the coming of an iron snake that would swallow people and vomit them at designated points.

The British efforts to build a concrete base for its colonies in East Africa saw the establishment of an infrastructure that has stood the test of time to acquire the status of a relic and still retain its functional element. It would  suppress slavery by removing the need of humans to transport goods and necessitate a first word war campaign against General Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s German East Africa modern Day Tanzania. It allowed coffee and tea to be farmed and exported by settler farmers, a project that was highly supported by the UK government and a policy that would shape the development of Kenya for decades.

 It was named after its eventual destination, Uganda. In 1896 the British East Africa Company begun building the line from Mombasa eventually reaching Lake Victoria in 1901.The point was named Port Florence (Modern day Kisumu city),it was named after the lady who was given the honour to hammer in the last key at the water’s edge, Florence Preston wife of Chief foreman plate layer, Ronald O.Preston.

The railway would ensure British dominance in East Africa. It was to run parallel to an earlier piece of infrastrure, an Ox-cart route from Mombasa to Busia, the Mackinnon-Scalater road and now the modern day Mombasa- Nairobi highway. Construction was carried out by Indian labourers estimated at around 32000.It cost around 5 m pounds and was operational by 1903.

LOCAL RESISTANCE

Notable was the Kedong massacre, Maasai locals attacked railway workers killing 500 because two Masaai girls had been raped. English man Andrew Dick led a counter attack against them but run out of ammunition and was speared to death. At the turn of the 20^th century the Nandi people were to stage further resistance led by Koitalel Arap Samoei who was later captured and hanged in 1905 ending the resistance.

TSAVO RIVER BRIDGE

By 1898 tha bridge had reached Tsavo River. A temporay wooden trestle was built to allow continuation of the railway as a permanent,firmer bridge was being built.The bridge was to be built under direction of captain,later colonel J H Patterson.The construction was halted for several months after a scare, the scores labourers –Indian and African were mauled by two lions. The two felines were later shot by Patterson and their remains are currently preserved at the Chicago field Museum. The bridge is still in place and functional.Unmarked graves remain along the lines route at stations along,kyulu, kanga and kenani.

The man eating lions would later kill road Engineer O’Hara who was drugged from his tent in 1899.Police Superintendent   C H Ryall would face the same fate while sleeping in his observation saloon no.13, he was killed by a lion that entered his carriage through the window and dragged his body to the bush. Others were to recount their narrow escapes, Heubnar a German trader and Parenti an Italian merchant. The lion was to be later bait trapped and shot.

NAIROBI KENYA’S CAPITAL CITY

By 1899 nearly 500kms of the track had been laid and had crossed the Athi  plains. The rail head reached a swampy ground called by the locals (Maasai) Nyrobi (later 1900 named Nairobi modern day capital city of Kenya).Here a major base was set up in preparation for further penetration of the railway line, the administrative offices were moved here from Mombasa and staff houses were set up. The colonial administration also moved to this place from nearby Machakos. These attracted many support services and goods which were provided by the Indians merchants.

Eventually construction was completed in 1901, opening up East Africa to the rest of the word with Five million pounds sterling, 43 stations, 1200 bridges, five years and countless lives lost. An amazing feat in the history of Kenya and railway infrastructure.

US President Theodore Roosevelt while on safari in 1909 road on the railway line he later remarked:

“ The railroad, the embodiment of the eager, masterful, materialistic civilization of today, was pushed through a region in which nature, both as regards wild man and wild beast, does not differ materially from what it was in Europe in the late Pleistocene.

The Tsavo Man-Eaters on display in the Field Museum on Natural History in Chicago Illinois...the skins were sold in 1924 to the museum for US$ 5,000

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