Wall panel by Jo Roos, the second of two portraying South Africa's participation in World War I, primarily covering events of 1917 and 1918. Sections include the Campaign in East Africa, the sinking of the Mendi, and scenes from South Africa's participation in the war on the Western Front. © 2015 John M. Shea
"I was just bursting for a bayonet charge. An enemy machine gun crept up to within thirty yards of us and opened from behind some rocks. We could not dislodge it, so we led out a platoon and smothered it, bayoneting all its personnel. I ended up by using my rifle as a club — with disastrous results — for my stock broke, but it was great. The South Africans behaved splendidly: quite steady, quiet and collected."
Excerpt from the May 9, 1916 diary entry of Richard Meinertzhagen, a British officer of German and Danish extraction pursuing the forces of German Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in East Africa. Since the turn of the year, the British campaign had been led by General Jan Smuts, who had fought in the Boer War. The action Meinertzhagen describes was part of the Battle of Kondoa Irangi, fought between May 7 and 10, 1916 in German East Africa. Soon after killing the men manning the machine gun, Meinertzhagen killed a German officer Kornatsky in hand-to-hand combat.
Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 176, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003
1916-05-09, May, 1916, Africa, South Africa, German East Africa, East African Campaign, Jo Roos, Roos
