A German ‘Gefreiter’ from German South-West Africa Schtuztruppe, WWI period
Men such as this one fought not only the South Africans in Namibia but also the Portuguese in Angola in a series of clashes along the border between the two European colonies, today’s Angola and Namibia. What follows is a resume of the first deadly border incident between the two:
Although Portugal’s neutrality lasted until 1916, clashes between Portuguese and German forces occurred as early as August and October 1914 in East and West Africa, respectively.
South of the Portuguese colony of Angola was German West Africa. On October 15, 1914, Dr Schulze-Jena, judge and German colonial administrator of the Outjo territory, accompanied by 2 officers, 1 sergeant, 8 European soldiers, and about 10 askaris, crossed the border into the Humbe province, Angola, without permission from the Portuguese authorities. On the 17 the German party set camp in Erikson’s-Drift (or Caloeque), 12 km southwest of Naulila. Afterward, Dr Schultze sent a messenger to let the Portuguese authorities know of his intentions.
In hearing of the German incursion, the Cuamato province’s military administrator orders Cavalry Alferes (2nd Lieutenant) Manuel Álvares Sereno and his Dragoons to make their way to the German camp.
Leading a force of 15 dragoons and 15 askari, Alferes Sereno leaves at 8 in the morning of the 18, arriving in the evening at the German camp.
Once he arrived, Sereno inquired as to what was Dr Schultze doing in Portuguese territory. When first interrogated by Sereno, Dr Schultze replied that they were in pursuit of a deserter and were waiting for permission from the Humbe province’s administrator to continue north towards Lubango. Later information points to the real reason for the incursion being the need to negotiate an agreement with the Portuguese authorities concerning the establishment of a supply and mail route through Portuguese territory, thus bypassing the South African embargo. They were also supposed to find out what had happened to a few supply carts that had been sent south from Angola but had never reached Outjo. Unknown to Dr Schultze, these supply carts had been seized on October 13 by Alferes Sereno himself.
Given the German’s explanations, Alferes Sereno invites Dr Schultze to speak in person with Humbe’s Capitão-mor (military administrator) to which Dr Schultze acquiesces, but only the next day as it was already quite late.
The next day, November 19, at 8 in the morning, Alferes Sereno and his dragoons escorted Dr Schultze, Oberleutnant Alexander Lösch, Leutnant Kurt Röder, the interpreter, Danish citizen Carl Jensen, and native orderlies Andreas and Hugo, to the military post at Naulila. The rest of the German party stayed behind in the camp.
Upon arrival at Naulila, Schultze-Jena discovered that the Captain-Mor was not at the fort and, through the interpreter, expressed his surprise that he had been led there uselessly. Alferes Sereno tried to explain to him that they were just stopping for lunch in Naulila and that the Captain-Mor was in the Cuamato territory and that it is there that he will have to meet him. Although the interpreter informs Schultze-Jena that Sereno is acting according to the instructions he has received, the latter doubts it and believes he is the victim of a trap to separate him from the group and disarm him. According to the version of the incident fixed by the July 1928 arbitration of the International Court of Lausanne, from this point on, events precipitated: Schultze-Jena doubts Alferes Sereno’s intentions and insists on returning, armed, to his camp claiming that he had understood the day before that the situation would be clarified in Naulila and that they would not go beyond there. Threats are exchanged, and the Germans, who are already on their horses, refuse to hand over their weapons and attempt an escape. Alferes Sereno gives the order to fire and the three Germans and their two orderlies are killed. Of the German group, only Carl Jensen, the interpreter, survives being held prisoner by the Portuguese until November 1919.
The text above is a resume of the Portuguese version of the events. The following German version is somewhat different:
“The Imperial District Officer of Outjo, Dr Hans Schultze-Jena, received the news of the alleged arrival of eleven ox wagons loaded with food at Erikson’s-Drift at the end of September 1914 and set out on behalf of the governor on October 8, 1914, to accept the transport, pay for it by means of 2 million Reichsmark taken in cash and to escort it through German Ovamboland. As an escort he took Oberleutnant Alexander Lösch, the head of the northern survey team, its members Gefreiter Georg Kimmel and Reiter Pahlke, Leutnant der Reserve and war volunteer Kurt Röder, war volunteer and interpreter Carl Jensen, Polizeiwachtmeister Joseph Schaaps, Polizeisergeant Braunsdorf, as well as August, Hugo, and two other African police servants. Although Lösch wanted to keep the arrival of the delegation secret by all means, he could not prevent the anti-German Kwambiovambo chief Ipumbo from the “German” Ovamboland from informing the Portuguese by messengers about the patrol and its mission three days before its arrival. He thus facilitated the Portuguese seizure of the provisions transport on October 13, 1914. To ascertain the whereabouts of the ox wagons, Schultze-Jena sent Röder and Jensen to the Portuguese district chief of Humbe at nearby Fort Donguena on October 17. They brought a letter of reply in which the administrator promised to come on Oct. 19, 1914. On October 18, a Portuguese patrol of 31 soldiers appeared under Lieutenant Sereno, the commander of Fort Naulila. He was able to lure the gullible Schultze-Jena and Lösch, Röder, Jensen with August and two other police officers to Fort Naulila, some twelve kilometers away, on October 19 with false promises. There he presented the district officer with a forged letter from Captain Varão ordering him to arrest the delegation; such an order, however, was real in content but had been given verbally by the commander (Capitao-mor) of Cuamato. When Sereno grabbed the reins of Schultze-Jena’s horse as he tried to ride away, the district officer pulled his carbine out of his holster and released the safety. Thereupon, on Sereno’s order to fire, Corporal Adelino shot him from behind. First Lieutenant Lösch was shot while riding away 100 yards outside the fort. The Portuguese also shot two police officers in the fort and threw their corpses to the crocodiles in the Kunene River. Lieutenant Röder was shot in the fort, seriously wounded, and – like those killed – robbed; he died during the night of October 19-20. Interpreter Jensen was captured outside the fort, slightly wounded, and was not released until November 1919. Only Police Sergeant August escaped the massacre and was able to report it to the rest of the patrol and to Vageler, who joined them and took command as a reserve officer from Police Sergeant Schaaps. The rest of the troops returned to Okaukuejo in rapid marches. (…)”
To the Portuguese, the “Naulila Incident” had been a misunderstanding attributed to the interpreter’s poor linguistic skills. To the Germans, it was murder and became known as the “Naulila Murders or Massacre”. German sources also state that the interpreter, Jan Jensen, was fluent in both Portuguese and Ovambo, having even participated in the Portuguese Rogadas campaign against the Cuamato in 1907. As for the 1928 court, its sentence stated: “it is evident that interpreting as a threat the gesture of Schultze-Jena and that of Lieutenant Röder, Sereno, unarmed, believed to be acting in self-defense.”
Whatever the exact truth may be, the fact is that this incident started a chain of events that would lead to a number of German retaliatory attacks all along the Angola-Namibia border culminating in what became known in Portugal as the Naulila disaster. More importantly, it led to a period of unrest in southern Angola that would prolong itself long after the 1915’s German surrender in Namibia. It would lead to a general native revolt forcing the Portuguese government to send thousands of men to pacify the region. On a personal note, among those men was my wife’s grandfather Ramalho (1897-2009). Unfortunately, I don’t know any details of his service. All I know is that, as an 18 years-old soldier, he was sent to Angola in 1915, remained in Angola after the war, and raised 15 children, leaving only shortly after Angola’s independence in 1975. I dedicate this work to his memory.
My gratitude to Sam Wouters for the original and his invaluable help with historical accuracy.
Sources:
Color references: germancolonialuniforms.co.uk
Portuguese:
“Naulila – Quando o inimigo ainda não o era, mas já se combatia”. Actas do Colóquio Internacional “A Grande Guerra – Um Século Depois”, Academia Militar, Tenente-Coronel Miguel Freire, 2015, pp. 123-152
Padroesdagrandeguerra (website)
João Manuel Rocha, “Angola: a frente esquecida”. Público, 31/08/2014. (article)
O Portal da História (website)
German:
“Der 1. Weltkrieg in Deutsch-Südwestafrika 1914-15, Band 2: Naulila, von Historicus Afrikanus”, and “Naulila. Erinnerungen eines Zeitgenossen, von Max Ewald Baericke”. Excerpts published in Namibiana.de