Our Despatches from the Front (Non 155).
Page 18
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Fighting the Enemy and Climate in German East Africa.
WITH A LORRY IN EAST AFRICA.
When the company to which I belong left England for East Africa in February, 1915, We had as fine a fleet of 30 cwt. iNapiers as one could desire. " We also had eight F.W.D.s, and a good. supply ofmotorcycles. . On arrival in Bgitish East Africa the first thing that had to be done was to reduce the weight of the bodywork of all vehicles, with the result that instead, of having smart standard lorry bodies, as in England, our Napiers had their floor space reduced to about One-third and the height to one plank high (about a fo;pt deep). As soon as possible "after the alterations were completed we entrained for up country, in order to be near; the fighting
'zone. It was necessary to take the lorries, etc. by train because there are no roads from the coast to the interior, excepting footpaths as used by the native carriers.
Supplying the Batteries.
After we had taken the lorries from the trucks, which we did by building temporary ramps to run them down, we finished our journey by road to the headquarters where the main supply depots were. Here every lorry that could be spared was transferred from the Howitzer Battery with which we had come out to the Line of Communication Supply Column, to be used for conveying' supplies to the fighting unite.
This sounds very simple to anyone who 'has been to France, where. the rail head is near the trenches and the average daily mileage is only about 20 miles on
fairly good roads. But out here, owing to .there being no trench wOrk, the conditions being somewhat similar to those of the South African campaign, it is often over .100 miles from the rail head to the Division" supply dumb, Again, unless one has travelled in this sort of country, it is hard to describe its idiosyncrasies on paper. During the dry weather it Is• a hard job to get drinking water or water for the radiators, so that it is imperative that no leaky radiators should be on any of the vehicles in order to ensure against water wastage. Also., the roads which are simply tracks across the Country, often are so overgrown that the bush has to he cut down to allow the vehicles to got through ; then, after a few have passed over it, it becomes a patch of soft, shifting sand in which the wheels will not grip, but grind themselves into it until they 'are down to the axle. When this sort of country has to be crossed it often takes a day to cover five miles, not straightforward running, but digging the cars out every 100 yards or so.
, Roads Become Raging Rivers4 During the wet seasons the conditions are worse; the rain comes down so heavily that it Causes floods, and what has been quite dry before becomes after an hour's rain a raging river, washing everything before it, and so deep that motor vehicles have to be pulled across with ropes. • All the roads as they get wet allow the wheels to sink right down.
All the lorries that I have. seen in the country have done their work. wonderfudy well considering
the unfavourable conditions, but owing to the nature of the country and the roads it has been found advisable to use a light vehicle chassis with lorry body, and nearly every car that has conic tO us lately has had the touring five-seater body removed and a very light lorry body fixed. They are then formed into a light-vehicle convoy, and as such have done some very good work by being able to get over ground that was impossible to heavy vehicles.
Fords Render Good Service.
The Fords out here have proved very good, no niatter what the use to .which they have been put; the engine seems a suitable one for this climate, where, owing to the heat, carburation is one of the chief things to study. Of course, the Hups and Buicks are also very good, but there are not so many in use out here a,s there are Fords. For lorry work the Napiers, Daimlers, Roes, Packards and F.W.D.'s have all done good 'service. "
Owing to so much dust and fine sand floating about and getting into the engines, there has been a bit of trouble' with sleeve-valve engines. After getting slightly worn the sleeves 16Se. their compression and the'engines want a lot of starting, and suffer from loss of power generally. To give some idea of . the uses to which a motor can be put, I must tell you that in some places to help the convoys out owing to the bad roads light railway lines were laid down, and Fords fitted with rail wheels would draw quite a large load on a trailer truck.