MAD GERMAN WOMAN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1605, 31 August 1916, Page 4

MAD GERMAN WOMAN.

LEADS TROOPS INTO BATTLE

NIBBLING AT THE ENEMY,

A soldier wlioihas just returned to Johannesburg from German East Africa, and who was employed on a service which necessitated his covering practically all the ground held by the British troops, told a Rand Daily Mail reporter some of the latest news. He was in the first advance, and, after Salaita Hill, took part in most of the engagements which have since been recorded. He was amazed to find no authoritative account had been given to the public regarding the German losses. At one point alone at Salait .Hlll, 600 enemy dead were counted, and at other places their losses were terrible. It was scandalous the way the Germans sent the Askaris into-battle. They had been ground for loot. He adds: “Some of the| Germans had actually promised ||e Askari non-coms, all the white pfomen in,,British East as their savants —or something worse. Just recently their German masters made the fed-up blacks drunk. We call the stuff ‘Bush-dop.’ Some of General Van Deventer’s men found a lot of it, and they sampled it. The result was that several of them went, nearly mad. Heaven alone knows what it is made of, but the chief ingredients are said to be paraffin and the juice of fermented sweet potatoes. MAD WOMAN COMMANDER.

“The great topic among the troops especially in Nairobi — when I left was the mad German woman commander. It seems that this woman’s husband and brother turned out to fight when we were getting really to work, and' they both went under together. When the unfortunate woman received the news she became insane. She refused to go into a rest camp or to stay among non-combatants.. She rigged herself out in a sort of uniform, and was given control of a large band of Askaris. At t|ie head of this outfit she sol out on a sort of De Wet campaign of nibbling at the enemy, and she proved a fearful worry. The first question one is asked on getting back to Nairobi is ‘What is the latest about the mad woman.’ “Our East African Rifles are great fighting stuff. So are some of the Indian Army troops which originally began the, campaign. We call these men the ‘Bluchers.” An Askari will run a mile rather than face them. OAY SUICIDE BRIGADE. “The Johannesburg slackers would feel ashamed of themselves if they could see the cheerful British nativfe lining up to enlist in the African Rifles/ Would-be recruits .will wait for hours in a string in order to get fixed up. And they will fight without pay rather than be left out. We call these splendid blacks the Gay Suicide Brigade. At the Rattle of Lumi River they were right in the front of the picture. They always go into action humming a .sort of tune that sounds a bit like ragtime. At' Lumi River, alongside of them were howling, screaming Indians, and stern-voiced shouting Europeans. On top of this the Askaris on the other side were yelling at the top of their drunken frenzy —they had been liberally primed with bush dop —while their German masters were absolutely howling-at ns. The din was awful.”