The Chambeshi Monument, in the Northern Province of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, also called the Chambeshi Memorial and the Lettow-Vorbeck Memorial, commemorates the final

cessation of hostilities A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, three days after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

The reasons for the monument

The monument bears a plaque which reads:

"On this spot at 7.30 am on Thursday 14th November 1918, General von Lettow-Vorbeck, commanding the German forces in East Africa, heard from Mr Hector Croad, then District Commissioner Kasama, of the signing of the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
by the German government, which provided for the unconditional evacuation of all German forces from East Africa".

A second plaque in the Bemba language ends with the words

''Twapela umuchinshi kuli bonse abashipa abalwile mu nkondo iyi''

which means ''we honour all brave soldiers who fought in this war''. The message given to General von Lettow-Vorbeck was a telegram sent to Croad which read:

"Please send the following to General von Lettow-Vorbeck under a white flag - The English Prime Minister sent notice that on 11th November an Armistice was signed and that the fighting on all fronts should cease on 11th November at 11 o'clock. I order my troops to end hostilities as from now and I expect you to do the same. General van Deventer".

Hence the Memorial marks the cessation of hostilities, not the surrender itself.

Location

The location of the Monument is on the north bank of the

Chambeshi River The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provides a greater ...

, near the northern end of the old

Chambeshi Bridge The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote River source, headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provi ...

(which was built later, this bridge was destroyed by Rhodesian troops during the Rhodesian Bush War, a new bridge was built further upstream) on the Mpika- Kasama road. Most accounts of the war say that Lettow-Vorbeck surrendered at Abercorn (now Mbala), 250 km to the north, giving the impression that he penetrated just the few kilometres to Abercorn from

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, but that is only because he was instructed by the

British military The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

commanders in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

to march his undefeated troops there for the official surrender on 23 November 1918.

Historical background

The British force had been waiting in the Abercorn area to attack the German forces coming from northern Mozambique, thinking they would make for Lake Tanganyika, but General von Lettow-Vorbeck had evaded them by turning south-west towards Kasama. Its tiny British population evacuated to Mpika, except for nine who set up two Maxim guns at the Chambeshi, but they did not know how to work them. One, Charlie Simpson, had with him about £10,000 which was all the cash from the government offices and businesses in Kasama, which he buried in a goat pen near the rubber factory he ran, thinking that the goats' hoofprints would hide evidence of digging, and that the Germans would probably be more interested in the goats than looking for the money. On arrival at the Chambeshi the Germans machine-gunned the rubber factory before Croad arrived with the telegram.

Setting up the monument

The Monument was unveiled on 14 November 1953 as a National Monument of Northern Rhodesia (as the country was then) and consists of a large stone platform with the plaques set into a stone pillar, next to a cannon of the era (but not one used by the Germans).Sir Stewart Gore-Browne: "The Chambeshi Memorial", ''The Northern Rhodesia Journal'', Vol 2 No 5 pp 81-84 (1954)

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References

{{Reflist History of Zambia Monuments and memorials in Zambia Buildings and structures in Northern Province, Zambia

The reasons for the monument

Location

Historical background

Setting up the monument

See also

References