
National Geographic: The Jungle Navy
- Year:
- 1999
- 16 Views
Central Africa. 1915.
A small band of British soldiers
marches through the jungle
on a bizarre and secret mission.
In Europe, the first World War has
become a murderous stalemate...
but the clash of kings and empires
control of the Great Lakes of Africa.
In command of the British
expedition is Lt.
Spicer- Simson... an officer
whom the fates of war will label
a hero, a madman, and a god.
June 1915.
Under the guidance of South
African John Lee,
hacking a highway
through the unbroken rain forest
- 150 miles of manual labor in
the tropical heat.
Lee's bush road leads across jungles
through swamps and over mountains
- Tanganyika, Victoria, Nyasa.
Two already are in British hands
- but Tanganyika is the jewel of
the German empire
- a prize that London desperately
needs
to turn the tide of the African war.
It is a vital lifeline needed to arm
Whoever controls the lake,
controls the surrounding
territories.
One man rules her waters.
Imperial German Navy
commands a powerful marine
unit of 150 men
- his fleet of three heavily-armed
gunboats
has obliterated the puny armada
of the Belgian Congo
...- to win the battle for Central
Africa,
Zimmer's navy must be defeated.
Yet for the job of destroying him,
the Royal Navy selects a former
military surveyor
who has never led a brigade
into battle.
Lt. -Commander Geoffrey Basil
Spicer-Simson
is an old Africa hand who has
spent the first year of the war
behind a desk in London.
Then chance, not choice, gives
him an opportunity for greatness.
"Why did we go to Tanganyika?
Because the Germans with four
ships on the Lake
- were commanding the lake,
and by means of these steamers
were able to supply their troops
on the frontiers with provisions
and munitions.
It was important that this should
be stopped."
Spicer's orders are almost surreal
- London wants him to tote his
own toy navy
from England to Central Africa
a pair of 40-foot motorboats
- to be dismantled and freighted
to Cape Town
- then tugged overland by steam
tractor to the Congo
- a trek of over nine thousand
miles
- with Zimmer's gunships waiting
at the other end.
Spicer assembles the team.
Former architect of the
Rhodesian railway,
Paddy Wainwright is the
chief engineer
- I'm tropical disease specialist,
Dr. Hother Hanschell,
will be the Medical Officer.
As a casual friend of Spicer's,
not your average leader.
"Spicer-Simson was a vain man
worthy of ridicule and on occasion,
great admiration at the same time.
This paradox was only possible
because of the very nature of
Spicer-Simson's own behavior,
which was quite often bizarre."
they are gunners, mechanics,
and engineers
- not one has ever served
under Spicer.
The plan to take Tanganyika from
Get to Tanganyika, and destroy
the German fleet
by stealth and surprise.
converted supply boats.
"The two boats taken to Africa
by the expedition were...
not at all suitable as they were,
but they were the only ones
obtainable at the time.
My orders were to get away at once."
Spicer gives his mahogany warships
names befitting pleasure boats
- HMS Mimi and Toutou are quick
- top speed, 20 miles per hour.
Spicer tests them on the Thames
and has a 3 pound Hotchkiss gun
mounted in the fore
and a.303 Maxim in the rear.
June 15, 1915.
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"National Geographic: The Jungle Navy" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 15 Jan. 2021. <https://www.scripts.com/script/national_geographic:_the_jungle_navy_14574>.