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Post by JustJohn or JJ on Aug 6, 2018 12:03:33 GMT -7
THE GREAT JUNGLE WAR
At the height of the First World War, as armies of thousands fought with each other on European soil, a much more unusual battle was waged in eastern Africa, where Belgian and German colonial territories were separated by the second largest body of water on the continent: Lake Tanganyika.
An English big-game hunter living in the region came up with a plan to take out the German warships that patrolled the lake, and command of the mission was given to Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, a disgraced British career officer whose boorish incompetence had earned him the dubious distinction of being the oldest lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy.
Spicer led a motley crew of 28 daring young men and two 40-foot gunboats named Mimi and Toutou, on a 9,000 mile trek from England to the Cape, and then through the wilds of Central Africa, to destroy a German enemy flotilla in Lake Tanganyika.
Like the obsessed Fitzcarraldo in Werner Herzog’s movie, Spicer and company (whose ranks boasted a pet monkey named Josephine) dragged the pieces of the Mimi and the Toutou (the two gunboats) over some fearsome terrain – “…like swamps which actually move about”, Spicer wrote.
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Post by karl on Aug 7, 2018 16:09:54 GMT -7
J.J. Not about the war, but with Fitzcarraldo played by Klaus Kinski. I watched that film over twice, I still have a still of Mr. Kinski and his lady friend with him wearing his out standish broad brimmed hat with the ribbon about it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzcarraldoIt was a fun film to watch.. Karl
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Post by Jaga on Aug 11, 2018 4:30:31 GMT -7
John, we should watch the movie. Karl... the presence of kinky Kinsky gives this an extra flavor...
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