he Namibia Scientific Society cordially invites you along with your family and friends to the book launch of German Medals, British Soldiers and the Kalahari Desert by Gordon McGregor This book endeavours to portray the unique occurrence when Imperial Germany awarded her medals en-bloc to Imperial British troops for an operation deep in the Kalahari Desert in the northern part of the British colony of the Cape of Good Hope early the previous century.
This operation was against Morenga and his band of followers and resulted in the Battle of Eenzaamheid on 20 September 1907. At this battle Morenga and the majority of his followers were killed and when the German colonial authorities learned of this they were so relieved that Morenga, who was a thorn in the side of the Imperial German colonial administration, was dead that they decided to award the South West Africa Commemorative Medal, with the bar ‘Kalahari 1907’, to those members of the force that had defeated him en-bloc. This was to be the one and only time that such an en-bloc awarding of Imperial German medals to Imperial British forces occurred and as such is unique in history.
Also told is the story of the awarding of Imperial German medals to members of the British Bechuanaland Protectorate Police Force who assisted the German colonial authorities in tracking down Simon Koper and his band also deep in the Kalahari Desert. This led the German colonial troops to organise a force to pursue Simon Koper into his hideout in the Kalahari Desert and engage him. This force engaged Simon Koper at the Battle of Seatsub and defeated him there