G. Massart (sold)
G. Massart (fl. c. 1898 - 1916) was a military intelligence officer who participated in the Tabora Campaign of the East Africa Campaign during World War I. He was present in the Congo Free State from 1898, as a non-commissioned officer and gunsmith (premier-sous-officier-armurier) for the Force Publique and was later listed in 1906 as an agent militaire. A source from 1913 notes one Massart as a 'lieutenant d'infanterie de l'armee belge,' and a French-language account of the World War I East Africa Campaign also notes a Lieutenant Massart, a member of the Brigade Nord under the command of Col. Philippe Molitor that captured the Mwanza region.
WWI Africa Campaign Espionage.
Mwánsa B3 / [Mwanza B3].
sold
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This is a unique manuscript record of reconnaissance and espionage at the height of the World War I East Africa Campaign compiled by Belgian Force Publique intelligence officer G. Massart. This c. 1916 hand-drawn field manuscript details the Mwanza region of northern Tanzania in anticipation of the Tabora Offensive, a major Allied action in the northwestern corner of German East Africa during the East Africa Campaign, World War I (1914 - 1918). The map shows latitude and longitude and offers a wealth never-before-mapped detail regarding topography, roads and paths (red lines), waterways, tribal villages, and geographical features. Before the war, the Mwanza was poorly understood, thus Massart would have been dispatched from the adjacent Belgian Congo to reconnoiter the area - vital for its port access to Lake Victoria - in advance of major action. (more details)