THE PEPPER TRADER: True Tales of the German East Asia Squadron and the Man who Cast them in Stone
By Geoffrey Bennett

Hidden high in the mountains of Java lies a graveyard surrounded by ancient trees and steeped in Hindu legend. In the middle of this sacred grove stands a tall memorial dedicated to “the brave men” of the German East Asia Squadron. The graves of ten U-boat sailors rest in the shadow of this mysterious white pillar.

Who were these men? And why was a monument dedicated to their honour on the flank of a volcano in Indonesia? These were the questions Geoffrey Bennett asked himself when he chanced upon this remarkable site. He soon identified the man who built the memorial as Emil Helfferich, a young German entrepreneur who sailed to the Dutch East Indies in 1901 to make his fortune in pepper. Helfferich befriended the legendary Graf Spee and his sailors when they visited Java. He cheered their exploits in the early months of World War I – victory at Coronel, the swashbuckling raids of Emden, their daring trek on camelback – and he mourned their inevitable demise.

Through the eyes of Helfferich, Bennett recounts tales of the tropics, the wider world and the unseen hand that guided the young man’s life and loves. The Pepper Trader takes the reader on a romantic journey from Helfferich’s village in Germany to the exotic East Indies and back again to his native land. A memorable cast of real characters, mystical creatures and the Queen of the South Sea accompany the reader on this fascinating voyage. This true story is a unique account of long-forgotten events from the last century – and how they continue to affect us today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geoffrey Bennett was born in Ottawa, Canada, and has lived in six Canadian cities as well as Denver, Houston, Paris, Jakarta, Singapore and Bangkok. A student of engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada and geophysics at the University of British Columbia, Mr. Bennett has worked as an exploration geophysicist for thirty years, half of that time in Jakarta, Indonesia. In addition to five papers on geophysics, he has written The Jakarta Hike & Bike Trail Guide as well as several articles on birding, Scouting, canoeing and mountaineering.

A Rich Tapestry of Entwining Stories
by Michael A. Hennessy
Chair, Department of History Royal Military College of Canada

Who hasn’t wandered through a graveyard and been moved to ask the story behind a grave marker and wished the bones below could talk?

At the Canadian military cemetery at Dieppe there is always one stone that moves me to ask such a question. It is the grave of a woman who belonged to the Salvation Army; how she came to rest among Canada’s fallen has always eluded me.

8788 Geoffrey Bennett was equally moved when he chanced upon a series of grave markers commemorating a number of German naval personnel who died in what is today called Indonesia shortly after the cessation of hostilities in 1945. How had these men come to be in such a place so far from home and how had they all come to die after the hostilities had ceased? It was in search of answers to these questions that Bennett began this book, but these are not questions he answers – yet.

Bennett, an engineering graduate of the RMC, has worked as an exploration geophysicist in Indonesia for many years. His experiences in Indonesia, particularly how history, memory and identity are formed there, greatly form the structure of his resulting book.

His quest results in an intriguing blend of history, memory, imagination and current commentary. Three stories run through this book. The first is a biographical account of the German national Emil Helfferich who, near the turn of the 19th century, located to the Dutch East Indies to become a spice trader.

The second is the recounting of the fascinating exploits of the German East Asia Fleet during the First World War, including the career of the merchant raider Emden.

The first two stories are tied together by an account of how Helfferich moved the Weimar German government to erect an official commemorative monument to the fleet on his estate in Java – and it is beside that monument that Bennett found the Second World War grave markers.

The third story is the author’s journey of exploration and obvious love affair with the mysteries and people of Indonesia where he worked for over a decade.

Combined they offer a rich tapestry of people, places, heroism, naval lore, memory and exploration that I found moving and very well written.

The accounts of naval action alone should commend this book to a number of readers but the book is much more than that. I found it a fast and fascinating read that readers young or old could enjoy.

Taken from VERITAS, The Magazine of the Royal Military Colleges of Canada