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Lt Cdr Geoffrey Basil Spicer-Simpson (1876-1947), commander of the British expedition to Lake Tanganyia in 1915.

Spicer-Simpson was a rather eccentric man, to say the least. That should be understood from the outset.

The origins of the title "Lord Belly-Cloth" are rather convoluted. Spicer-Simpson was heavily tattooed with rather saucy pictures, and was reputedly able to flex his muscles in such a way as to cause said tattoos to perform lewd acts. He was also given to taking baths in the open air, complete with a uniformed manservant and all the luxury a gentleman of the time would expect. And he would walk from his residence to his open-air tub wearing nothing but a rather natty kilt of his wife's design.

This was not really the sort of thing the commanding officer of the Imperial British overlords was expected to do.

The local africans caught wind of this free show, and Spicer-Simpson gave a good performance, demonstrating his muscle-flexing skills to the ever-increasing crowds. Their name for this strange, dress-wearing, tattooed Edwardian was "Lord Belly-Cloth".

Further research will be rewarded with the fairly unbelievable story of the Tanganyia campaign - a good starting point are his gunboats, the "Mimi" and "Toutou" (names the British admiralty have chosen not to continue). The whole episode is even more unbelievable because Spicer-Simpson was successful in his endeavours.

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11y ago

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