The German East African theater of the First World War has a nearly legendary aura. Unlike the horrendous slaughter and stalemate of the Western Front, this series of campaigns involved smaller forces in wide-ranging maneuvers. A massively outnumbered and outgunned German colonial force successfully outperformed Entente (later Allied) armies for years - indeed, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’s units survived the defeat of the German Reich they fought for.
This unusual story is well served by David Smith’s The East Africa Campaign 1914-1918. Smith begins briskly, with a short sketch of the political and military situation facing Germany’s East African colonial leadership in 1914. Governor Schnee desired peace and sought neutrality, but his military opposite number, von Lettow-Vorbeck, prepared for a war he deemed likely. His strategy was neither to conquer other African colonies, since the odds were poor (the Germans fielded only 15,000 troops at a maximum (38)). Instead, he would prove to be an annoyance to Britain and other colonial powers in the region, tying down forces and resources that would otherwise have appeared in France.
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| A British Force Crossing a River |
Von Lettow-Vorbeck has several advantages. First, he relied extensively on local troops, while Entente powers sent in soldiers from other colonies (notably India) or Europe. The locals had the benefit of local knowledge and fighting for their land, but also greater immunity to the diseases which wracked foreigners. Second, several of the Entente commanders were slow to move or failed to take advantage of tactical opportunities, while the German lieutenant colonel acted and reacted swiftly, often changing tactics on the fly. Third, von Lettow-Vorbeck was willing to improvise, while his opponents preferred to work through extended supply systems. At one point his units salvaged naval cannons from a defeated light cruiser and hauled them around the interior to great effect. Fourth, the German force fought a guerilla war rather than a conventional one, which its enemies had a difficult time grappling with.
The first major battle, the November 1914 Battle of Tanga ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tanga), showed these features. A sluggish British amphibious attack attempted to take a coastal town, but Germans dug in quickly, then drew in reinforcements at speed, while the British delayed and ultimately withdrew. von Lettow-Vorbeck had already raided British East Africa and would continue to do so, attacking the Uganda Railway in 1915. These raids served several purposes: surprising enemy commanders, degrading their forces, and obtaining supplies. The latter was key as German Africa, like the home nation, remained under British blockade.
Britain’s commitment expanded, as von Lettow-Vorbeck had hoped, building up larger and larger armies while adding to them a major South African force. The Germans, outnumbered four to one, drove off an initial South African attack at Salaita Hill in 1916 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salaita_Hill). Other colonial powers entered the conflict, like Belgium and Portugal, motivated in part by the desire to win parts of the German empire. Overwhelming force and some shows of military competence gradually won the Entente German East African lands. By 1917 the colony was lost.
Yet von Lettow-Vorbeck kept forces in the field, forcing his opponents to remain fighting. After the 1917 Battle of Mahiwa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mahiwa), which the Germans won, but suffered high numbers of casualties, the now General reduced his army to merely 2,000 effectives in order to require fewer resources and to increase mobility. They then withdrew from the occupied colonial territory and invaded Portugal’s, quickly winning one battle at Negemano (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ngomano) and grabbing there enough material to keep going for another year. The German force - where Europeans and Africans were intermixed, including black officers giving orders to white soldiers - raced north to invade yet another colony, Rhodesia. That ragged, small, and effective army outlasted its Kaiser. In November 1918 word of the armistice reached central Africa and the Germans eventually surrendered “a force still maintaining itself proudly and victoriously in the field.” (90)
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| Soldiers of the German Colonial Forces, 1914 |
This Osprey book is a pleasure to read. Smith's style is clear throughout, guiding us well through complexities. The volume is also lavishly designed. Copious illustrations show us photographs and paintings of key players, the appearance of different troops, terrain, battlefields, posters, ships, aircraft, and more. Large and detailed maps—far too often lacking from WWI books!—let the reader follow the action well, year by year and through many locations.
The East Africa Campaign 1914-1918 can be ordered online from the publisher's website HERE
Bryan Alexander
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