page_title: African theatre of World War I
section_title: German invasion of Angola, 1914–1915
hierarchical_section_title: African theatre of World War I / South West Africa / German South West Africa campaign, 1914–1915 / German invasion of Angola, 1914–1915
caption_attribution_description: English: Portuguese troops heading for Angola, during World War I. Português: Embarque de tropas portuguesas para Angola, durante a 1ª Guerra Mundial do cais do Arsenal.
context_page_description: The African Theatre of the First World War comprises campaigns in North Africa instigated by the German and Ottoman empires, local rebellions against European colonial rule and Allied campaigns against the German colonies of Kamerun, Togoland, German South West Africa and German East Africa. The campaigns were fought by German Schutztruppe, local resistance movements and forces of the British Empire, France, Italy, Belgium and Portugal.
context_section_description: The campaign in southern Portuguese West Africa (modern-day Angola) took place from October 1914 – July 1915. Portuguese forces in southern Angola were reinforced by a military expedition led by Lieutenant-Colonel Alves Roçadas, which arrived at Moçâmedes on 1 October 1914. After the loss of the wireless transmitter at Kamina in Togoland, German forces in South West Africa could not communicate easily and until July 1915 the Germans did not know if Germany and Portugal were at war (war was declared by Germany on 9 March 1916.). On 19 October 1914, an incident occurred in which fifteen Germans entered Angola without permission and were arrested at fort Naulila and in a mêlée three Germans were killed by Portuguese troops. On 31 October, German troops armed with machine guns launched a surprise attack, which became known as the Cuangar Massacre, on the small Portuguese outpost at Cuangar and killed eight soldiers and a civilian.
  On 18 December a German force of 500 men under the command of Major Victor Franke attacked Portuguese forces at Naulila. A German shell detonated the munitions magazine at Forte Roçadas and the Portuguese were forced to withdraw from the Ovambo region to Humbe, with 69 dead, 76 wounded, and 79 troops taken prisoner. The Germans lost 12 soldiers killed and 30 wounded. Local civilians collected Portuguese weapons and rose against the colonial regime. On 7 July 1915, Portuguese forces under the command of General Pereira d'Eça reoccupied the Humbe region and conducted a reign of terror against the population. The Germans retired to the south with the northern border secure during the uprising in Ovambo, which distracted Portuguese forces from operations further south. Two days later German forces in South West Africa surrendered, ending the South West Africa Campaign.
caption: Portuguese troops embarking for Angola
exif: {}