page_title: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
section_title: First World War
hierarchical_section_title: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck / First World War
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Durchbruch der Schutztruppe Deutsch-Ostafrika über den Rowuma MItte November 1917. Darstellung von Carl Arriens
context_page_description: Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, also called the Lion of Africa, was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force of about 14,000, he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Indian, Belgian, and Portuguese troops.
  Essentially undefeated in the field, Lettow-Vorbeck was the only German commander to successfully invade a part of the British Empire during the First World War. His exploits in the campaign have been described by Edwin Palmer Hoyt as "the greatest single guerrilla operation in history, and the most successful."
  However, Lettow-Vorbeck's military successes against the Allies came at a high cost to local civilians.
context_section_description: Lettow-Vorbeck's plan for the war was relatively simple: knowing that East Africa would only be a sideshow to other theatres of war, he was determined to tie down as many British troops as he could. He intended to keep them away from the Western Front, and in this way to contribute to the German war effort.
  In August 1914 Lettow-Vorbeck was the commander of a military garrison of 2,600 German nationals and 2,472 African soldiers in fourteen Askari field companies. Feeling the need to seize the initiative, he disregarded orders from Berlin and the colony's Governor, Heinrich Schnee, who had attempted to achieve neutrality for German East Africa, relying on the Congo Act of 1885, by which the European colonial powers had promised to keep their overseas possessions neutral in any European wars. He thus prepared to repel a major British amphibious assault on the city of Tanga. The attack began on 2 November 1914, and for the next four days the German forces fought the Battle of Tanga. Lettow-Vorbeck then assembled his men and their scant supplies to attack the British railways in East Africa. He scored a second victory over the British at Jassin on 19 January 1915. These victories allowed the Germans to capture much needed rifles and other supplies, in addition to boosting the troops' morale. Lettow-Vorbeck also lost many experienced men, however, including the "splendid Captain Tom von Prince", whom he could not easily replace.
  Though casualties were high, Lettow insisted his commanders engage British forces, though they offered few enticing targets. This forced him to conduct raids into British East Africa (later Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia), targeting forts, railways, and communications, still hoping to force the Entente to divert manpower from the main theatre of war in Europe. Realizing the critical needs of guerrilla warfare, he used everything available to him to keep his troops supplied.
  
  The Schutztruppe recruited new personnel and expanded its size to some 14,000 soldiers, most of them Askaris. Lettow-Vorbeck's fluency in the Swahili language apparently earned the respect and admiration of his African soldiers. He appointed black officers and reportedly stated that "we are all Africans here". In one historian's opinion, 
  "It is probable that no white commander of the era had so keen an appreciation of the African's worth not only as a fighting man but as a man."
  The historian Michael von Herff says the loyalty of Askaris during the campaign was due to them having formed a military caste within the colonial structure, which had largely separated itself from its members' tribal roots.
  In 1915, he gained the men and artillery of the German cruiser SMS Königsberg which had been scuttled in the Rufiji River delta. The cruiser had a capable crew under commander Max Looff, and its artillery pieces, converted to land use, became the largest standard guns used in the East African Theatre. In March 1916 British forces under General J. C. Smuts and the Belgians under Charles Tombeur launched an offensive with 45,000 men near Tabora. Lettow-Vorbeck used the climate and terrain to his advantage, engaging the British on his terms. British reinforcements forced Lettow-Vorbeck to yield territory. Continuing his resistance, Lettow-Vorbeck fought a crucial battle at Mahiwa in October 1917, where he inflicted 2,700 casualties on the British. Lettow-Vorbeck himself lost 519 men killed, wounded, or missing while also running critically low on ammunition, forcing him to withdraw. The British would proceed to recover their losses and continue to hold an overwhelming advantage in numbers of men. For the Schutztruppe, this was serious, for there were no reserves with which to replenish their ranks. After news of the battle reached Germany, however, Lettow-Vorbeck was promoted to major-general (Generalmajor).
  Lettow-Vorbeck thus withdrew to the south, with his troops on half rations and the British in pursuit. On 25 November 1917, his advance column waded across the Ruvuma River into Portuguese Mozambique. Having essentially cut their own sup
caption: The Battle of Ngomano in November 1917
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