Battle of Tanga The Battle of Tanga , sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees , was the unsuccessful attack by the British Indian Expeditionary Force " B " under Major General A . E . Aitken to capture German East Africa ( the mainland portion of present - day Tanzania ) during World War I in concert with the invasion Force " C " near Longido on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro . It was the first major event of the war in Africa and saw the British defeated by a significantly smaller force of German Askari s and colonial volunteers . Prelude . Tanga , situated only from the border of British East Africa ( modern - day Kenya ) , was a busy port and the ocean terminal of the important Usambara Railway , which ran from Tanga to Neu Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro . Tanga was initially to be bombarded by British warships , but this part of the plan was scrapped . An agreement was in place guaranteeing the neutrality of the capital Dar es Salaam and Tanga , but now the accord was modified and it seemed “ only fair to warn the Germans that the deal was off . ” Instead the British resolve to capture German East Africa was to be implemented with an amphibious attack on Tanga . Unlike the plan on paper however , the attack turned into a debacle . On 2 November 1914 the British cruiser HMS " Fox " arrived . The ship ' s commander , Captain Francis W . Caulfeild , went ashore giving Tanga one hour to surrender and take down the imperial flag . Before departing he demanded to know if the harbor was mined ; it was not , but he was assured that it was . After three hours the flag was still flying and " Fox " departed to bring in the Force " B " convoy of fourteen troop transports . This gave time for both the Schutztruppe and the citizens of Tanga to prepare for an attack . The German commander , Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow - Vorbeck , rushed to Tanga . He reinforced the defences ( initially only a single company of Askaris ) with troops brought in by rail from Neu Moshi , eventually numbering about 1 , 000 in six companies . Battle . Captain Caulfeild ordered the harbor swept for mines during 2 November and well into the next day . During the sweeping the Force " B " commander , Aitken began the unopposed landing of troops and supplies in two groups , at the harbor and three miles east of the city on a mine - free beach . By evening on 3 November the invasion force was ashore with exception of the 27th Mountain Battery and the Faridkot Sappers . At noon in 4 November , Aitken ordered his troops to march on the city . Well concealed defenders quickly broke up their advance . The fighting then turned to jungle skirmishing by the southern contingent and bitter street fighting by the harbor force . The Gurkhas of the Kashmiri Rifles and the 2nd Loyal North Lancashire Regiment of the harbour contingent made good progress and entered the town , captured the customs house and " Hotel Deutscher Kaiser " and ran up the Union Jack . But then the advance was stopped . Less well trained and equipped battalions of the " Imperial Service Brigade " scattered and ran away from the battle . The 98th Infantry were attacked by swarms of angry bees and broke up . The bees attacked the Germans as well , hence the battle ' s nickname . British propaganda transformed the bee interlude into a fiendish German plot , conjuring up hidden trip wires to agitate the hives . The 13th Rajputs failed to play a significant role in the battle as their morale had been shaken when witnessing the retreat of the 63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry . The colonial volunteers of the 7th and 8th " Schützenkompanies " [ rifle companies ] arrived by rail to stiffen the pressed Askari lines . The normally mounted 8th " Schützenkompanie " had left their horses at Neu Moshi . By late afternoon on 4 November , Lettow - Vorbeck ordered his last reserves , the 13th and 4th Askari " Feldkompanie " ( ( field companies ) – the 4th had just reached Tanga by train ) to envelop the British flank and rear by launching bayonet attacks along the entire front to “ bugle calls and piercing tribal war cries . ” At least three battalions of the " Imperial Service Brigade " would have been wiped out to a man . . . if they had not taken to their heels . All semblance of order vanished as Force B ' s retirement “ degenerated into total rout . ” Still outnumbered eight to one , caution overtook some of the German officers . Through a series of errors by the buglers and misunderstandings by an officer to disengage and consolidate , Askari withdrawals occurred to a camp several miles west of Tanga . As soon as Lettow - Vorbeck learned of this , he countermanded the move and ordered a redeployment that was not completed until early morning . “ For nearly all of the night [ before sunrise 5 November ] , Tanga was Aitken ' s for the taking . It was the most stupendous irony of the battle . ” Aftermath . Furious and frustrated , Aitken ordered a general withdrawal . In their retreat and evacuation back to the transports that lasted well into the night , the British troops left behind nearly all their equipment . “ Lettow - Vorbeck was able to re - arm three Askari companies with modern rifles , for which he now had 600 , 000 rounds of ammunition . He also had sixteen more machine guns , valuable field telephones ” and enough clothing to last the Schutztruppe for a year . On the morning of 5 November , Force B ' s intelligence officer — Captain Richard Meinertzhagen — entered Tanga under a white flag bringing medical supplies and carrying a letter from General Aitken apologizing for shelling the hospital . The streets of Tanga were strewn with dead and wounded . German doctors and their African orderlies worked tirelessly and “ with a fine disregard for their patients ’ uniforms . ” The successful defence of Tanga was the first of many achievements of Paul von Lettow - Vorbeck during his long campaign in East Africa . For the British however the battle was nothing short of a disaster , and was recorded in the British " Official History of the War " as “ one of the most notable failures in British military history . ” Casualties included 360 killed and 487 wounded on the British side ; the Schutztruppe lost 16 Germans and 55 Askaris killed , and 76 total wounded . Paul von Lettow - Vorbeck initially estimated the number of British killed at 800 but later said he that believed the number was more likely over 2 , 000 . The Germans subsequently released the British officers that had been wounded or captured after they gave their word not to fight again during the war .