The Campaign in German East Africa - 1917-1918

The Campaign in German East Africa, 4

This week's chapter examines the campaigns of 1917-18, the difficulties of the rainy season, General Hoskins reorganises the forces, Van Deventer in command, German strength and resources, June 1917, enemy spying out Portuguese territory, the chase of Naumann, Germans murder British officers, Van Deventer's strategy, Northey's operations, Kilwa and Lindi operations begun, the new Belgian campaign, Mahenge captured by Major Bataille, the main offensive, Von Lettow's narrow escape, Colonel Tafel surrenders, sufferings of British prisoners, ten months' campaign in Portuguese East Africa, enemy success near Quelimane, rapid enemy march north, Germans in Northern Rhodesia, Von Lettow surrenders

Besides antelope of many kinds the Germans eat monkey, lion, elephant, giraffe, zebra and other strange meat, and also crocodile eggs. In everything they showed ingenuity; for instance, aeroplane bombs were turned into land mines

Stiff fight in East Africa August 8, 1917

Our southern columns are engaged with a strong enemy force in most difficult rugged country, covered with thick bush

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stiff-fight-in-east-africa-qqlhcs9bz?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=118_17.06.2017%20Africa%20(1)&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_3630900_118 News of further severe fighting in East Africa was issued last night by the War Office. On August 3 an attack was made on a German force entrenched in dense bush some 10 miles south-west of Lindi, a port 170 miles south of Dar es Salaam. The action, in which British, Indian, and African troops were engaged, was inconclusive, and the losses on both sides were considerable. The advance from Lindi was part of the movement designed to surround the German forces, which are being pressed from the east, the north-east, the north-west, and the south. In the Iringa (north-west) area Belgian troops are cooperating. The majority of the enemy detachments are being pressed towards Mahenge, a plateau midway between Lake Nyasa and the sea. There has been no further fighting with the main enemy force recently driven from the Kilwa area. It is now 42 miles from that port, and has been reinforced. All the enemy detachments, save one, which had invaded Portuguese Nyasaland have been driven back into German East Africa.

THE OFFICIAL REPORT.
The following is the text of the War Office communique: In the Lindi area [Lindi is a port 65 miles north of the Portuguese frontier] the forward movement of our forces commenced on August 2 on the road leading south-west towards Nyangao and Massassi [40 and 75 miles respectively from Lindi]. On that day the enemy was driven from his advanced positions on the Mihumbia stream, 101 miles south-west of Lindi, and our troops occupied Schaedel’s Farm. On August 3 the enemy’s main positions on the Mihumbia were assailed. The frontal attack, conducted mainly by African troops, made a certain amount of progress, but a turning movement intended to envelop the enemy’s right flank encountered strongly-posted defences concealed in the dense bush. Severe fighting ensued, tho enemy counter-attacking vigorously, and our troops (British, Indian, and African) fighting with great gallantry. The result of the action was indecisive, and the losses on both sides were considerable. Our forces entrenched on the ground gained, and our advance will be resumed shortly.
In the Kilwa area [between Lindi and the Rufiji] one of our columns operating in that district has penetrated to the Msindye River, 53 miles south-west of Kilwa. The enemy force defeated on July 19 at Narongombe retreated to Mihambia (42 miles south-south-west of Kilwa), where they received reinforcements.
In the Rufiji area [south-west of Dar es Salaam] the enemy forces formerly in the Madaba and Kitope districts (45-50 miles south of the confluence of the Rufiji and Ruaha Rivers) are being driven westwards towards Mahenge [which is, roughly, midway between Lake Nyasa and Dar es Salaam] by our columns advancing from the Rufiji Valley at Kibambawe (70 miles south of Mrogoro, on the Central Railway).

In the Iringa area [north-west of Mahenge] the enemy is being pressed back on Miahenge and Fakara’s (38 miles north of Mahenge). In this area Belgian troops are cooperating with our columns. Fifty-three miles south of Mahenge our southern columns are engaged with a strong enemy force in the vicinity of Mponda’s. The operations in this area are being conducted in most difficult rugged country, covered with thick bush.
In Portuguese Nyasaland all but one of the enemy detachments which had established themselves in the Lujeiida and Luchulingo Valleys, and on the shore of Lake Nyasa, have now been driven north of the Rovuma River by our column advancing from the south.

Enemy hard pressed in Africa November 1, 1917

In the recent heavy fighting at Nyangao the German casualties in killed and captured alone are given as whites, 294; natives, 945

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/enemy-hard-pressed-in-africa-3m7jv8zmh?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=newsletter_118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=118_17.06.2017%20Africa%20(1)&CMP=TNLEmail_118918_3630900_118 A communique issued last night by the War Office gives news of further progress in the operations in East Africa. The Germans who were in the Mahenge district (the central region between Lake Nyasa and the sea) have been driven by Anglo-Belgian forces some 50 miles eastward - in the direction of Kilwa, where they will have to meet other British forces - while farther south Liwale has been captured by General Northey’s troops. Liwale was the last place of importance held by the enemy. The bulk of the Germans are now in the Lukuledi Valley, in the hinterland of Lindi. In this neighbourhood in the recent heavy fighting at Nyangao the German casualties in killed and captured alone are given as whites, 294; natives, 945. In all 1,263 enemy casualties are reported. Pressure is being continued on the enemy in the Lindi district. The Germans are’ being driven south-west towards the Portuguese frontier, a distance of some 50 miles from the present area of fighting, and, adds the communique, “Portuguese troops are in positions of readiness.”

The following is the text of the War Office announcement: In the western area the German forces have been driven from the Mlahenge district by the combined operations of Belgian and British columns, and have retired to the vicinity of Mgangira (on the Luwegu River, east of Mahenge). A German covering detachment was dislodged from Kingoli (48 miles south-south-east of Mahenge) by a British column advancing from the south. The Germans abandoned two guns in their retreat.
Liwale, a German administrative centre of some importance, 122 miles south-west of Kilwa, was occupied on October 29 by a detachment of General Northey’s troops. Twenty-four German Europeans were captured. In the south our patrols are active in the vicinity of Mahiwa (311 miles south-west of Nyangao) [Lindi district], whilst Portuguese troops are in positions of readiness on the Rovuma River [which at its nearest point is not more than 50 miles from Nyangao]. It is confirmed from reliable sources that the enemy’s losses in the recent fighting about Nyangao were severe. A minimum estimate (exclusive of wounded, whose numbers are difficult to ascertain in the conditions of bush fighting) is 53 German Europeans and 208 Askaris killed, 241 Europeans and 677 Askaris captured.

Nearing the end in East Africa November 30, 1917

Von Lettow-Vorbeck seems to be at the end of his tether, and his only hope is to plunge south into Portuguese territory, for the way of retreat to the west or the north should be safely barred against him https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nearing-the-end-in-east-africa-tzlw02ch2 The East African campaign has been protracted, though more than once it has seemed to be near a triumphant end. These expectations were disappointed; but the surrender of Colonel Tafel near Nevala, with 110 Europeans, 1,212 fighting Askaris, and 2,200 other natives, seems to have disposed at last of any chance of prolonged German resistance, at least so far as the territory of German East Africa is concerned. The only considerable body of German troops left in being is that under Colonel Von Lettow-Vorbeck, the German Commander-in-Chief in the colony. When the fighting season began this year he was in the Matandu Valley. He broke south from it with considerable loss, after heavy fighting in June and July, pushed down to the next large river basin - that of the Lukuledi - and has since been shepherded steadily southwards. He is now in the valley of the Rovuma, a river which is the boundary between German East Africa and the Portuguese territory of Mozambique. He is short of food and short of ammunition. His only hope of replenishing his supplies of both is to get hold of stocks smuggled in from the coast. The sea-coast of German East Africa and of Mozambique is broken with numerous indentations - splendid cover for supply vessels that have slipped through the blockade and are quick to hide among the subtropical vegetation that fringes the waters of these secluded bays. It is known that the Germans have got supplies from the sea before now; if they had not they could not have held on so long. But Von Lettow-Vorbeck seems to be about at the end of his tether, and in any case his only hope is to plunge south into Portuguese territory, for the way of retreat to the west or the north should be safely barred against him.

The soil of German East Africa seems at last to be swept clean of its German masters. Colonel Tafel, who has just surrendered. was in the Mahenge region-a plateau raised some 6,00( feet from the sea and far inland from the Matandu valley, which sheltered Von Lettow-Vorbeck when the fighting season began this year. He struggled south in the hope of joining his Commander-in-Chief. Belgian troops and the Nyasaland-Rhodesian force, under General Northey, harried him continually as he went. He lost Mahenge at the beginning of October, suffered severely in his descent from the Mahenge plateau, crossed the Kilwa-Songea road, and made for Nevala, where he hoped to get touch with Von Lettow-Vorbeck. They actually came within some fifty miles of each other. But meanwhile General Northey had anticipated their moves, and one of his columns, advancing from the southern end of Lake Nyasa, struck north-east to occupy Nevala. By this move he interposed his force between the two surviving bodies of German troops. Colonel Tafel, approaching Nevala, found it occupied, and surrendered at discretion. Thus General Northey has crowned by a brilliant stroke his record of endurance and gallantry throughout this long campaign. No praise can be too high for the work that he and his troops have done. They have marched thousands of miles in country as difficult as any in the world, they have given the enemy no rest, they havo engaged him wherever they have found him, and at last they have prevented the junction of his two surviving forces just at the moment when they seemed to be on the point of uniting. The Belgians have been as enduring and as efficient. To their efforts much of the recent Allied success in East Africa is due. Remote as it is, protracted as it has been, the East African campaign should have its proper recognition in this country. It has not had it yet, but we make no doubt that when the full facts are known recognition will be as unstinted as it has been long delayed.