Battle of Tabora

Battle of Tabora
Part of the East African Campaign of World War I

Belgo-Congolese troops of the Force Publique after the Battle of Tabora, 19 September 1916
Date8–19 September 1916
Location
Tabora, German East Africa
(modern-day Tanzania)
5°01′00″S 32°48′00″E / 5.0167°S 32.8000°E / -5.0167; 32.8000
Result

Belgian victory

  • Most of the Ruanda-Urundi territory is left under Belgian control for the rest of the war
  • Allies gain control of the vital Tanganjikabahn railway line
Belligerents

Belgium Belgium

 German Empire

Commanders and leaders
Belgian Congo Charles Tombeur Kurt Wahle[1]
Strength
Belgian Congo 10,000 men[1] 5,000 men[1]
Casualties and losses
1,300 400 (228 captured)

The Battle of Tabora (French: Bataille de Tabora; 8–19 September 1916[1]) was a military action which occurred around the town of Tabora in the north-west of German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania) during World War I. The engagement was part of the East Africa Campaign and was the culmination of the Tabora Offensive in which a Belgian force from the Belgian Congo crossed the border and captured the settlement of Kigoma and Tabora (the largest town in the interior of the German colony), pushing the German colonial army back. The victory not only left much of the Ruanda-Urundi territory under Belgian military occupation but gave the Allies control of the important Tanganjikabahn railway.[2][3]

  1. ^ a b c d Tucker 2014, p. 1529.
  2. ^ 1916–1917 Tabora-Mahenge, The Congo and the war, klm-mra.be
  3. ^ Paice, E. (2008). Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa (Phoenix ed.). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-7538-2349-1.