East African campaign (World War I)

East African campaign
Part of the African theatre of World War I

An Askari company ready to march in German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika)
Date3 August 1914 – 25 November 1918
Location6°18′25.2″S 34°51′14.4″E / 6.307000°S 34.854000°E / -6.307000; 34.854000
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes
German East Africa partitioned by Britain, Belgium and Portugal
Belligerents

 United Kingdom

 Belgium

 Portugal

 Germany

Commanders and leaders
Union of South Africa Jan Smuts
Union of South Africa Jacob van Deventer
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Arthur Hoskins
Belgium Charles Tombeur
Belgium Armand Huyghé
First Portuguese Republic Ferreira Gil
First Portuguese Republic João Teixeira Pinto 
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
Heinrich Schnee (POW)
Kurt Wahle
Strength
British Empire
Initially: 2 battalions[1]
12,000–20,000 soldiers
Total: 250,000 soldiers[2]
600,000 porters[3]
Regulars (Schutztruppe)
Initially: 2,700[a]
Maximum: 18,000[b]
1918: 1,283[c]
Total: 22,000[d]
Irregulars (Ruga-Ruga) 12,000+[7][e]
Casualties and losses

British Empire 22,000
11,189 soldiers killed
95,000 porters died
Belgium 5,000
2,620 soldiers killed
15,650 porters died
First Portuguese Republic 12,000+
5,533 soldiers killed
5,640 soldiers missing/POW
Unknown number of porter deaths
Total: 40,000+ military casualties

  • c. 20,000 dead

German Empire 16,000+ military casualties

7,000 porters died[6]

365,000 civilians died in war-related famines.[i]

  • 135,000 in German Africa
  • 30,000 in British Africa
  • 150,000 in Belgian Africa
  • 50,000 in Portuguese Africa

The East African campaign in World War I was a series of battles and guerrilla actions, which started in German East Africa (GEA) and spread to portions of Mozambique, Rhodesia, British East Africa, the Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. The campaign all but ended in German East Africa in November 1917 when the Germans entered Mozambique and continued the campaign living off Portuguese supplies.[14]

The strategy of the German colonial forces, led by Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, was to divert Allied forces from the Western Front to Africa. His strategy achieved only mixed results after 1916 when he was driven out of German East Africa. The campaign in Africa consumed considerable amounts of money and war material that could have gone to other fronts.[2][15]

The Germans in East Africa fought for the whole of the war, receiving word of the armistice on 14 November 1918 at 07:30 hours. Both sides waited for confirmation, with the Germans formally surrendering on 25 November. GEA became two League of Nations Class B Mandates, Tanganyika Territory of the United Kingdom and Ruanda-Urundi of Belgium, while the Kionga Triangle was ceded to Portugal.

  1. ^ Miller 1974, p. 41.
  2. ^ a b Holmes 2001, p. 359.
  3. ^ Garfield 2007, p. 274.
  4. ^ Contey 2002, p. 46.
  5. ^ a b Crowson 2003, p. 87.
  6. ^ a b c d e Clodfelter 2017, p. 416.
  7. ^ Pesek (2014), p. 94.
  8. ^ Pesek (2014), pp. 94–97.
  9. ^ a b c d Morlang 2008, p. 91.
  10. ^ Paice 2009, p. 388.
  11. ^ a b c Michels 2009, p. 117.
  12. ^ Clodfelter 2017, p. 415.
  13. ^ Erlikman 2004, p. 88.
  14. ^ Holmes 2001, p. 361.
  15. ^ Strachan 2004, p. 642.


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