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Medo and Mbalama Hill, Portuguese East Africa, 12 - 24 April 1918
/world-war-i-articles/medo-and-mbalama-hill-portuguese-east-africa-12-24-april-1918/
In late November 1917 Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his men crossed the Rovuma River from German territory into Portuguese East Africa (today named Mozambique). The Schutztruppe was now a carefully selected force of about 300 Europeans, 1,700 Askari and 3,000 followers. The British did not directly pursue the Germans because supply lines,...
The First World War, Vol.1. The Call to Arms by Prof. Sir Hew Strachan
/world-war-i-book-reviews/the-first-world-war-vol-1-the-call-to-arms-by-prof-sir-hew-strachan/
Oxford University press, 2001, £30. ISBN: 0-19- 820877-4 Faced with outstanding reviews of Hew Stachan's book in the Economist, the Daily Telegraph, The Spectator - and by our own President in the Sunday Telegraph - it behoves any lesser reviewer to be cautious when expressing an opinion on this massive new work. But, in reality, the challenge...
The Battle for Latema-Reata Nek, British East Africa, 11-12 March 1916
/world-war-i-articles/the-battle-for-latema-reata-nek-british-east-africa-11-12-march-1916/
By early March 1916 the British forces in British East Africa (BEA - now named Kenya) had been ordered to abandon the defensive operations that characterised their 1915 activities. A new theatre commander, General J C Smuts, had arrived with thousands of reinforcements from South Africa and with a mandate to invade German East Africa (GEA - now...
Indian Volunteers in the Great War East African Campaign
/world-war-i-articles/indian-volunteers-in-the-great-war-east-african-campaign/
In August 1914 the Volunteer units of the Indian Defence Force were recruited from white and mixed-race members of the civilian community whose expectations were that they would only be used operationally within India for local or home defence. However, on the declaration of war, several members of Volunteer units wished to serve overseas and th...
The King's African Rifles at Kibata, German East Africa December 1916 to January 1917
When the Great War commenced in August 1914 "A", "B", "C" and "E" Companies of the 1st (Nyasaland, now Malawi) Regiment of the King's African Rifles (KAR) were deployed on border duty in British East Africa (BEA, now Kenya). These four companies remained in BEA and were constantly involved in operations against parties of German raiders who were...
Out on a Limb - the road through Tunduru: German East Africa, May to November 1917
In May 1917 the 1st Battalion of the Uganda-based 4th Regiment of the King's African Rifles (1/4 KAR) was in Fort Johnstone, Nyasaland (now Malawi). The battalion had marched down through German East Africa (GEA - now Tanzania) from Mwanza on Lake Victoria via Iringa to Old Langenburg, now named Lumbira, on Lake Nyasa. 1/4 KAR had fought and sk...
Running the Rufiji Gauntlet: The destruction of SMS Königsberg
/world-war-i-articles/running-the-rufiji-gauntlet-the-destruction-of-sms-konigsberg/
Early on the morning of 6 July 1915 two warships slipped away from Tirene Bay on Mafia Island, and slowly headed towards the coast of Tanzania, less than 30 miles away. The vessels were small, at 265 feet in length, and sat very low in the water: there was only three feet of freeboard fore and aft. However, they were heavily armed, each carrying...