Adler17
Prussian Feldmarschall
The Battle of the Bees
When war broke out in 1914 the German armies crushed through Belgium and France and the resistance of the Entente troops were nearly non existent. To conquer the German colonies only 2nd rate units were sent to do so. Most German had nearly no troops. Soon Togo and the German pacific islands were conquered. Tsingtao as Naval Fortress had to surrender after the last shell was fired on the enemy- with high British and Japanese losses and only due to violation of Chinese neutrality.
In Africa only the biggest colonies had troops which were in no way able to stop a huge invasion force. Nevertheless Kamerun and German South West Africa were able to beat the invading forces at first and even able to conquer the only British colony which fell in WWI: Walfischbay. But then they had to retreat into the colony. German Southwest Africa surrendered in 1915, the troops in Cameroon retreated to a Spanish colony in 1916.
For a long time it looked like German East Africa had the same fate.
General Major Aitken got the command of Indian Expeditionary Force B to conquer German East Africa. Aitken was a man who served on the Indian subcontinent for decades but did not know the African continent. Also he was very arrogant and said he wanted to be at home at Christmas. This shouldn´t be a problem, since the enemy was only a few Huns and barefeet Negroes. They would surrender when seeing the bayonets.
The troops he got were mostly worse: Soldiers who never came out of their villages. They spoke 12 languages most officers could not understand. Also these officers saw their units only shortly before going onto the ships. 12 religions these soldiers had. 3rd class units at best. Colonel Richard Meinerzhagen, the intelligence officer of Aitken, remarked that this was the worst unit of the Indian army. He also wrote that he can´t imagine what happened if these troops would meet a real opponent
Prophetic words. Shortly before the war Lt. Colonel Paul von Lettow- Vorbeck became commander of the German Schutztruppe. These troops were mostly Askaris, native soldiers from the wildest warrior tribes. They were very disciplined. They knew how to handle with Lions or snakes- and they had to hit a small card from 500 m before entering service. They were in no way the barbarians Aitken thought. Also the Germans treated the African well in this colony. Only 25.000 German settlers lived there. The Africans were very autonym. The Germans indeed built over 1.000 schools and infrastructure. There were no tensions and indeed most tribes were very loyal later, even after the war.
Governor Schnee and Lettow- Vorbeck didn´t see in these natives barbarians but human beings to be helped to reach the modern times. Nevertheless there were tensions between these two men: Schnee wanted to remain peaceful while Lettow- Vorbeck wanted to attack. Indeed there was a treaty in which the Colonial powers declared the colonies for neutral in case of a war in Europe. Nevertheless both parties did not recognized this treaty.
When the war broke out Lettow- Vorbeck had only 1 light cruiser to defend the colony, SMS Königsberg, which at once sailed to the Indian ocean and captured a British steamer. Lettow- Vorbeck´s few soldiers were mostly equipped with out dated rifles, most of them not save to use. Only one company of the best snipers had modern Mauser K98 Karabiner. This and the low number of troops were his biggest sorrows. He had nearly no artillery, a few MGs and the knowledge of the secret invasion of his colony. British and German press as well as German spies got to know about the Expeditionary Force B and so even with the (British) post steamer the news were quickly to him. But he knew it were only 3 locations suitable for a landing: Dar-es- Salam, the capital, Tanga and Lindi. Dar- es- Salam could be blockaded by an old ship sunk in the harbour. Most of his other troops had to stay in the middle distance of both other harbours.
In the meantime Dar- es- Salam was bombed by British cruiser. Therefore SMS Königsberg run to Sansibar and spotted there the cruiser HMS Pegasus. Pegasus was not ready for a fight and surrendered at once, but the white flag was seen too late on the Königsberg because of smoke. So the Pegasus was sunk. A German invasion of Kenya was repelled off Mombasa.
In India Aitken was nearly ready. Only bad weather stopped the ships for two weeks. Two weeks in which the soldiers had to stay in the ships. They were seasick, had diarrhoea and were telling horror stories about the cannibals in Africa and the cruelty of the Germans. The morale was at a deep point.
In East Africa Lettow- Vorbeck got surprisingly support: An old friend of him, Thomas von Prince, a born Englishman but now German, offered a mixed black- white unit to Lettow- Vorbeck. He agreed and sent his friend to secure the northern border at Mount Kilimandscharo. Also the Saxonian General Major Kurt Wahle, who was retired and visiting his son when war broke out, offered his help. Although he could have got the command with ease he served under Lettow- Vorbeck. He first secured the supply lines and then got the command of the troops in the Victoria Lake area.
But now the bad weather was away, and the British ships neared Tanga. It was nearly like a Prussian town at the Baltic: White wooden houses and a small harbour. It was a peacefull situation when the British ships arrived at November 2nd 1914. Mayor Auracher stood at the gangway alone in his white clothes when Captain Caulfield came to him in a boat to declare the Kongo treaty of 1885 for not existent. Although this meant war Auracher was still calm. He akes if he had the time to consult Governor Schnee. Caulfield accepted. The reason why was that the königsberg was spotted in these area. And the ship was classified as mine layer. In the moment Auracher turned away Caulfield asked, if the harbour is mined. Auracher saw the flagship HMS Fox out of the harbour aiming at his town hall. He responded: Of course. This is part of the German military advices. Then he went.
Caulfield went back and ordered to look after the non existent mines. Since it was a very hot summer day the soldiers did their job not very fast. Aitken was furious but Caulfield persuade him not to risk a ship and so they used the beach 1.5 km south of the town. In the late afternoon the invasion began. But there was a mangrove swamp making this beach not very suitable for such an action but this was not remarked before. Instead of switching the sides Aitken, who wanted to fulfil his task before Christmas, gave the order to continue. And instead of securing a bridgehead he did not act for two days in which all of the equipment from corned beef, ammo and uniforms was landed. Although an Arabian trader reported that there were no Germans. No reconnaissance patrols were made by Aitken. Brigadier Tighe said his troops were too exhausted to attack. Two days were spent.
In the meantime Lettow- Vorbeck got the news. He sent so many troops available to Tanga. There the Germans had made preparations. They fortified a dam 300 m off the town with MG nests and barbwire. Also they sent reconnaissance patrols. A Prussian officer remarked in the dialect of Berlin, while he was badly dressed up as Arabian fisher, that the landing zone is more like a picnic on Sunday at the Rhine than a military enterprise.
Two days were spent when at November 4th an Askari reported: Adui tajari! The enemy is coming. Brigadier Tighe got the order to attack. He marched on into the swamp. His troops did not see anyone. Only trees and swamp. Since he had no infos about the location it was an idity to attack. Three young officers said they were disappointed since the Germans seemed to be retreated. So they climbed on a hill and wanted see carefully what was going on behind, when shots fell. All three officers laid dead in the swamp. In the very next moment 250 German soldiers attacked the Indians, armed only with their Panga short swords. This was too much for the Indian soldiers who retreated immediately. Their officers didn´t know what was going on until they were killed by the German soldiers. Meinerzhagen, a hawk like von Prince, had to shoot an Indian officer who wanted to come through him with his sabre. At the very end over 300 British and Indian soldiers were dead. And the morale broken. Tighe reported he was attacked by 2500 men to hide this shameful retreat.
On November 5th Aitken again attacked. He mixed his worse units with his best ones, Gurkhas and the British North Lancashire regiment. With that he showed his stupidity. And again he attacked without any reconnaissance. They went into the trap without German help. 800 Germans against 8.000 British and Indian soldiers. Nevertheless when they were nearing the German lines the snipers in the trees shot the officers with their red sashes. The Indian soldiers shot into the trees but mostly hitting the own comrades in front of them. Suddenly MGs were firing on the British soldiers. Man by man died and the first soldiers retreated when the last ones were still attacking. Companies were eradicated. Only the North Lancs and the Gurkhas were able to enter the town after a brave attack.
This was now a very critical situation since some of the younger Askaris of the Wahehe and Angoni tribes now were afraid. So Lettow- Vorbeck himself went to his soldiers and asked them if they are proud warriors or only old women. One of the Wahehe soldiers wanted to flee but the wine bottle thrown by Captain von Hammerstein let him break down. His Wahehe comrades made that what is known in Germany as Holy Ghost or in the USMC as Code Red. Then they grabbed their guns and swords and attacked followed by the Angoni who didn´t want to be seen as cowards. With a brave and furious attack under the command of von Prinz they were stopping the British soldiers and forcing them to retreat. In this fierce fight, which was fought with bullets as well as with sabres, Panga against the Gurkha´s Kukri, the Germans had little losses. But Tom von Prince died in this fight. Nevertheless the 101. Bombay Grenadiers was annihilated.
Although big parts of the town were under German control again, the Germans had nearly no ammo left. They were desperately preparing for a last attack. Also the North Lancs gave the coordinates of the MG nests, but Aitken refused to give fire support by the cruiser. Then something happened what is not so unusual for history. Nature helps one side.
The African bees, which had big nests in this swamp, which were used by the natives to make honey, were disturbed by the shots and angry because of the damage the British shells made: So they decided to attack. Wave after wave attacked the incoming British soldiers. They retreated immediately throwing away their equipment. They fled to the coast shouting of pain and wild gesticulating. They threw themselves into the ocean. Unlike Lettow- Vorbeck who was at the front Aitken was still aboard of HMS Fox. He was furious about his troops and now ordered to shoot at the Germans. The first grenade hit the German hospital full of wounded British soldiers and also most other grenades hit the retreating British troops. The British soldiers fled onboard of the ships, which retreated at once when the old heavy guns of Dar- es- Salam arrived. These guns shot at the landing ships and shot some of them burning.
After that the battle was over. Meinerzhagen went to the Germans as parliamentary and greeted Lettow- Vorbeck: That was Made in Germany! Later Aitken arrived and spoke to his victorious opponent. Then he left the colony. At Mombasa he was rejected at first because the harbour fee was not paid yet. The climax of the operation.
The British were shocked. Their invasion force beaten. The Times charged Lettow- Vorbeck to use a new tactical weapon: War bees. No one noted that it was a wrong man in command: Aitken.
At Tanga the Germans lost 68 men. 800 British soldiers were wounded, 1.200 further dead or missing. This big victory is also a very new one for the Africans. First in this battle it was proven that the African could fight as good as the Europeans. Therefore it is still today in Africa a moment of proudness. Lettow- Vorbeck got also supplies to come through the years. Modern rifles, 6.000 shots ammo and 16 MGs. This weapon was very successful but still the Indian army was not equipped as it was feared to bring a too defensive spirit into the troops. He was now able to equip more companies. Lettow- Vorbeck fought with 12.000 soldiers against a supremacy of 120.000 British soldiers but still he was successful.
Aitken was downgraded to Colonel. Lettow- Vorbeck ended his career in East Africa as General Major. He surrendered 10 days after the cease fire in Europe- while invading a British colony!
His aim was to put so many men from the western front as possible. However he was not successful as nearly only troops served in East Africa which were useless in France. However he and his partisan tactics caused the British millions of pounds.
Lettow- Vorbeck never forgot to thank his air force, the bees.
A last remark: At Tanga a British soldier got an order for bravery during an air strike, the first of this kind in military history: He telegraphed still reports although he was attacked by hundreds of bees.
Adler
When war broke out in 1914 the German armies crushed through Belgium and France and the resistance of the Entente troops were nearly non existent. To conquer the German colonies only 2nd rate units were sent to do so. Most German had nearly no troops. Soon Togo and the German pacific islands were conquered. Tsingtao as Naval Fortress had to surrender after the last shell was fired on the enemy- with high British and Japanese losses and only due to violation of Chinese neutrality.
In Africa only the biggest colonies had troops which were in no way able to stop a huge invasion force. Nevertheless Kamerun and German South West Africa were able to beat the invading forces at first and even able to conquer the only British colony which fell in WWI: Walfischbay. But then they had to retreat into the colony. German Southwest Africa surrendered in 1915, the troops in Cameroon retreated to a Spanish colony in 1916.
For a long time it looked like German East Africa had the same fate.
General Major Aitken got the command of Indian Expeditionary Force B to conquer German East Africa. Aitken was a man who served on the Indian subcontinent for decades but did not know the African continent. Also he was very arrogant and said he wanted to be at home at Christmas. This shouldn´t be a problem, since the enemy was only a few Huns and barefeet Negroes. They would surrender when seeing the bayonets.
The troops he got were mostly worse: Soldiers who never came out of their villages. They spoke 12 languages most officers could not understand. Also these officers saw their units only shortly before going onto the ships. 12 religions these soldiers had. 3rd class units at best. Colonel Richard Meinerzhagen, the intelligence officer of Aitken, remarked that this was the worst unit of the Indian army. He also wrote that he can´t imagine what happened if these troops would meet a real opponent
Prophetic words. Shortly before the war Lt. Colonel Paul von Lettow- Vorbeck became commander of the German Schutztruppe. These troops were mostly Askaris, native soldiers from the wildest warrior tribes. They were very disciplined. They knew how to handle with Lions or snakes- and they had to hit a small card from 500 m before entering service. They were in no way the barbarians Aitken thought. Also the Germans treated the African well in this colony. Only 25.000 German settlers lived there. The Africans were very autonym. The Germans indeed built over 1.000 schools and infrastructure. There were no tensions and indeed most tribes were very loyal later, even after the war.
Governor Schnee and Lettow- Vorbeck didn´t see in these natives barbarians but human beings to be helped to reach the modern times. Nevertheless there were tensions between these two men: Schnee wanted to remain peaceful while Lettow- Vorbeck wanted to attack. Indeed there was a treaty in which the Colonial powers declared the colonies for neutral in case of a war in Europe. Nevertheless both parties did not recognized this treaty.
When the war broke out Lettow- Vorbeck had only 1 light cruiser to defend the colony, SMS Königsberg, which at once sailed to the Indian ocean and captured a British steamer. Lettow- Vorbeck´s few soldiers were mostly equipped with out dated rifles, most of them not save to use. Only one company of the best snipers had modern Mauser K98 Karabiner. This and the low number of troops were his biggest sorrows. He had nearly no artillery, a few MGs and the knowledge of the secret invasion of his colony. British and German press as well as German spies got to know about the Expeditionary Force B and so even with the (British) post steamer the news were quickly to him. But he knew it were only 3 locations suitable for a landing: Dar-es- Salam, the capital, Tanga and Lindi. Dar- es- Salam could be blockaded by an old ship sunk in the harbour. Most of his other troops had to stay in the middle distance of both other harbours.
In the meantime Dar- es- Salam was bombed by British cruiser. Therefore SMS Königsberg run to Sansibar and spotted there the cruiser HMS Pegasus. Pegasus was not ready for a fight and surrendered at once, but the white flag was seen too late on the Königsberg because of smoke. So the Pegasus was sunk. A German invasion of Kenya was repelled off Mombasa.
In India Aitken was nearly ready. Only bad weather stopped the ships for two weeks. Two weeks in which the soldiers had to stay in the ships. They were seasick, had diarrhoea and were telling horror stories about the cannibals in Africa and the cruelty of the Germans. The morale was at a deep point.
In East Africa Lettow- Vorbeck got surprisingly support: An old friend of him, Thomas von Prince, a born Englishman but now German, offered a mixed black- white unit to Lettow- Vorbeck. He agreed and sent his friend to secure the northern border at Mount Kilimandscharo. Also the Saxonian General Major Kurt Wahle, who was retired and visiting his son when war broke out, offered his help. Although he could have got the command with ease he served under Lettow- Vorbeck. He first secured the supply lines and then got the command of the troops in the Victoria Lake area.
But now the bad weather was away, and the British ships neared Tanga. It was nearly like a Prussian town at the Baltic: White wooden houses and a small harbour. It was a peacefull situation when the British ships arrived at November 2nd 1914. Mayor Auracher stood at the gangway alone in his white clothes when Captain Caulfield came to him in a boat to declare the Kongo treaty of 1885 for not existent. Although this meant war Auracher was still calm. He akes if he had the time to consult Governor Schnee. Caulfield accepted. The reason why was that the königsberg was spotted in these area. And the ship was classified as mine layer. In the moment Auracher turned away Caulfield asked, if the harbour is mined. Auracher saw the flagship HMS Fox out of the harbour aiming at his town hall. He responded: Of course. This is part of the German military advices. Then he went.
Caulfield went back and ordered to look after the non existent mines. Since it was a very hot summer day the soldiers did their job not very fast. Aitken was furious but Caulfield persuade him not to risk a ship and so they used the beach 1.5 km south of the town. In the late afternoon the invasion began. But there was a mangrove swamp making this beach not very suitable for such an action but this was not remarked before. Instead of switching the sides Aitken, who wanted to fulfil his task before Christmas, gave the order to continue. And instead of securing a bridgehead he did not act for two days in which all of the equipment from corned beef, ammo and uniforms was landed. Although an Arabian trader reported that there were no Germans. No reconnaissance patrols were made by Aitken. Brigadier Tighe said his troops were too exhausted to attack. Two days were spent.
In the meantime Lettow- Vorbeck got the news. He sent so many troops available to Tanga. There the Germans had made preparations. They fortified a dam 300 m off the town with MG nests and barbwire. Also they sent reconnaissance patrols. A Prussian officer remarked in the dialect of Berlin, while he was badly dressed up as Arabian fisher, that the landing zone is more like a picnic on Sunday at the Rhine than a military enterprise.
Two days were spent when at November 4th an Askari reported: Adui tajari! The enemy is coming. Brigadier Tighe got the order to attack. He marched on into the swamp. His troops did not see anyone. Only trees and swamp. Since he had no infos about the location it was an idity to attack. Three young officers said they were disappointed since the Germans seemed to be retreated. So they climbed on a hill and wanted see carefully what was going on behind, when shots fell. All three officers laid dead in the swamp. In the very next moment 250 German soldiers attacked the Indians, armed only with their Panga short swords. This was too much for the Indian soldiers who retreated immediately. Their officers didn´t know what was going on until they were killed by the German soldiers. Meinerzhagen, a hawk like von Prince, had to shoot an Indian officer who wanted to come through him with his sabre. At the very end over 300 British and Indian soldiers were dead. And the morale broken. Tighe reported he was attacked by 2500 men to hide this shameful retreat.
On November 5th Aitken again attacked. He mixed his worse units with his best ones, Gurkhas and the British North Lancashire regiment. With that he showed his stupidity. And again he attacked without any reconnaissance. They went into the trap without German help. 800 Germans against 8.000 British and Indian soldiers. Nevertheless when they were nearing the German lines the snipers in the trees shot the officers with their red sashes. The Indian soldiers shot into the trees but mostly hitting the own comrades in front of them. Suddenly MGs were firing on the British soldiers. Man by man died and the first soldiers retreated when the last ones were still attacking. Companies were eradicated. Only the North Lancs and the Gurkhas were able to enter the town after a brave attack.
This was now a very critical situation since some of the younger Askaris of the Wahehe and Angoni tribes now were afraid. So Lettow- Vorbeck himself went to his soldiers and asked them if they are proud warriors or only old women. One of the Wahehe soldiers wanted to flee but the wine bottle thrown by Captain von Hammerstein let him break down. His Wahehe comrades made that what is known in Germany as Holy Ghost or in the USMC as Code Red. Then they grabbed their guns and swords and attacked followed by the Angoni who didn´t want to be seen as cowards. With a brave and furious attack under the command of von Prinz they were stopping the British soldiers and forcing them to retreat. In this fierce fight, which was fought with bullets as well as with sabres, Panga against the Gurkha´s Kukri, the Germans had little losses. But Tom von Prince died in this fight. Nevertheless the 101. Bombay Grenadiers was annihilated.
Although big parts of the town were under German control again, the Germans had nearly no ammo left. They were desperately preparing for a last attack. Also the North Lancs gave the coordinates of the MG nests, but Aitken refused to give fire support by the cruiser. Then something happened what is not so unusual for history. Nature helps one side.
The African bees, which had big nests in this swamp, which were used by the natives to make honey, were disturbed by the shots and angry because of the damage the British shells made: So they decided to attack. Wave after wave attacked the incoming British soldiers. They retreated immediately throwing away their equipment. They fled to the coast shouting of pain and wild gesticulating. They threw themselves into the ocean. Unlike Lettow- Vorbeck who was at the front Aitken was still aboard of HMS Fox. He was furious about his troops and now ordered to shoot at the Germans. The first grenade hit the German hospital full of wounded British soldiers and also most other grenades hit the retreating British troops. The British soldiers fled onboard of the ships, which retreated at once when the old heavy guns of Dar- es- Salam arrived. These guns shot at the landing ships and shot some of them burning.
After that the battle was over. Meinerzhagen went to the Germans as parliamentary and greeted Lettow- Vorbeck: That was Made in Germany! Later Aitken arrived and spoke to his victorious opponent. Then he left the colony. At Mombasa he was rejected at first because the harbour fee was not paid yet. The climax of the operation.
The British were shocked. Their invasion force beaten. The Times charged Lettow- Vorbeck to use a new tactical weapon: War bees. No one noted that it was a wrong man in command: Aitken.
At Tanga the Germans lost 68 men. 800 British soldiers were wounded, 1.200 further dead or missing. This big victory is also a very new one for the Africans. First in this battle it was proven that the African could fight as good as the Europeans. Therefore it is still today in Africa a moment of proudness. Lettow- Vorbeck got also supplies to come through the years. Modern rifles, 6.000 shots ammo and 16 MGs. This weapon was very successful but still the Indian army was not equipped as it was feared to bring a too defensive spirit into the troops. He was now able to equip more companies. Lettow- Vorbeck fought with 12.000 soldiers against a supremacy of 120.000 British soldiers but still he was successful.
Aitken was downgraded to Colonel. Lettow- Vorbeck ended his career in East Africa as General Major. He surrendered 10 days after the cease fire in Europe- while invading a British colony!
His aim was to put so many men from the western front as possible. However he was not successful as nearly only troops served in East Africa which were useless in France. However he and his partisan tactics caused the British millions of pounds.
Lettow- Vorbeck never forgot to thank his air force, the bees.
A last remark: At Tanga a British soldier got an order for bravery during an air strike, the first of this kind in military history: He telegraphed still reports although he was attacked by hundreds of bees.
Adler
