Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Charles Tombeur, 1st Baron of Tabora (4 May 1867 – 2 December 1947) was a Belgian military officer and colonial civil servant. As well as holding several major administrative positions in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, he is particularly known for his role as commander of the Belgian colonial military, the ''

Force Publique The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; nl, Openbare Weermacht) was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of Be ...

'', during the first years of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...

. His military career culminated in the capture of Tabora in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

in September 1916.

Biography

Tombeur was born in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fr ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...

in 1867 and enlisted in the

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérar ...

at the age of 16. He was later admitted to the Belgian Royal Military Academy in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, graduating in 1898. In 1902, he enlisted for service in the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leop ...

, a quasi-independent state controlled by Belgium's monarch Leopold II, as a junior officer in the ''

''. He remained in position through the Belgian annexation of the Free State as the

until 1909. Returning to Belgium, he served briefly as aide-de-camp to

King Albert I Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

from 1909 to 1912. In 1912, Tombeur returned to the Congo as an civilian

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

(''inspecteur d'état'') where he became the senior administrator for

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, ...

and presided over the first years of the city of Élisabethville (modern-day Lubumbashi). Following the outbreak of

and the German invasion of Belgium, Tombeur became the commander of the Belgian colonial forces on the border with

. He presided over the re-organisation of the ''Force Publique'' and, in April 1916, led a Belgian force into

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equ ...

as part of the British-led East African Campaign. By June 1916, the whole of Rwanda had fallen and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gre ...

was occupied soon afterwards. Tombeur was made military governor of the Belgian Occupied East African Territories consisting of the future Belgian

mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also r ...

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

. The expeditionary force soon headed for the German military stronghold at

Tabora Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,99 ...

in modern-day

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands an ...

. After a lengthy battle, Tombeur entered the town on 20 September 1916. Tombeur was recalled to Europe in late 1916 and was replaced as commander in East Africa by

Armand Huyghé Armand Christophe Huyghé (11 July 1871 – 2 March 1944), later knighted Armand Huyghé de Mahenge, was a Belgian career soldier. He is best known for his service in the Belgian Congo during World War I, where he succeeded Charles Tombeur as c ...

. In early 1917, he was promoted to the rank of Vice-Governor-General, the second highest administrative position in the Congo. He served as governor of Katanga from 1918 to 1920. Tombeur retired from the colonial service in July 1920 but remained active within colonial associations in Belgium. In 1926, Albert I awarded him the title

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or kn ...

of Tabora. He died in 1947.

References

Bibliography

*
Archive Charles Tombeur
Royal Museum for Central Africa

Biography

References

Bibliography

Further reading