The Battle of Tanga, sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees, was the unsuccessful attack by the British

Indian Expeditionary Force The Indian Army during World War I was involved World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the ...

"B" under

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

A. E. Aitken to capture

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 ...

(the mainland portion of present-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 and ...

) during the

First World War 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 fightin ...

in concert with the invasion Force "C" near

Longido Longido is a small town and ward in Arusha Region in Tanzania. It is the administrative seat for Longido District. Most of the inhabitants are Maasai, but there are other East African tribes as well. Longido is at the foot of Mount Longido, wh ...

on the slopes of

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

. It was the first major event of the war in Eastern Africa and saw the British defeated by a significantly smaller force of German

Askari An askari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic , , meaning "soldier" or "military", which also means "police" in the Somali language) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African G ...

s and colonial volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel

Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), also called the Lion of Africa (german: Löwe von Afrika), was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four ye ...

. It was the beginning of the East African Campaign of World War I, and is considered one of greatest victories of the

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

in Africa. The British retreat enabled the Schutztruppe to salvage modern equipment, medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and a number of Maxim machine guns which allowed them to successfully resist the allies for the rest of the war.

Prelude

Tanga, situated only from the border of

British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

(modern-day

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

), was a busy

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

and the ocean terminal of the important

Usambara Railway The Usambara Railway (german: Usambarabahn) was the first railway to be built in German East Africa and what is today Tanzania. History German East-Africa A railway company was created in 1891 with the aim of connecting the port of Tanga at ...

, which ran from Tanga to

Neu Moshi Moshi is a municipality and the capital of Kilimanjaro region in the north eastern Tanzania. As of 2017, the municipality has an estimated population of 201,150 and a population density of 3,409 persons per km2 .British warships, but this part of the plan was scrapped. An agreement was in place guaranteeing the neutrality of the capital

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

and Tanga, but now the accord was modified and it seemed "only fair to warn the Germans that the deal was off." Instead, the British resolve to capture German East Africa was to be implemented with an amphibious attack on Tanga. Unlike the plan on paper, however, the attack turned into a debacle. On 2 November 1914, the British protected cruiser arrived. The ship's commander, Captain

Francis Wade Caulfeild Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

, went ashore giving Tanga one hour to surrender and take down the imperial flag. Before departing, he demanded to know if the harbor was mined; it was not, but he was assured that it was. After three hours, the flag was still flying and ''Fox'' departed to bring in the Force "B" convoy of fourteen troop transports. This gave time for both the

and the citizens of Tanga to prepare for an attack. The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

commander, Lieutenant Colonel

Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (20 March 1870 – 9 March 1964), also called the Lion of Africa (german: Löwe von Afrika), was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four ye ...

, rushed to Tanga. He reinforced the defences (initially only a single

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of Askaris) with troops brought in by rail from Neu Moshi, eventually numbering about 1,000 in six companies. His second-in-command was former German East Africa Company Captain

Tom von Prince Tom von Prince (9 January 1866 – 4 November 1914) was a German East Africa Company military officer and plantation owner in German East Africa. He most notably, as a captain in the Schutztruppe, led the first action by German forces in East Afr ...

Battle

Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA7225, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Askari im Kampf

Captain Caulfeild ordered the harbor swept for mines during 2 November and well into the next day. During the sweeping, the Force "B" commander, Aitken, began the unopposed landing of troops and supplies in two groups at the harbor and three miles east of the city on a mine-free beach. By evening on 3 November, the invasion force was ashore with the exception of the 27th Mountain Battery and the Faridkot Sappers. At noon on 4 November, Aitken ordered his troops to march on the city. Well concealed defenders quickly broke up their advance. The fighting then turned to skirmishing amidst the coconut and palm oil plantations by the southern contingent and bitter street-fighting by the harbor force. The

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...

of the Kashmiri Rifles and the 2nd

Loyal North Lancashire Regiment The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (until 1921 known as the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lancashire Reg ...

of the harbour contingent made good progress; they entered the town, captured the customs house, and ''Hotel Deutscher Kaiser'' and ran up the Union Jack. But then the advance was stopped. Less-well trained and equipped Indian battalions of Wapshare's 27th (Bangalore) Brigade scattered and ran away from the battle. The 98th Infantry were attacked by swarms of angry bees and broke up. The bees attacked the Germans as well, hence the battle's nickname. British propaganda transformed the bee interlude into a fiendish German plot, conjuring up hidden trip wires to agitate the hives. The 13th Rajputs failed to play a significant role in the battle as their morale had been shaken when witnessing the retreat of the

63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry The 63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment could trace its origins to 1759, when it was raised as the 4th Battalion Coast Sepoys. History One of the oldest regiments in the British ...

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-057-05, Tanga, englische Landung, gefallene Inder

The colonial volunteers of the 7th and 8th ''Schützenkompanien'' ifle companiesarrived by rail to stiffen the pressed Askari lines. The normally mounted 8th ''Schützenkompanie'' had left their horses at Neu Moshi. By late afternoon on 4 November, Lettow-Vorbeck ordered his last reserves, the 13th and 4th Askari ''Feldkompanien'' (field companies) – the 4th had just reached Tanga by train), to envelop the British flank and rear by launching bayonet attacks along the entire front to "bugle calls and piercing tribal war cries." At least three battalions of the ''

Imperial Service Brigade The Imperial Service Troops were forces raised by the princely states of the British Indian Empire. These troops were available for service alongside the Indian Army when such service was requested by the British government. At the beginning o ...

'' would have been wiped out to a man, if they had not taken to their heels. All semblance of order vanished as Force B's retirement "degenerated into total rout." Still outnumbered eight to one, caution overtook some of the German officers. Through a series of errors by the buglers and misunderstandings by an officer to disengage and consolidate, the Askari withdrew to a camp several miles west of Tanga. As soon as Lettow-Vorbeck learned of this, he countermanded the move and ordered a redeployment that was not completed until early morning. "For nearly all of the night efore sunrise 5 November Tanga was Aitken's for the taking. It was the most stupendous irony of the battle."

Aftermath

Furious and frustrated, Aitken ordered a general withdrawal. In their retreat and evacuation back to the transports that lasted well into the night, the British troops left behind nearly all their equipment. "Lettow-Vorbeck was able to re-arm three Askari companies with modern rifles, for which he now had 600,000 rounds of ammunition. He also had sixteen more machine guns, valuable field telephones" and enough clothing to last the Schutztruppe for a year.Farwell 1989, p. 178. On the morning of 5 November, Force B's intelligence officer—Captain

Richard Meinertzhagen Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, CBE, DSO (3 March 1878 – 17 June 1967) was a British soldier, intelligence officer, and ornithologist. He had a decorated military career spanning Africa and the Middle East. He was credited with creating and ...

—entered Tanga under a white flag, bringing medical supplies and carrying a letter from General Aitken apologizing for shelling the hospital. The streets of Tanga were strewn with dead and wounded. German doctors and their African orderlies worked tirelessly and "with a fine disregard for their patients' uniforms."Miller 1974, p. 70. The successful defence of Tanga was the first of many achievements of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck during his long campaign in East Africa. For the British, however, the battle was nothing short of a disaster, and was recorded in the British ''Official History of the War'' as "one of the most notable failures in British military history." Casualties included 360 killed and 487 wounded on the British side; the Schutztruppe lost 16 Germans and 55 Askaris killed, and 76 total wounded. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck initially estimated the number of British killed at 800 but later said that he believed the number was more likely over 2,000. The Germans subsequently released the British officers who had been wounded or captured after they gave their word not to fight again during the war., p. 39/40

Notes

References

* Farwell, Byron. ''The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989. . *Hoyt, Edwin P. ''Guerilla: Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck and Germany's East African Empire''. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1981; and London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. 1981. . *Miller, Charles. ''Battle for the Bundu: The First World War in German East Africa''. London: Macdonald & Jane's, 1974; and New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1974. . *Paice, Edward. ''Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007. . *von Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul. ''My reminiscences of East Africa''. London: Hurst, 1920

External links

Francis W. Caulfeild
at The Dreadnought Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanga, Battle of Conflicts in 1914 1914 in German East Africa Battles of the East African Campaign Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom Battles of World War I involving British India Battles of World War I involving Germany History of Kenya Tanga, Tanzania Battles of World War I involving Indian Princely States November 1914 events Amphibious operations involving the United Kingdom