Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
The Last German Troops surrender!
Two weeks after the general armistice came into force in Europe (November 9), the commander of the German troops in the colony of German East Africa (now Tanzania), Lieutenant General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, surrenders on November 25, 1918 ...
... towards the South African General Jan Smuts!
Lettow-Vorbeck, who was cut off from any reliable communications with his homeland deep in the African bush, had only now learned of the armistice!
While all other German colonies could be captured by Allied troops by mid-1915, Lettow-Vorbeck had managed to assert himself with his relatively small troops against a huge superior force throughout the war!
At the top were a maximum of 3,000 German officers, NCOs and soldiers as well as 12,100 native and well-trained soldiers (so-called "Askaris) ...
... up to 250,000 British, South African, Indian, Belgian and Portuguese soldiers.
We do not want to forget the porters, without whom any movement of troops in the roadless bush would have been impossible: 41,000 were in German ...
... over a million in the allied service!
The excellent tactician and strategist Lettow-Vorbeck was by no means only on the defensive, but attacked the Allied formations time and time again and inflicted heavy defeats on them - at Tanga and Longido (1914), at Taveta (December 1914) and up to 1916 repeatedly along the route of the strategically important British Uganda Railway.
Until it was sunk on July 11, 1915, Lettow-Vorbeck's units were still being used by the guns of the small cruiser S.M.S. "Königsberg", which was trapped in the mouth of the Rufiji River by superior British naval forces ...
... under it's commander, Fregattenkapitän Max Looff ...
... supported.
After the self-sinking of "Königsberg" ...
... their ten 10.5 cm guns were recovered under unspeakable difficulties and transformed into land guns using self-made mounts and used throughout the war ...:
They were the heaviest guns ever used in an African land war!
The crew members of the ship took part in the entire four and a half year campaign in East Africa, of the original 322 men only 32 saw their homeland again!
**continued next post**
Two weeks after the general armistice came into force in Europe (November 9), the commander of the German troops in the colony of German East Africa (now Tanzania), Lieutenant General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, surrenders on November 25, 1918 ...
... towards the South African General Jan Smuts!
Lettow-Vorbeck, who was cut off from any reliable communications with his homeland deep in the African bush, had only now learned of the armistice!
While all other German colonies could be captured by Allied troops by mid-1915, Lettow-Vorbeck had managed to assert himself with his relatively small troops against a huge superior force throughout the war!
At the top were a maximum of 3,000 German officers, NCOs and soldiers as well as 12,100 native and well-trained soldiers (so-called "Askaris) ...
... up to 250,000 British, South African, Indian, Belgian and Portuguese soldiers.
We do not want to forget the porters, without whom any movement of troops in the roadless bush would have been impossible: 41,000 were in German ...
... over a million in the allied service!
The excellent tactician and strategist Lettow-Vorbeck was by no means only on the defensive, but attacked the Allied formations time and time again and inflicted heavy defeats on them - at Tanga and Longido (1914), at Taveta (December 1914) and up to 1916 repeatedly along the route of the strategically important British Uganda Railway.
Until it was sunk on July 11, 1915, Lettow-Vorbeck's units were still being used by the guns of the small cruiser S.M.S. "Königsberg", which was trapped in the mouth of the Rufiji River by superior British naval forces ...
... under it's commander, Fregattenkapitän Max Looff ...
... supported.
After the self-sinking of "Königsberg" ...
... their ten 10.5 cm guns were recovered under unspeakable difficulties and transformed into land guns using self-made mounts and used throughout the war ...:
They were the heaviest guns ever used in an African land war!
The crew members of the ship took part in the entire four and a half year campaign in East Africa, of the original 322 men only 32 saw their homeland again!
**continued next post**
