My Reminiscences of East Africa

by Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

Headquarters reached Korogwe in the evening of the 3rd November. I went to the hospital that had been established there and talked to the wounded who had come in from the action at Tanga on the 3rd. One of them, Lieutenant Merensky, of the Landwehr, reported to me that on the 2nd November, outpost and patrol encounters had taken place near Ras-Kasone, and that on the 3rd the enemy, apparently several thousand strong, who had landed at Ras-Kasone, had attacked the 17th Company east of Tanga. The latter, reinforced by the Europeans and Police Askari from Tanga under Lieutenant Auracher, had withstood the attack until the first one and a half companies coming from New Moshi joined in, rushing at once to attack the left flank of the enemy and driving him back. Lieutenant Merensky had the impression that the enemy was completely defeated, and that the attack was unlikely to be repeated. The telegrams coming in piecemeal during the railway journey had not afforded me a clear idea of the situation, when at 3 a.m. on the 4th November, Headquarters left the railway four miles west of Tanga, where we met Captain Baumstark. He had formed a different estimate of the situation, and believed that, owing to the great superiority of the enemy, Tanga could not be held against another attack. He had, therefore, on the evening of the 3rd November, collected his own two companies coming from the north, and the troops who had that day been in action at Tanga, at a point four miles west of the town, leaving patrols only in the place itself.

Whether Tanga was held by the enemy or not was not certain. Strong officers’ patrols were at once pushed forward beyond Tanga towards Ras-Kasone. Luckily Headquarters had brought a few bicycles, and so, in order to satisfy myself quickly by personal observation, I was able to go off at once with Captain von Hammerstein and Volunteer Dr. Dessel to the railway station at Tanga, where I found an advanced post of the 6th Field Company. They, however, could give no accurate information about the enemy, and so I rode on through the empty streets of the town. It was completely deserted, and the white houses of the Europeans reflected the brilliant rays of the moon into the streets which we traversed. So we reached the harbour at the further edge of the town. Tanga was therefore clear of the enemy. A quarter of a mile out lay the transports, a blaze of lights, and full of noise: there was no doubt that the landing was about to commence at once. I much regretted that our artillery—we had two guns of 1873 pattern—was not yet up. Here, in the brilliant moonlight, at such close range, their effect would have been annihilating, the hostile cruisers notwithstanding.

We then rode on towards Ras-Kasone, left our bicycles in the German Government Hospital, and went on foot to the beach, close to which, right in front of us, lay an English cruiser. On the way back, at the hospital, we were challenged, apparently by an Indian sentry—we did not understand the language—but saw nothing. We got on our cycles again and rode back. Day began to break, and on our left we heard the first shots. This was the officers’ patrol under 2nd Lieutenant Bergmann, of the 6th Field Company, who had met hostile patrols west of Ras-Kasone. One of my cyclists now brought Captain Baumstark the order to advance at once with all the troops to Tanga Station. For the manner in which I proposed to fight the action, which was now to be expected with certainty, the nature of the country was one of the decisive factors. In the north, the houses of the European town at the harbour provided cover from view, and therefore also from the fire of the cruisers close by. The town was surrounded by continuous cocoanut and rubber plantations, which extended almost to Ras-Kasone, and in which, besides the native town, a few native patches of cultivation were scattered about. Undergrowth occurred along a few points and the ground was absolutely flat. It was probable that the enemy, whether he landed at Ras-Kasone only, or simultaneously at several points, such as Mwambani, for instance, would press upon our south, or right, wing. Here, to the south of Tanga, the ground afforded us also the prospect of greater power of manœuvre. I decided to meet the attack, which I expected with certainty, on the eastern edge of Tanga, and to echelon strong reserves behind our right wing for a counter-attack against the enemy’s flank.

In allotting the various duties it was necessary to consider the peculiarities of the different units. At that time each company had different characteristics, according to its composition and its state of training. The good 6th Field Company, which had in time of peace received a careful training at Ujiji with both rifle and machine-gun, was ordered to hold the eastern edge of Tanga on a broad front. On its right rear, outside Tanga, was echeloned Baumstark’s battalion, consisting of the 16th and 17th Companies, formed from the Police, and several small units amalgamated into one company. To the right rear again, on the telegraph-road Tanga-Pangani, I kept three good companies at my own disposal, the 7th and 8th Rifle Companies, with three machine-guns, composed of Europeans, and the 13th Field Company with its four machine-guns. Headquarters remained for the present on the Tanga-Pangani road and connected up to the telegraph line there. The 4th and 9th Field Companies and the two field guns (Captain Hering’s Battery) were still on the way, and the time of their arrival was uncertain. So the situation remained essentially until the afternoon. In the hot sun of the Coast area we suffered not a little from thirst, but quenched it with the milk of the young cocoanuts. There were other drinks as well in Tanga at that time; we still had wine and soda-water. Master-butcher Grabow even brought the troops hot sausages.

The proceedings on board the hostile ships were kept under constant close observation. We saw every boat that left them, and its load. I estimated the total troops landed up to midday at 6,000. But even on this too low estimate I had to ask myself whether I dared risk a decisive engagement with my thousand rifles. For various reasons I decided that I would do so. It was too important to prevent the enemy from gaining a firm footing in Tanga. Otherwise we should abandon to him the best base for operations against the Northern territories; in his advance the Northern Railway would afford him an admirable line of communication, and he would be enabled continually to surprise us by bringing up and pushing forward fresh troops and stores. Then it was certain that we would be unable to hold the Northern Railway any longer and that we would be obliged to abandon our hitherto so successful method of warfare. Against these all-important practical reasons, limited considerations such as the Governor’s order to avoid a bombardment of Tanga under all circumstances could not prevail.

A few circumstances there were that favoured us. For one thing, from personal experience in East Asia, I knew the clumsiness with which English troops were moved and led in battle, and it was certain that in the very close and completely unknown country in which the enemy would find himself directly he landed, these difficulties would grow to infinity. The slightest disorder was bound to have far-reaching consequences. With my troops, of whom the Europeans were well acquainted with the country round Tanga, while the Askari were at home in the bush, I had a reasonable prospect of taking advantage of the enemy’s weak points by skilful and rapid manœuvre.

On the other hand, if the affair miscarried, it would be a bad business. Already my method of waging active war had met with disapproval. If on top of that we were to suffer a severe defeat the confidence of the troops would probably be gone, and it was certain that my superiors would place insuperable difficulties in the way of my exercising command. My decision was not easy, and as if the military situation alone did not render it difficult enough, it was made unnecessarily harder by the fact that the regulations did not allow sufficient freedom to the responsible commander. But there was nothing for it: to gain all we must risk all.

The same morning I personally ordered Captain von Prince to move into Tanga with his two companies of Europeans, so that, in case of an attack on the Askari Company holding the eastern edge of the place, he could intervene rapidly without orders. I had already begun to doubt whether the enemy would attack at all on the 4th November, when at 3 p.m. an Askari reported to me in his simple, smart way: “Adui tayari.” (The enemy is ready.) Those two short words I shall never forget. The next moment the rifle fire opened along the whole front, and one could only judge of the rapid development and the ebb and flow of the action from the direction of the firing. One heard the fire draw in from the eastern edge of the town to the middle: so the 6th Company had been driven back at this point. The enemy, with odds twenty to one in his favour, had penetrated close up to the station and into the town. Captain von Prince had immediately rushed up his two companies of Europeans and at once prevailed upon the brave Askari to stand and then to advance once more. The British North Lancashire Regiment, consisting only of long-service Europeans, 800 strong, was driven back with heavy losses, and the houses captured by the Indian Brigade (Kashmir Rifles), who were advancing between that regiment and the beach, were re-taken in stubborn street-fighting. But on the south side of Tanga Captain Baumstark had also brought his companies into action on the front, and after about one hour’s fighting I observed the Askari at this point retiring through the palm-trees to the Tanga-Pangani road. The European members of Headquarters at once ran there and stopped them. To this day I can see the fiery and determined Captain von Hammerstein, full of fury, throwing an empty bottle at the head of a retreating Askari. After all, they were for the most part young companies, only just formed, who were fighting at this point, and they had been staggered by the intensity of the enemy’s fire. But when we Europeans got in front of them and laughed at them they quickly recovered themselves and saw that every bullet did not hit. But on the whole the pressure on our front was so strong that I thought I could not delay the decision any longer and must start my counter-stroke. For this I had now but one company available, but it was the good 13th Field Company. The 4th Company, whose arrival I was most anxiously awaiting every minute, had not yet arrived.

The course of the action up till now had shown that the enemy’s front, of which the flank was unprotected, did not reach further south than the right wing of our own. Here, therefore, the counter-stroke must prove annihilating, and no witness will forget the moment when the machine-guns of the 13th Company opened a continuous fire at this point and completely reversed the situation. The whole front jumped up and dashed forward with enthusiastic cheers. In the meantime the 4th Company had arrived; although, in consequence of a misunderstanding, it did not prolong the outer flank of the 13th, but pushed in between the latter and our front, still it did take an effective part in the battle before dark. In wild disorder the enemy fled in dense masses, and our machine-guns, converging on them from front and flanks, mowed down whole companies to the last man. Several Askari came in beaming with delight with several captured English rifles on their backs and an Indian prisoner in each hand. The handcuffs, however, which we found in their possession for use with German prisoners, were not used on them by any of us.