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Anyone know of any studies of this remarkable man ? I have read Asprey's "War in the Shadows " Chapter 19 and Miller's " Battle For the Bundu " but mostly brief references .
Col . Von Lettow Vorbeck was a tough . innovative master of bush warfare during World War I in East Africa .
You are absolutely correct in recognizing the brilliance of the German campaign. The British Commonwealth effort to counter the Germans was tremendous and costly--exactly the end state desired by Berlin. Here is a link to a web site offering some references:
http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/gwbksafrica.html
But this campaign was fought against an African backdrop that until recently has largely been ignored. The use of conscripted troops and bearers was an economic and social disaster for the region's indigenous people; disease and famine were the results. Then again it was a time when colonialism was an accepted indeed acclaimed practice in the Western world. The history channel had a pretty good wrap up on this aspect of the campaign.
Best
Tom
The only book I have readily to hand on Lettow-Vorbeck is 'The Great War in Africa' by Byron Farwell (pub. 1987 by Viking). One of the few books on WW1 and Africa. Possibly re-published in paperback more recently.
I am sure there was an article on the failed British landing on the then German East Africa coast, in the Western Front Magazine recently. Cannot readily put my hand on that. The role of the commerce raider Konigsberg features irregularly in the WFA magazine.
Hope that helps.
David,
I have that book as well and it is a good read. I enjoy Farwell's stuff immensely. My favorite is "Mr. Kipling's Army."
Of couse Wilbur Smith's novel "Shout at the Devil" is a very loose story about the commerce raider and then there is The African Queen for even more pure entertainment.
Tom
Thanks Tom and Dave for information .
Seems like there was another novel some years back which was pretty good , " Curse of Majira" .
An interesting field commander . I will find Farwell's book next.
One I ran across that is not real easy to find is called
Guerilla by Hoyt, ISBN: 0025552104.
Also, a very nice online bio is at FirstWorldWar online:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/lettowvorbeck.htm
Not only was he a brilliant military commander but also a decent human being who opposed Hitler's rise to power.
The Daily Telegraph (London) today published a book review of 'Tip and Run: the untold tragedy of the Great War in Africa' by Edward Paice, pub. Weidenfield and Nicholson, £25 in the U.K.
I quote 'the story's hero is the one-eyed Schutztruppe chief Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck....one of the greatest guerilla leaders in history'.
Perhaps the book will be available via amzon & others across the water?
Davidbfpo
I see that Amazon lists the book " Tip & Run " but not yet available .Went through my usual sources but only Amazon listed the book .
Looking forward to that book !!
Hew Strachan's The First World War: To Arms has an outstanding and quite lengthy chapter on WWI operations in Africa, with a lot of info about Lettow-Vorbeck's campaigns.
To Arms has been reprinted in pieces by Oxford. You can get a single volume called The First World War in Africa, published in paperback in 2004Quote:
Originally Posted by tequila
Just finished Guerilla a few days ago. Excellent and easy read. Details regarding some operations were a little thin, but gave a vivid picture of the tactics of both sides and the hardships and cunning of the Germans and Askaries.
I also found A Case study in Leadership from the USAWC.
My Reminisence of East Africa, by Lettow Vorbeck. Available on Amazon for @$30.
A good read/a good translation. Compares well to Lawrence's Seven Pillars. The major difference being that he was the Commander of the forces without any real influence from his HHQ in Berlin, not an intel officer-liaison-advisor with an active HHQ in closer Cairo. Further his was the only game in town once the other German colonies fell (all within the first year) he was the only one left. Whereas Allenby's advance on Jerusalem, and the expeditions up the Tigris-Euphrates were the principle efforts of the brits.
WWI.com has a nice biographical sketch and an article on the battle of Tanga available free.
The wikipedia site on him is a good start point for researching.
Of course to really get to know the guy you'd have to know German. My Grandfather (former Luftwaffe Capt. from Hamburg, Vorbeck's home city) was a big fan of the General and used to tell me about him. Including his involvment in Freikorps and the suppression of the Spartacist Rebellion in Hamburg after WWI.
You sure he was from Hamburg? Wikipedia says he was born in the Saar, but I remember reading that he was a Pomeranian (like my grandmother).Quote:
Originally Posted by TROUFION
:o Granite State, I believe youre right. I believe his time in Hamburg was after WWI.
The Western Front Association (WFA) is dedicated to the study and commemoration of WW1 and their latest newsletter had an article on a conventional battle in the East African campaign, in March 1916. Following the e-trail their website has ten articles:http://www.westernfrontassociation.c...-theatres.html
The latest article had a phrase that appeared on SWC this week, referring to the US Army in WW1 & WW2:Quote:
..the hastily trained and poorly disciplined South African officers and men were on a steep military learning curve..
There's a book about German colonies with a chapter on the episode:
ISBN 978-3-548-36940-2
pp. 349-366
The East African conflict was apparently a major medical and logistical disaster for both sides. Estimates about dead indigenous porters (forced by both sides) are in the six figure range. Germans lacked anti-Malaria medicine badly, had to produce it with indigenous plants. Raining season created mud trails that made movement extremely tiresome and created horrible lower leg infections.
Overall quite messy, but the performance of the defenders was nevertheless one of the most extreme ones in history.
The Kindle version is $7.99.Quote:
Originally Posted by TROUFION
Lettow, his officers and his men did certainly fight a brilliant campaign with very limited means against vastly superior allied forces. A guerilla war has at least one major intrinsic flaw, it has to expose the population or water into which the fish wants to swim to great harm and violence. There are just limited ways to protect the (own) people and depending on the war and the methods of the enemy even victory can be extremely costly.
From a German (Western) view waging such a guerilla war in East Africa was thus of course easier as the it was the native African population who shouldered and carried literally the war effort and did most of the dying.
whose accomplishment cannot be denied, but who ate many of his dogs along the way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firn
In the summer of 2017 a new book was published ''African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918' by Robert Gaudi and was savaged in a British review. Here is a taster:Link:https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/...n-east-africa/Quote:
His story has often been told, and Gaudi — an American ‘freelance writer and historian’ — appears to have consulted only these secondary sources, so reveals nothing new. Furthermore, he frequently misunderstands the sources and repeats their errors. He is certainly not au fait with military detail.
On Amazon.com there are eighty-two reviews, the majority are 5*. See:https://www.amazon.com/African-Kaise...s=Robert+Gaudi
Amazon.co.uk has three reviews and one states:Link:https://www.amazon.co.uk/African-Kai...s=robert+gaudiQuote:
This account is based on a synthesis of existing works. Hence there is little that is new. The author resorts at times to guesswork and speculation. Nevertheless, it is an engaging book about a superb soldier who led the Allies a merry dance over four years. His troops loved him. He was a genius in the art of bush warfare.
Freebie version on digits.Quote:
Originally Posted by TROUFION
https://archive.org/details/myreminiscenceso00lettuoft
For those of you unfamiliar with the tale of the SMS Konigsberg, the Wiki page is actually a decent summation of how to extract enough salvage out of a defeat to keep your forces fighting for another day (or a few years, in von Lettow's case).
See also GERMAN GUNS OF WORLD WAR I IN SOUTH AFRICA http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol032dh.html