Battle of Tanga,German East Africa, 1914.

[206thCEF]

In November 1914, British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" conducted an amphibious assault on the Port of Tanga in German East Africa. The British possessed all the tools required for success; they outnumbered the defenders almost eight to one, they possessed the only artillery and naval guns available for the battle, and they landed where the Germans were weak. Despite these factors, a hastily organized German defense force of 1,100 soldiers not only defeated the 8,000 British soldiers, but also compelled Indian Expeditionary Force "B" to retreat to Mombasa.

This thesis examines the manner in which German and British forces were organized, trained, equipped, and led. Additionally, it identifies the critical factors that together led to British defeat at Tanga.

Joe

http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.e...CISOSEARCHAL%22

[medals2]

In November 1914, British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" conducted an amphibious assault on the Port of Tanga in German East Africa. The British possessed all the tools required for success; they outnumbered the defenders almost eight to one, they possessed the only artillery and naval guns available for the battle, and they landed where the Germans were weak. Despite these factors, a hastily organized German defense force of 1,100 soldiers not only defeated the 8,000 British soldiers, but also compelled Indian Expeditionary Force "B" to retreat to Mombasa.

This thesis examines the manner in which German and British forces were organized, trained, equipped, and led. Additionally, it identifies the critical factors that together led to British defeat at Tanga.

Joe

http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.e...CISOSEARCHAL%22

And yet again, thanks.

Looks like I have a lot of reading ahead of me...

Jean-Paul

[206thCEF]

Well Jean-Paul, keep it for when the weather is not too good,

Regards

Joe

[James A Pratt III]

A fine account of this battle

[206thCEF]

Hello James, glad you liked it, that was my good deed of the day....

Joe

[athelstan]

Quite a nice and concise account and good on the background to German and British East Africa. Shame the author relies so heavily on Richard Meinertzhagen's colourful, entertaining but deeply unreliable memoirs in 'Army Diary 1899 - 1926.' Admitedly the thesis was written before Brian Garfield's demolition of Meinertzhagen in 'The Meinertzhagen Mystery - The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud,' Potomac Books, 2007 but even so one always needs to treat Meinertzhagen's claims with caution and his actions at Tanga are no exception.

I think Kenneth Harvey is also a touch harsh in his conclusions on the attitudes of British officers towards the abilities of the Schutztruppe. The Schutztruppe were a colonial military police force, ruthless in putting down native unrest and keeping law and order but up to 1914 they had never faced machine guns, modern artillery or naval bombardments. Hardly surprising then that the British officers were a bit doubtful as to their abilities, however misguided these attitudes proved to be. Food for thought.

james w

[206thCEF]

Hello James, glad you found it interesting.Thanks

Cheers

Joe