"The Forgotten Front: East Africa 1914-1918" Topic

"n Britain, most of the commemorative anniversaries held to mark events or battles or the First World War have been mainly focussed on Europe and the heavy fighting that took place there. In contrast, the remembrance of faraway theatres has been much more subdued despite the enormous impact and devastation the conflicts had on the societies that it touched.

East Africa is such an example – yet it was the battleground of empires and their African subjects with fighting that ranged from modern Kenya and Uganda in the north through Tanzania to Mozambique in the south, leaving hunger and devastation in its trail. Despite lasting for over four years and impacting the lives of millions of people, it still remains one of the least known theatres of the war.

While the name and exploits of the famed German commander, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, and the 1950s film The African Queen, which was inspired by an episode of the campaign, remain in the public consciousness, it is less appreciated that apart from the famous King's African Rifles, the British brought in troops from the United Kingdom, India, South Africa, Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Gambia, West Indies, Nyasaland as well as both North and South Rhodesia to fight alongside with those from the Belgian Congo and Portuguese Mozambique. The opposing Germans, cut off by sea and blockade, used ingenuity, endurance and ruthless exploitation of their colonial subjects to survive in the field until the final Armistice in November 1918…"

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Armand

Thanks, a nice article about the out-of-the-way Great War front. It is not forgotten by me. I have done a number of game based on it. Most recently, using the excellent Congo rules.

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I wouldn't say forgotten. Less discussed would be a better description. Events in the theatre served as the inspiration for a major Hollywood movie and a couple of episodes of the TV series Young Indiana Jones.

"The opposing Germans, cut off by sea and blockade, used ingenuity, endurance and ruthless exploitation of their colonial subjects to survive in the field until the final Armistice in November 1918…"

Yes. We tend to glorify von Lettow-Vorbeck for his heroic resistance but also gloss over the civilian casualties. Disruption of trade, forced conscription of bearers, disease outbreaks and so on.
I've read reports of over a million natives as a direct result of his heroism. Some speculate even more, but nobody knows for sure. They were only Natives after all.
Interestingly enough, the Governor is often condemned for trying to keep the peace, knowing how isolated the colony was. But with peace, von Lettow-Vorbeck wouldn't have been a hero, would he?

Thanks

Armand