Battle of Tanga, the opening battle in German East Africa (Tanzania) on November 2–5, 1914, during World War I in which an amphibious landing at Tanga ended in total fiasco for the British. Failure to secure the harbor as a base for future operations ended hopes that the German colony would be occupied quickly.

　　Military commanders in London originally intended for a British expeditionary force to sail through the Suez Canaland land at Tanga, denying Germany an essential port. When the Ottoman allies of Germany mounted a fierce campaign in the Middle East, requiring British troops to reinforce Egypt, the decision was made both to entrust the attack on German East Africa to colonial troops and to expand the mission from taking the port to conquering the whole of Germany’s East African possessions. The plan, originally scheduled to be effected in September 1914, was thus overly ambitious from the start.

　　World War I Events keyboard_arrow_left

　　Battle of the Frontiers August 4, 1914 - September 6, 1914

　　Battle of Mons August 23, 1914

　　Battle of Tannenberg August 26, 1914 - August 30, 1914

　　First Battle of the Marne September 6, 1914 - September 12, 1914

　　First Battle of Ypres October 19, 1914 - November 22, 1914

　　Battle of Tanga November 2, 1914 - November 5, 1914

　　Battle of the Falkland Islands December 8, 1914

　　Christmas Truce December 24, 1914 - December 25, 1914

　　Gallipoli Campaign February 16, 1915 - January 9, 1916

　　Naval Operations in the Dardanelles Campaign February 19, 1915 - March 18, 1915

　　Second Battle of Ypres April 22, 1915 - May 25, 1915

　　Battles of the Isonzo June 23, 1915 - October 24, 1917

　　Battle of Lone Pine August 6, 1915 - August 10, 1915

　　Battle of Verdun February 21, 1916 - December 18, 1916

　　Battle of Jutland May 31, 1916 - June 1, 1916

　　Brusilov Offensive June 4, 1916 - August 10, 1916

　　First Battle of the Somme July 1, 1916 - November 13, 1916

　　Battle of Messines June 7, 1917 - June 14, 1917

　　June Offensive July 1, 1917 - c. July 4, 1917

　　Battle of Passchendaele July 31, 1917 - November 6, 1917

　　Battle of Caporetto October 24, 1917 - December 19, 1917

　　Battle of Cambrai November 20, 1917 - December 8, 1917

　　treaties of Brest-Litovsk February 9, 1918; March 3, 1918

　　Battle of Belleau Wood June 1, 1918 - June 26, 1918

　　Battle of Amiens August 8, 1918 - August 11, 1918

　　Battle of Saint-Mihiel September 12, 1918 - September 16, 1918

　　Battle of Cambrai September 27, 1918 - October 11, 1918

　　Battle of Mons November 11, 1918 keyboard_arrow_right With few troops available in East Africa, Major General Arthur Aitken sailed from Bombay with Indian Expeditionary Force B,. comprising an infantry brigade, two artillery batteries, and a machine-gun company from the Indian Army, numbering about 8,000 soldiers altogether. Unfortunately, this command included many poorly trained men. Little intelligence existed regarding local German forces, which numbered only some 1,000 African soldiers and their German officers, and Aitken chose to ignore advice from men with local knowledge. In addition, the element of surprise was sacrificed when a local truce led to the farce of a British naval officer informing the Germans of the coming attack. This allowed the German commander, Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, to reinforce his small, predominantly African Schutztruppe force at Tanga.

　　Aitken’s landing on 2 October was checked by German machine gun fire just east of the town. On 4 October, he attempted a large-scale assault. Indian troops ran into massed rifle and machine gun fire, and casualties were heavy; the battle was further complicated by the fury of agitated bees, which at times even spurred a cessation of shooting while both sides fled the stinging prey. (The engagement is sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Bees for this reason.) Lettow-Vorbeck then launched a counterattack. African porters accompanying Indian units fled. Mistaking these men for Schutztruppe, panic spread through a number of regiments, and the Indian attack collapsed. At no time was artillery or naval gunfire called upon to support the assault. With his force totally disorganized, Aitken embarked his men the next day. Even then, chaos ensued when troops abandoned equipment as they ran for the boats. The remaining troops were moved to British East Africa, where they awaited a German counterattack.

　　After the battle, in which almost all the Indian elements save for two Kashmiri battalions were adjudged to be unreliable, Aitken was relieved of his command, and Lettow-Vorbeck went on to wage one of the most successful guerrilla campaigns in history. Although a minor battle in the overall context of World War I, the engagement at Tanga pointed to severe weaknesses in British planning and operations that would reemerge at Gallipoli the following year.

　　Losses: British-Indian, some 1,000 of 8,000; German and Askaris (local allied soldiers), some 150 of 1,000.

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