Battle of Jassin | |||||||
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Part of the East African Campaign of World War I | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck | Captain Hanson | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
244 Europeans 1,350 Askaris 23 machine guns 4 field guns |
300 men in Jassin 800 in the relief force |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
86 dead 200 wounded |
The Battle of Jassin (also known as the Battle of Yasin and the Battle of Jassini) was a World War I battle that took place on 18– 19 January 1915 at Jassin on the German East African side of the border with British East Africa between a German Schutztruppe force and British and Indian troops. Jassin had been occupied by the British in order to secure the border between British East Africa and German territory, but was weakly defended by four companies of Indian troops—numbering a little over 300 men.
The German commander, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, decided to attack Jassin in order to prevent further danger to Tanga, which lay more than 50 kilometres to the south and had previously been successfully defended against a British attack. Nine companies of Schutztruppe with European officers were gathered for the assault.