Battle of Tanga

Battle of Tanga
Part of the East African Campaign of World War I
"Battle of Tanga, 3rd–5th November, 1914" by Martin Frost (1875–1927)
Date 3–5 November 1914 Location Tanga, German East Africa Result German victory
Belligerents
German Empire German East Africa	British Empire  United Kingdom  India
Commanders and leaders
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck	Arthur Aitken
Strength
1,000	8,000
Casualties and losses
16 Germans killed 55 Askaris killed 76 Germans and Askaris wounded	360 killed 487 wounded 148 missing

 German Empire

British Empire

The Battle of Tanga, sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees, was the unsuccessful attack by the British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" under Major General A.E. Aitken to capture German East Africa (the mainland portion of present-day Tanzania) during the First World War in concert with the invasion Force "C" near Longido on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was the first major event of the war in Eastern Africa and saw the British defeated by a significantly smaller force of German Askaris and colonial volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.

Tanga, situated only 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the border of British East Africa (modern-day Kenya), was a busy port and the ocean terminal of the important Usambara Railway, which ran from Tanga to Neu Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanga was initially to be bombarded by British warships, but this part of the plan was scrapped. An agreement was in place guaranteeing the neutrality of the capital Dar es Salaam and Tanga, but now the accord was modified and it seemed “only fair to warn the Germans that the deal was off.”

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