March
20, 1870
Birth
of Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
1900
Lettow-Vorbeck
was posted to China as a member of the international alliance forces to
quell the Boxer Rebellion.
Between
1904 and 1908
He
went to German South-West Africa (now Namibia) to participate in the
Hottentot and Herero Genocide.
January
1909 until January 1913
Lettow-Vorbeck
was the commander of the 2nd Sea Battalion
1914
Lettow-Vorbeck
was appointed the commander of the small German garrison of 3000 soldiers
and twelve Askari companies in German East Africa, the mainland part of
modern-day Tanzania.
November
2-5 1914
Lettow-Vorbeck
promptly disregarded the governor, nominally his superior, and prepared to
repel an amphibious assault on the city of Tanga, where he fought one of
his greatest battles.
January
18, 1915
He
scored a second victory over the British
March
1916
The
British under Jan Smuts launched a formidable offensive with 45,000 men.
October
1917
The
British, however, kept on adding more troops and forcing Lettow to yield
territory. Nevertheless, he fought on, including a pivotal battle at
Mahiwa, where he lost 519 men killed, wounded or missing and the British
2,700 killed, wounded or missing.
November
25, 1917
Lettow’s
advance column waded across the river Rovuma into Portuguese Mozambique.
September
28, 1918
von
Lettow again crossed the Rovuma and returned to German East Africa with
the British still in pursuit.
November
13
Two
days after the armistice, he took the town of Kasama which the British had
evacuated, and continued heading south-west towards Katanga.
November
23
He
was instructed by the British to march north to Abercorn (now Mbala) to
surrender his undefeated army.
14
April 1915
He
freighter Kronborg arrived off Tanga at Manza Bay after a two months
journey from Wilhelmshaven, and was promptly attacked by the British
cruiser Hyacinth
17
March 1916
When
the steamer Marie von Stettin arrived south of Lindi.
late
September 1916
All
of coastal German East Africa including Dar es Salaam and the Central
Railroad were under British control, with the west occupied by Belgians
December
1917
German
colony was officially declared an Allied protectorate.
December 1916 He also met Sir Richard Meinertzhagen, the British
Intelligence Officer with whom he fought a battle of wits until
Meinertzhagen was invalided to England
early
March 1919
Lettow-Vorbeck
returned home to a hero’s welcome.
May
1920
He
participated in the chaotic politics of the Weimar Republic. Although he
remained in the Army for only fourteen months after his return to Germany,
during that span he suppressed a communist uprising in Hamburg, and placed
some of his troops at the disposal of monarchist reactionaries during the
Kapp Putsch; the failure of the putsch forced his resignation from the
Reichswehr
May
1928 to July 1930
He
served as a deputy in the Reichstag.
1935
Lettow-Vorbeck
"distrusted [Adolf] Hitler and his movement," even though Hitler
offered him the ambassadorship to Great Britain , which he "declined
with frigid hauteur.
1938
After
his blunt refusal to serve he “was kept under continual surveillance”
and his home office was searched. The only rehabilitation due to his
legendary standing among the populace came, when at age 68, he was named a
General for Special Purposes, but was never recalled into service.
1964
von
Lettow-Vorbeck’s death
