Battle of Behobeho

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Battle of Behobeho
Part of East African Campaign
Date3–4 January 1917
Location 7°38′0″S37°36′0″E / 7.63333°S 37.60000°E / -7.63333; 37.60000
Result Inconclusive
Belligerents

Flag of the German Empire.svg  German Empire

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  British Empire
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the German Empire.svg Capt. Ernst Otto Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Capt. Frederick Selous  
Tanzania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Tanzania
Africa location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Battle of Behobeho (Africa)

The Battle of Behobeho was fought during the East African Campaign of World War I.

The battle

After capturing the coastal capital of German East Africa, Dar es Salaam in September 1916, General Jan Smuts ordered his army's advance to halt due to a malaria pandemic that had devastated the soldiers. Shortly after the new year, the 25th Frontiersmen Battalion, led by famous hunter and explorer, Captain Frederick Selous, advanced into the interior of the colony, [1] up the Rufiji River.

On the 3rd January a unit of British scouts ahead of the main battalion reported that a column of German soldiers was moving down the road. A skirmish ensued between the British and German soldiers. A German marksman reportedly killed Captain Frederick Selous during the battle when he raised his head while using binoculars to locate the enemy. It is said that because of Selous' fame the commander of the German forces in German East Africa at the time, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, sent a letter of condolence to the British after his death.

References

  1. Henley, Jeff. "Beho-Beho Dec 1916 - Jan 1917". Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2011.