Battle of Otavi

Battle of Otavi
	Part of South West Africa Campaign
Date	1 July 1915
Location	Otavi, German South West Africa 19°39′20″S17°23′10″E / 19.65556°S 17.38611°E
Result	South African victory
Belligerents
Germany German Southwest Africa ;	South Africa
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Hermann Ritter	Gen. Louis Botha
Strength
1,000; 10 machine guns	3,500
Casualties and losses
3 killed; 8 wounded; 20 captured	4 killed; 7 wounded
	class=notpageimage\| Location within Namibia Battle of Otavi (Africa)

Last updated January 25, 2025

The Battle of Otavi fought between the militaries of the Union of South Africa and German Southwest Africa on 1 July 1915 was the final battle of the South West Africa Campaign of World War I. The battle, fought between Otavi mountain and Otavifontein, was a delaying action led by the German Major Hermann Ritter. Ritter's forces intended to buy the main German force at Tsombe several days so as they could harden their positions there. In the end, Botha's forces were able to rout Ritter's troops, leading to an overall breakdown in the German lines that brought the campaign to an end.

Background

By mid 1915 the South African advance in German Southwest Africa had gained considerable ground and efforts at negotiating a ceasefire had failed. Rather than seek a decisive battle, the German commander Victor Franke had decided to resort to keeping his army as intact as possible so as to maintain a German claim to the territory after the end of the war. Rather than resort to guerrilla warfare or attempt to break out of German Southwest Africa, Franke decided to retreat along the railway and build up defenses around Tsombe.^[3] With the South African army under Louis Botha rapidly approaching, Franke decided to leave a delaying force under his second in command Major Hermann Ritter at Otavifontein. The delaying force was tasked with holding up Botha for as long as possible so that the main force at Tsombe could concentrate its forces and solidify its defenses there.^[4]

Botha began his advance on June 18, learning from intercepted communications that the Germans were retreating up the railway but would not retreat farther than Namutoni. Botha split his 13,000 troops into four columns with one on each flank and two under his personal command driving up along the railway.^[5] With a swift advance, the South Africans began to surround the German positions and Botha's central columns managed to reach Otavi by July 1. The Germans thought that Botha's advance would be hampered by a lack of water and rough terrain, and were ill-prepared for the looming South African attack. At his disposal Botha had 3,500 cavalry compared to Ritter's 1,000 infantry and ten machine guns. Although heavily outnumbered, Ritter's forces did have the advantage of the high ground, as the territory they defended was quite mountainous. Despite this advantage, Ritter feared that his force would become surrounded and spread his forces out to lengthen his line of defense.^[6]

Battle

Because Ritter's line of defense was so long, his flanks were unable to support each other. That, combined with his lack of forces to man such a wide perimeter adequately, caused his left flank to falter when the South African forces advanced upon it. Fearful his lines would break, Ritter pulled back to the hills of Otavifontein and to Otavi mountain. Despite the fact that these new positions held the high ground, the Germans had not prepared any fortifications there. With no artillery and no solid defensive positions, the German force easily broke into a general retreat when pressed by Botha's troops. By 1 pm the battle had ended, with Ritter pulling back to positions near Gaub and leaving Botha with a clear path to the main German body at Tsombe.^[7]

Eugen Mansfeld, who was present at the battle as a Reserve Leutnant in the German forces, laid the blame for German defeat squarely on Franke. Mansfeld stated that Major Ritter had occupied an excellent defensive position at Otavifontein, but that on the morning of 28 June 1915 Franke arrived with his staff officer and ordered a redisposition of Ritter's forces south of the original position, separating Ritter's three artillery batteries and leaving the companies of troops widely dispersed in no logical order. Mansfeld suggested that if the Germans had kept to Ritter's original plan, the South African forces—who were unable to transport water by railway—would have been forced to retreat to the nearest water station, with severe losses to their horses as a result.^[8]

Aftermath

Botha's victory was swift, with the South African advance being delayed only a day and suffering only four dead and seven wounded. The Germans had fled without putting up any committed defense, and Ritter's force fled largely intact with only three dead, eight wounded, and twenty captured.^[9] Although a delay of just two days by Ritter would have sufficed, Ritter's early withdrawal allowed Franke's unprepared forces to become nearly encircled. The German forces retreated to the farm of Khorab, where on 5 July 1915 they set up a defensive position around the farmhouse and reservoir.^[10] With no means of escaping further up the rail line and a general lack of will to pursue any other course of action, Franke had little choice but to surrender his forces to Botha on 9 July 1915, effectively ending all major German resistance in Southwest-Africa.^[11]

Citations

↑ Strachan, 267.
↑ Wittal, 147.
↑ Keith, 116.
↑ Strachan, 266.
↑ Keith, 116.
↑ Strachan, 267.
↑ Strachan, 267.
↑ Mansfeld, 138-9.
↑ Wittal, 147.
↑ Mansfeld, 141.
↑ Strachan, 167.

Related Research Articles

The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies (Allies/Entente). The Germans had initial successes in August. They were victorious in the Battles of Mons and the Frontiers and overran a large area of northern France and Belgium. In what is called the Great Retreat the Germans pursued the retreating Franco/British forces more than 250 km (160 mi) southward. The French and British halted their retreat in the Marne River valley while the Germans advanced to 40 km from Paris.

The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. The South African Prime Minister Louis Botha took the unusual move of leading his troops into battle as commander-in-chief, to the frustration of his cabinet.

The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of the First World War. The city of Liège was protected by a ring of modern fortresses, one of several fortified cities to delay an invasion to allow troops from the powers which had guaranteed Belgian neutrality to assist the Belgian Army in the expulsion of the invaders.

A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek to regain lost ground or destroy the attacking enemy.

The Maritz rebellion, also known as the Boer revolt, Third Boer War, or the Five Shilling rebellion, was an armed pro-German insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I. It was led by Boers who supported the re-establishment of the South African Republic in the Transvaal. Many members of the South African government were themselves Boers who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War, which had ended twelve years earlier. The rebellion failed, with at least 124 out of 12,000 rebels killed in battle, another 300 dying during a retreat into the Kalahari Desert, and at least 229 wounded. The surviving ringleaders received heavy fines and prison terms. One of them, Jopie Fourie, was executed.

The SecondBattle of Colenso, also known as the Battle of Colenso, was the third and final battle fought during the Black Week of the Second Boer War. It was fought between British and Boer forces from the independent South African Republic and Orange Free State in and around Colenso, Natal, South Africa on 15 December 1899.

The Battle of Halen, also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets because of the many cavalry helmets left behind on the battlefield by the German cuirassiers, took place on 12 August 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, between German forces led by Georg von der Marwitz and Belgian troops led by Léon De Witte. The name of the battle alludes to the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where 500 pairs of golden spurs were recovered from the battlefield. Halen was a small market town and a convenient river crossing of the Gete and was situated on the principal axis of advance of the Imperial German army. The battle was a Belgian tactical victory, but did little to delay the German invasion of Belgium.

The African theatre of the First World War comprises campaigns in North Africa instigated by the German and Ottoman empires, local rebellions against European colonial rule and Allied campaigns against the German colonies of Kamerun, Togoland, German South West Africa, and German East Africa. The campaigns were fought by German Schutztruppe, local resistance movements and forces of the British Empire, France, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal.

Erich Victor Carl August Franke was a German military officer and the last commander of the Schutztruppe in German South West Africa. Franke was born in Zuckmantel, Austrian Silesia. He was Bezirksamtmann in several German South West Africa locations, especially Ovamboland and Kaokoveld. He was stationed at Outjo from 1899 until 1910. He was involved in several campaigns against native tribes who resisted German colonial rule. In the early phases of the Herero Genocide of 1904, he was dubbed "Hero of Omaruru", because of his victory over numerically superior Herero forces at Omaruru. He also had successful campaigns against the Herero at Okahandja and Windhoek.

The Battle of Salaita Hill was the first large-scale engagement of the East African Campaign of the First World War to involve British, Indian, Rhodesian, and South African troops. The battle took place on February 12, 1916, as part of the three-pronged offensive into German East Africa launched by General Jan Smuts, who had been given overall command of the Allied forces in the region.

The Battle of Latema Nek took place during the East African Campaign in World War I.

The Battle of Sandfontein was fought between the Union Defence Force of South Africa and the German Empire on 26 September 1914 at Sandfontein, during the first stage of the South West Africa Campaign of World War I. It ended in a German victory.

The Battle of Trekkopjes on 26 April 1915 was a German assault on the South African held railway station of Trekkopjes during the South West Africa Campaign of World War I. The South African Major Skinner had been ordered to defend Trekkopjes, and came into contact with a German column advancing on the station. Skinner withdrew back into Trekkopjes and dug in his forces. The German attack was repulsed with the help of armoured cars, leaving the South Africans victorious. The Battle of Trekkopjes saw the last German offensive in German South West Africa leaving them on the defensive for the remainder of the campaign.

The battle of Kakamas took place in Kakamas, Northern Cape Province of South Africa on 4 February 1915. It was a skirmish for control of two river fords over the Orange River between contingents of a German invasion force and South African armed forces. The South Africans succeed in preventing the Germans gaining control of the fords and crossing the river.

The Battle of the Notch was an engagement between United States and North Korean forces early in the Korean War on August 2, 1950, in southern South Korea. The fight ended in a victory for the United States after North Korean forces attempting to assault the US position were blocked and repelled repeatedly, suffering heavy casualties.

The German invasion of Belgium was a military campaign which began on 4 August 1914. On 24 July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its neutrality. The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert was proclaimed in Germany. On 2 August, the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country and German forces invaded Luxembourg. Two days later, the Belgian government refused the German demands and the British government guaranteed military support to Belgium. The German government declared war on Belgium on 4 August; German troops crossed the border and began the Battle of Liège.

The Affair of Khra [Chra] was fought by British and French troops against German Polizeitruppen in the village of Khra, near the Khra River on 22 August 1914, during the Togoland Campaign of the First World War. The German defenders mined the approaches to the river, blew the bridges and dug in around the village on the far bank, ready to defend the crossing with rifles and three concealed machine-guns. The British–French attack was repulsed and then a German counter-attack was ordered but many troops refused the order and the attack was not delivered.

During the Battle of Banjo or Battle of Banyo, British forces besieged German forces entrenched on the Banjo mountain from 4 to 6 November 1915 during the Kamerun campaign of the First World War. By 6 November much of the German force had deserted, while the rest surrendered. The battle resulted in victory for the Allies and breakdown of German resistance in northern Kamerun.

The First Battle of Edea involved the British and French assault on German forces stationed in the village of Edea during the Kamerun campaign of the First World War. Allied forces from Duala launched their advance on 20 October. Following stiff resistance along the southern railway line between Duala and Edea, German forces withdrew from the town to Jaunde, allowing Allied troops to finally occupy Edea on 26 October 1914.

Khorab, a farm oasis 2.6 km north of Otavi, Namibia, hosts a monument commemorating negotiations between South African and German troops fighting in World War I. These led to the surrender of around 4,000 German soldiers in what was known as the Treaty of Khorab. The monument was dedicated on September 28, 1973.

References

Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1921). War government of the British dominions. London: Humphrey Milford.
Mansfeld, Eugen (2017). The Autobiography of Eugene Mansfeld: A Settler's Life in Colonial Namibia. London: Jeppestown Press. ISBN 978-0-9570837-5-2.
Strachan, Hew (2001). The First World War: To Arms. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199261918.
Wittal, W. (1917). With Botha and Smuts in Africa. London: Cassell and Company ltd.
Historicus Africanus: "Der 1. Weltkrieg in Deutsch-Südwestafrika 1914/15", Band 8, "Das Ende bei Khorab", Windhoek 2018, ISBN 978-99916-909-9-5

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Strachan, 267.

[2] Wittal, 147.

[3] Keith, 116.

[4] Strachan, 266.

[5] Keith, 116.

[6] Strachan, 267.

[7] Strachan, 267.

[8] Mansfeld, 138-9.

[9] Wittal, 147.

[10] Mansfeld, 141.

[11] Strachan, 167.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]