Quote:
Originally Posted by mugwump
Ah, but isn't that an example of racism? Whatever its source and extent, Von Lettow didn't ascribe to it. What impressed me about Lettow (remember this is from a grand total of two books) was that he defied conventional wisdom at every turn. He performed his own recon on foot and bicycle, personally negotiated with "lowly" village councils when seeking supplies and succor, tactically zigged when he should have zagged, etc. and all while fighting under his own high interpretation of the rules of war.
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Of course it is. As noted, my point is tarring Afrikaners as if they were uniquely racist seems to fit apartheid-era conventional wisdom but misses the general attitude of the day. Whether von Lettow-Vorbeck was immune to that is a discussion for another day; alot of the literature on him approaches the hagiographic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mugwump
I seem to recall first-tier British troops being deployed at one point -- I don't have the books at hand -- and I've seen 250,000 bandied about as the number of troops he tied up. Sideshow or not, shipping, supplies, men and planning resources were all expended in the attempt to keep him in check.
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The total number seems to include porters and other NCs. I don't know of a complete OB, and of course the units involved changed over time, but below are infantry and cavalry units I know were involved at various times.
1st Battalion, The King's African Rifles
2nd Battalion, The King's African Rifles
4th Battalion, The King's African Rifles
25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers
2nd Battalion, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment
3rd Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners
1st Battalion, Cape Corps
2nd Battalion, Cape Corps
1st Rhodesia Regiment
2nd Rhodesia Regiment
Northern Rhodesia Police
The Gambia Regiment
Gold Coast Regiment
The Nigeria Regiment, West African Frontier Force
The West India Regiment
101st Grenadiers
63rd Palamcottah Light Infantry
98th Infantry
13th Rajputs
2nd Kashmir Rifles
3rd Kashmir Rifles
2nd Gwalior Rifles
5th South African Infantry
6th South African Infantry
7th South African Infantry
8th South African Infantry
9th South African Infantry
10th South African Infantry
11th South African Infantry
12th South African Infantry
1st South African Horse
2nd South African Horse
3rd South African Horse
4th South African Horse