Battle of Behobeho

Battle of Behobeho Part of East African Campaign Date 3–4 January 1917 Location Behobeho, German East Africa Coordinates: 7°38′S 37°53′E / 7.633°S 37.883°E / -7.633; 37.883 Belligerents  German Empire German East Africa  British Empire Commanders and leaders Captain Ernst Otto Captain Frederick Selous  †

East African Campaign Somaliland Zanzibar Rufiji Delta Kilimanjaro Tanga Jassin Bukoba Lake Tanganyika Salaita Latema Nek Kahe Kondoa Irangi Dodoma Mkalamo Lukigura Matamondo Wami Kilosa Mlali Morogoro Kidodi Dutumi Kisaki Njinjo Kimbaramba Tabora Kibata (1916) Behobeho Kibata (1917) Mpotona Utete Nambanje Kiawe Bridge Rumbo Narungombe Mahiwa Ngomano Chilembwe uprising Makombe uprising Barue uprising

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 January 3 British scouts ahead of the battalion reported a column of German soldiers moving down the road. A skirmish ensued. A German marksman reportedly killed Captain Frederick Selous during the battle. It is said that because of his fame Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of the German forces in German East Africa at the time sent a letter of condolence to the British after his death.

References

• Chisholm, Hugh (1922). The Encyclopædia Britannica, The Twelfth Edition, Volume 2. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, LTD.