Few incidents in 20th century military history are as astonishing as the
World War One campaigns across Africa. While there was little strategic
benefit to either side in fighting these tropical campaigns, the thought of
NOT fighting would have been anathema to the imperial mindset of the day.
Hence, both sides vast armies of African auxiliaries, together with
improvised navies (and even a small air wing) to wage a series of campaigns
in places where heat and disease were to account for most (in some cases
all) of the casualties.
The Great War in Africa was prosecuted in three fronts: a brisk (and
virtually uncontested) conquest by the Allies of German West Africa;
followed by a quick invasion by South Africa of German Namibia; lastly the
epic Anglo-German struggle across Tanganyika (modern Tanzania). The
principal players were Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen (on the British side)
and, most prominently, the wily German commander, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck,
who marched his guerilla army the length and breadth of Tanganyika before
invading Mozambique, keeping his guerilla forces intact, and only
surrendering once the Kaiser had fallen. Farwell tells their stories
expertly, together with some stunningly bizarre vignettes: the battle that
was halted by an outbreak of killer bees, the Zeppelin that flew from
Bulgaria to central Africa and the "phantom flotilla" that was marched
through the Congo to sail along Lake Victoria.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393305643/ref=pd_sim_books_2/103-8357565-5279023?v=glance&s=books
