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One of the first Allied successes of the First World War was the destruction of Germany's colonial empire (apart from German East Africa). This involved a mix of naval and land operations, with Germany's Pacific Islands falling to the Australians, New Zealanders and Japanese, their colony on the Chinese mainland to the Japanese and their Africa colonies to British, French, Belgian and South African troops. The Pacific campaigns get some attention, and the prolonged fight in East Africa, where Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck managed to remain undefeated to the very end of the war, is the best known of these colonial campaigns. In contrast the South African conquest of German South-West Africa is normally passed over in a paragraph or two (or mentioned in histories of the later Namibian War).
This brief campaign was actually of significance for the history of Southern Africa. It came at a time when South Africa's attitude to the Great War was uncertain, with the Boer community split on which side to take, and some taking the chance to rebel against British rule (this was after all only a few years after the end of the Boer War). The first South African campaign in South-West Africa ended in defeat. The second invasion, which took advantage of British control of the seas to land on the west coast, was thus of great importance to those in South Africa who believed that the best path for the colony to take was to support the British war effort. It was commanded by General Louis Botha, one of the main Boer commanders of the Boer War, and was a major commitment of South African resources and prestige.
This book focuses on Botha's Swakop River Campaign, although we do get a good introduction with background information on the colony and the earlier stages of the conflict, and a brief look at the long term aftermath of the South Africa victory (South-West Africa became a South African protectorate and later a battleground in the Cold War and the fight against Apartheid. Stejskal takes us through both sides' plans for the campaign, looks at the attitudes and performance of the leaders on both sides, and traces the events of the fairly brief campaign and its handful of battles.
This book reminds us that even these minor campaigns required a great deal of planning and logistical support. The Allied victory wouldn't have been possible without an impressive supply organisation, dedicated efforts to get bring the German railroad into use, and good use of intelligence on the Allied side. The author also makes it clear that the German leadership was somewhat uninspired, especially compared to that in East Africa, but also that the different situation in South-West Africa would have made a similar defence almost impossible.
This is a useful examination of one of the less familiar campaigns of the First World War. Compared to some of the other First World War books I've read recently it is a fairly slender tome, but that suits this campaign, providing enough detail on the important areas of the fighting.
Chapters
1 - Origin of a Conflict
2 - The Forces
3 - Before the Battles
4 - Battle Plans
5 - Up the River
6 - 'The End is Near'
7 - The Battlefields Today
8 - The Legacy
9 - Chronology
10 - Distribution of Forces at Pforte, Riet and Jakalswater
11 - The Fallen
Author: James Stejskal
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 140
Publisher: Helion
Year: 2014