What If... [WW1 in Africa]

[Dave Bender]

Rather then concentrate on the pre-war period perhaps it would be better to discuss what Germany could have and should have done to assist Ost Afrika and Kamerun after the war started. Historically Kamerun received no assistance at all. Germany did not dispatch a supply ship to Ost Afrika until February 18, 1915 when SS Kronborg departed Germany.

Point of Departure.
August 5th, 1914.
Kaiser Wilhelm II is meeting with Admiral Tirpitz.
"What is the Etappendienst doing to provide Kamerun and Ost Afrika with additional weapons and ammunition?"

Admiral Tirpitz looked uneasy.
"Nothing that I am aware of your majesty."

Kaiser Wilhelm II did not like that answer.
"Apparently I am surrounded by incompetents. Kamerun shares a border with neutral Spanish Guinea. Ost Afrika shares a border with neutral Portuguese East Africa. Supplying our Schultztruppen from such neutral territories woud be a simple matter for the Etappendienst yet apparently even the simple things are too difficult for you. However I will give you one more chance. Kamerun and Ost Afrika are each to receive 10,000 modern rifles with 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition before the end of August 1914. Or your head will roll."

[JungleJim]

Fair enough

1. How do the Germans actually get the rifles and ammo to Kamerun and Ost Aftika? Re-supply transports would have still ran the risk of interception by the Brits. What was the political situation with the Spanish and Portuguese governments? Would they have allowed the Germans to use Rio Muni and Mozambique as supply bases? Even if they got the supplies to Rio Muni and Mozambique... how do they transport it to the German colony?

2. Why 10,000 rifles for Kamerun? Seems a little excess to me. Kamerun only had a population of approximately half-a-mil. Togoland had about a mil, but no ST. Togoland seems like a better place to do something to me.

[Dave Bender]

How do the Germans actually get the rifles and ammo to Kamerun and Ost Aftika?

Arrange for a front company to ship coal to Spanish Guinea and Portuguese East Africa aboard neutral cargo vessels. Small arms and ammunition are relatively compact. Put them in the bottom of the cargo holds and cover the crates with 1,000 tons of coal. Just like Germany did historically on SS Kronborg.

Obtaining 20,000 modern rifles outside Europe is no big deal. DWM and Steyr had a virtual monopoly on rifles sales to South America, Central America and Mexico. Chile alone had over 50,000 Steyr rifles on order at the beginning of WWI. With sales numbers that large both DWM and Steyr would have a distribution network and warehouses in South America. 10s of thousands of weapons would have been in transit from Europe to South America during August 1914. The Etappendienst would purchase 20,000 of these in transit weapons, perhaps paying a small premium to keep everyone happy.

Competent intelligence agencies do this stuff all the time. If the Etappendienst isn't competent then it's time to make some leadership changes.

[JungleJim]

This doesn't work as the Germans would have to plan without knowing that WWI would come up in 9 years.

I agree. The historical WWI came as a complete surprise to Germany.

I apologize for expressing myself poorly.

I never meant to imply that K-W knew he had a 9 year time-table.

I was only attempting to establish a baseline for when things needed to start changing.

I would probably use K-W's ego and vanity, as the prime motivator for any changes.

It just seems natural to me, that a angry and humiliated kaiser, would threw a petulant hissy-fit... demanding
that the generals and admirals do something.

[JungleJim]

Arrange for a front company to ship coal to Spanish Guinea

OK, you have your rifles & ammo sitting on the docks of Bata.

How do you get this many ton pile of crates to Douala?

Overland... without any railroads or rivers?

Does the capacity to move it by coastal trade ships exist?

Do to distances and terrain, it is even a bigger nightmare with Ost Afrika.

[JungleJim]

Dave, Kamerun may work better as a "base of resistance", than I thought.

I had based my estimate of Kamerun's population on Byron Farwell's book... The Great War In Africa.

Today, I have found two online sources that give a population of 2.6 mil. in 1912.

This would definitely change things significantly, if accurate.

[Dave Bender]

How do you get this many ton pile of crates to Douala?

1 to 1 million topographic map of west Africa
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/imw/txu- ... 3rd-ed.jpg
Try sending a couple crates of weapons to Edea using fishing boats and/or coastal freighters. If that works you are home free. Send the remainder along in small batches. If the Entente blockade is so tight that fishing boats cannot sneak through then everything goes overland using native carriers.

1 to 2 million topographic map of east Africa.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/afri ... 7th-ed.jpg
Same procedure for cargo landed in Portuguese East Africa. Try using fishing boats on the Indian Ocean or on Lake Nyasa. If that doesn't work then thousands of native carriers get the job.

[JungleJim]

Wouldn't shipping the war materials... in this manner take a long time?

I suspect that the Spanish and Portuguese governments would cave to the Brits and seize the cargo, if it
is not moved quickly.

As for carrier columns going overland, I'm not so sure of it.

Kamerun and southern Ost Afrika were extremely rugged terrain.

Plus, Kamerun was consider the worse pestilent hell-hole in WA.

Not going to rule either of them out, but I just don't see them as a means, other than for small quantities.

[Dave Bender]

Wouldn't shipping the war materials... in this manner take a long time?

German infantry (including Schultztruppen) received at least 4 months training before they were transferred to combat units. That gives you 4 months to transport weapons and ammunition to Kamerun and Ost Afrika. Plenty of time even if the stuff must be hand carried.

[JungleJim]

That gives you 4 months to transport weapons and ammunition to Kamerun and Ost Afrika.

That is what I question.

Would the Brits would have given the Spanish and Portuguese 4 months?

The Spanish wanted English support, to counterbalance French influence,for their Moroccan protectorate, and the Portuguese were historically... very friendly with the Brits.

[Dave Bender]

Would the Brits would have given the Spanish and Portuguese 4 months?

When do you think Britain would learn about these Etappendienst operations? Probably about the same time new weapons start showing up in Schultztruppen hands. Historically that's how long it took Britain to learn of the SS Kronborg salvage operation. By then the weapons and any other evidence will no longer be on Spanish and Portugese soil.