Indian Expeditionary Force "B" off Mombasa

At the end of October 1914 the convoy carrying Indian Expeditionary Force “B”, which had sailed from Bombay on 16 October, reached the coast of East Africa. The transports anchored at sea on 30 October, out of sight of land. Only the ship carrying the staff of Major-General Arthur Aitken entered the port of Mombasa.

On 31 October a conference of soldiers and sailors was held at Mombasa. It was finally decided there that the force would attack the German port of Tanga, while at the same time the troops stationed in British East Africa would attack the Germans north-west of Kilimanjaro. It was assumed that Tanga was weakly defended and that the main German forces were far away in the interior of the colony.

An awkward matter came to light at the conference. In August the commanders of British warships had concluded local truces with the German authorities of Tanga and Dar es Salaam, which London had never ratified. The captain of the cruiser HMS Fox, Francis Caulfeild, believed that the Germans had to be warned before the attack that these truces were being repudiated. Aitken gave way, although this meant losing surprise. In addition, the battleship HMS Goliath, which had been escorting the convoy, broke down and could not go any further. It was judged, however, that there would be no serious resistance, and it was decided to proceed without her.

Aitken did not allow the troops to go ashore, although after two weeks on overcrowded ships many of them were exhausted and sick. He wanted to get into action as quickly as possible. The convoy, now escorted only by HMS Fox, moved south and on the evening of 1 November approached Tanga. On 2–5 November a battle was fought there in which the force suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the far less numerous troops of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.