Skirmish at Longido

On 3 November 1914 units of Indian Expeditionary Force “C” under Brigadier-General James Marshall Stewart crossed the border of German East Africa and attacked the German positions on Mount Longido, north-west of Kilimanjaro. A British chronology of the war records this attack as the first British crossing of the northern border of the German colony.

The attack was part of a plan agreed at the end of October in Mombasa, when General Arthur Aitken took over the supreme command. The main blow was to be struck by Aitken’s Force “B”, which the day before had begun landing at Tanga on the coast. At the same time Stewart was to attack from British East Africa and tie down part of the German forces so that they could not be moved to the coast.

Stewart sent about 1,500 soldiers into the attack, mainly from the 29th Punjabis, as well as mounted volunteers from among the British settlers. They approached the mountain by night in several columns. Longido was defended by about 600 askaris and a few dozen mounted German settlers under Major Georg Kraut. In the morning, in fog, the attacking units came under crossfire from well-prepared positions. The Indians fought bravely and beat off German counter-attacks, but throughout the day they could make no progress.

The outcome of the fight was decided by water. On the waterless slope the attackers depended on supplies carried by mules. German horsemen scattered the animals, and panic broke out among the African porters. Stewart decided that he could not hold the positions he had taken, and after dark withdrew his units to British territory. The figures for killed and wounded given in the sources vary greatly, but it is certain that the attack achieved nothing.

The failure at Longido was not as painful as the defeat that Force “B” suffered at Tanga in the following days. Both attacks showed, however, that the German colonial troops of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck were a far more dangerous enemy than the British had thought. The defeat also cooled the ardour of the settlers of British East Africa, who had counted on a quick and easy war.