Battle of Matamondo

Battle of Matamondo
Part of East African Campaign
Date 10-11 August 1916 Location Nguru Mountains, German East Africa[1] 6°7′26″S 37°34′34″E / 6.12389°S 37.57611°E / -6.12389; 37.57611 Result German victory
Belligerents
German Empire German East Africa	British Empire United Kingdom
Strength
3000	4 brigades
Casualties and losses
4 killed 7 wounded^[citation needed]	60 killed and wounded[1] 4 captured [2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Tanzania Show map of Tanzania Battle of Matamondo (Africa) Show map of Africa

The Battle of Matamondo was fought during the East African Campaign of World War I.

The battle

In August 1916, the British launched an offensive to take full control of the Central Railway in German East Africa. General Van Deventer had already occupied the Central Railway from Kilimatinde to Dodoma and Belgian troops advanced on Tabora.^[1]

But for a distance of about 45 miles, the Central Railway passes close under the Nguru and Kanga mountains. Here the Germans had positioned 12 companies or some 3,000 men with much heavy and light artillery in the mountains. General Smuts sent 4 brigades to the Nguru Mountains to surround and defeat this German force.^[1]

On 10 August, the British advance guard, the 57th Wilde's Rifles, encountered a fortified German position at the Matamondo pass. The Wild's Rifles were joined by the King's African Rifles and the 5th and 6th South African Infantry battalions. There was fierce fighting all day long, but by nightfall the German defense had not yet been breached.^[2]

The next morning, the Germans were gone. The day's gain had allowed the main force to escape the planned encirclement.^[3][4]

References

1. The London Gazette, 16 January 1917, Supplement 29906, report by General Smuts, Page 695-696
2. GWEAA: The 57th Wilde's Rifles (Frontier force), Indian Army, in German East Africa
3. Liverpool medals: Pte Sydney Richard “Dick” Rhodes, 6th South African Infantry, Killed in Action at Matamondo 10th August 1916.
4. Collyer, John Johnston (2024). The South Africans with General Smuts in German East Africa 1916. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press. pp. 176–180. ISBN 9781474537407.

External links

• Chisholm, Hugh (1922). The Encyclopædia Britannica, The Twelfth Edition, Volume 2. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, LTD.^{[citation needed]}
• British Campaigns in Africa and Pacific^{[citation needed]}