Battle of Namacurra

Battle of Namacurra
Part of East African Campaign (World War I)
Date 1 July – 3 July 1918 Location Portuguese Mozambique Result German victory
Belligerents
Portugal British Empire	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Eric Gore-Browne †	Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Erich Müller
Units involved
3 Portuguese battalions 2 British rifleman companies	3 German companies
Casualties and losses
209 dead 540 captured	Unknown

The Battle of Namacurra was fought during World War I in Portuguese Mozambique between the First Portuguese Republic and their British allies against the German Empire. It took place on July 1–3, 1918, at the Namacurra River near Namacurra. It was the deadliest engagement of German general Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's campaign into Mozambique, and 209 of the British and Portuguese died.

Background

Map showing the border between the Portuguese and German territories in 1917. The Rovuma River is at the top and Namacurra is at the bottom

See also: East African campaign (World War I)

On 25 November 1917, during World War I's African theatre, German general Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck crossed the Rovuma River from German East Africa into Portuguese Mozambique. They started going south. By the end of March 1918, British general Jacob van Deventer, whose troops were following von Lettow's troops in an attempt to encircle them, expected von Lettow to turn back into German East Africa. Von Lettow kept going south. British and Portuguese troops could not stand their ground to the German forces. The British Gold Coast Regiment withdrew their forces. At Ile, the defending Portuguese troops ran off after they spotted the Germans. They left behind a large amount of supplies, more than von Lettow could carry. Much of it was burned to prevent future use by the British or Portuguese.

Namacurra, also spelled Nhamacurra, was a town that had a newly established supply depot for British and Portuguese armies, which contained "vast warehouses stuffed full of arms and ammunition, food, wine, and whiskey". It was connected by railroad to the nearby port town of Quelimane, where the British feared the Germans would seize vessels and escape from Africa.

Battle

The battle started on July 1, 1918. It was the southernmost strike of Vorbeck's campaign. The Portuguese offered stiffer resistance than they had at Ile. Three Portuguese battalions, aided by two British King's African Rifle companies commanded by Colonel Eric Gore-Browne, fought against three German companies commanded by Captain Müller. By July 3, von Lettow had brought out his main force. The Portuguese units were steadily pushed back, until they were forced to retreat across the Namacurra River. One hundred European and African men drowned, including Gore-Browne. The fighting ended on the afternoon of July 3.

Aftermath

On Vorbeck's campaign, there were about 100 engagements, and Namacurra was the most deadly of them. 209 of the British and Portuguese lost their lives, and 540 were taken as prisoner. The Germans received the enemy spoils. Days later, the bodies of the men who drowned in the river were found downstream. Instead of going to Quelimane, the Germans looped back across the Namiurre River to Numarroe, and went north. For a few days, while the Germans were going north, van Deventer's forces kept going south to Quelimane. Van Deventer's forces, still chasing von Lettow, admitted defeat in September 1918. Von Lettow started losing his men for various reasons, and eventually turned back into German East Africa.

Namacurra and a native revolt against Portuguese misrule in Angoche effectively ended Portugal's involvement in World War I's East African theater.

Sources

• David Smith, Graham Turner (2022). The East Africa Campaign 1914–18: Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s Masterpiece, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472848925
• Gaudi, Robert (2017). African Kaiser: General Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, Hurst. ISBN 9781849048675
• Erez Manela, Robert Gerwarth (2014). Empires at War: 1911–1923, OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780191006944
• Stapleton, Timothy J. (2013). A Military History of Africa: Volume 1, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313395697
• Abbott, Peter (2002). Armies in East Africa 1914–18, Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 9781841764894
• Reigel, Corey W. (2015). The Last Great Safari: East Africa in World War I, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781442235939
• David F. Burg, L. Edward Purcell (2010). Almanac of World War I, University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813127453
• Woodward, David R. (2009). World War I Almanac, Facts on File Inc. ISBN 9781438118963