| German Campaign in Angola | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofSouth West Africa campaign | |||||||
 Portuguese troops embarking for Angola | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,000+ | 12,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 16+ killed 30–60 wounded | 810 killed (mostly due to disease) 638 wounded 268 captured or missing | ||||||
| 1 Portuguese civilian killed | |||||||
TheGerman campaign in Angola took place before the official declaration ofwar betweenGermany andPortugal in March 1916. German and Portuguese troops clashed several times on the border betweenGerman South West Africa andPortuguese Angola. The Germans won most of these clashes and were able to occupy theHumbe region of southernAngola until Portuguese control was restored a few days before the South African-ledSouth West Africa campaign liquidated German rule in the region.
From 1911 until July 1914, the German and British governments had held negotiations about the possibility of annexing Portuguese Angola.[1] In such a case most of the colony would fall into the hands of the Germans.Angola-Bund, founded in 1912, was the German organization promoting the takeover.
Even beforeWorld War I started (September 1914), the Portuguese government had sent reinforcements to the southern border of Angola. After the war broke out, the border between German South West Africa and Angola remained open. The Germans hoped they would be able to supply food and possibly even arms through it. However, the Portuguese colonial government was rather hostile and attempted to thwart all possible trade. A few German nationals in Angola were interned.
Fighting in southernPortuguese Angola took place before a formal state of war had been declared between Germany andPortugal (Germany declared war on Portugal on 9 March 1916) when clashes occurred between October 1914 and July 1915.
Due to the possibility of an attack from German Southwest Africa, Portuguese forces in southern Angola were reinforced by a military expedition led by Lieutenant-ColonelAlves Roçadas, which arrived atMoçâmedes on 1 October 1914.
Since mid-1914, there had been several incidents between Portuguese and German troops. The first serious one was theNaulila incident on 19 October, in which 3 German officers, heading a military column which had entered Angola without permission from the Portuguese authorities, were killed by Portuguese troops.[2] On 31 October, German troops armed with machine guns launched a surprise attack on the small Portuguese outpost atCuangar, killing 2 officers, 1 sergeant, 5 soldiers and 1 civilian.[3] The attack became known as the "Cuangar Massacre".
On 18 December the largest clash of the campaign occurred at theBattle of Naulila. A German force of 2,000 men under the command of MajorVictor Franke attacked Portuguese forces positioned atNaulila. After stubborn resistance, the Portuguese were forced to withdraw towards the Humbe region, with 69 soldiers dead, among them 3 officers, 76 wounded, among them 1 officer, and 79 prisoners, among them 3 officers, while the Germans had 12 soldiers dead and 30 wounded, among them 10 officers.[4] After the explosion of the munitions magazine at Forte Roçadas base, the Portuguese also left the Humbe, withdrawing farther north.
On 7 July 1915, Portuguese forces under the command of GeneralPereira d'Eça reoccupied the Humbe region. Two days later, German forces in South West Africa surrendered, ending the South West Africa Campaign.
Until September 1915, the Portuguese continued fighting in southern Angola against local groups who resisted colonial occupation, and who in part had received arms from the Germans.[5]
