Battle of Mlali 1916
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 24 August 1916 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1916 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Tanzania | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -6.9667, 37.5500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Mlali was fought during the East African Campaign of World War I. In mid-August 1916, the British, led by General Jan Christiaan Smuts, advanced three divisions from Kenya south into the Imperial German colony of Tanganyika to seize and disrupt their vital railway. Informed of the British movement by his scouts, the German commander Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck sent Captain Otto to investigate.
Outnumbered, the Germans were forced to withdraw. Despite several skirmishes, the British never succeeded in drawing out the main body of the German force to face their superior numbers. However, the Germans lost several important supply locations when they were captured by the British.
The British objective was primarily to destroy German troops, which they failed to achieve. Despite this, the battle was considered a victory by the British High Command, since the Germans were forced into retreat.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Mlali (revision 1370269585), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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All 138 battles of the World War I →
Browse more: battles in Tanzania · Africa · World War I era battles