greatwar-1914:February 23rd, 1915 - South Africans Gain Ground in German South-West AfricaPictured -
greatwar-1914:February 23rd, 1915 - South Africans Gain Ground in German South-West AfricaPictured - South Africans display a captured banner.South African Prime Minister Louis Botha spent much of his early life fighting British occupation of South Africa as a Boer guerrilla fighter. Now he led Imperial forces invading German South-West Africa, and had only just finished a campaign against recalcitrant Boer defectors making one final try to rid South Africa of the British. Botha and his government, including his close collaborator General Jan Smuts, saw the value of the war effort. Victory, won entirely by (white) South African troops would lead to the annexation of the German colonies and an incredible gain for the South African Union. It also looked to be an immensely easy campaign against outnumbered German defenders.In fact, it proved tough going at first. German troops handed the South Africans several defeats in the early months, benefiting from their interior lines, their more battle-hardened troops, and their lack of reluctance to use indigenous black troops. However, by early February, Botha’s troops rapidly gained ground, taking several key towns on the way to the German capital of Windhuk. -- source link