Battle of Behobeho
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{short description|Battle during the First World War}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict =Battle of Behobeho
|partof =East African Campaign
|image =
|caption =
|coordinates={{coord|7|38|0|S|37|36|0|E|source:wikidata|display=inline,title}}
| map_type = Tanzania#Africa
| map_relief =
| map_size = 300
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|date =3–4 January 1917
|place =Behobeho, German East Africa
|result =Inconclusive
|combatant1 ={{flag|German Empire|23px}}
- {{flagicon image|Reichskolonialflagge.svg}} German East Africa
|combatant2 ={{flag|British Empire|23px}}
|commander1 ={{flagicon|German Empire|23px}} Capt. Ernst Otto
|commander2 ={{flagicon|British Empire|23px}} Capt. Frederick Selous{{KIA}}
|units1 =
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|strength1 =
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|campaignbox ={{Campaignbox East African (World War I)}}
}}
The Battle of Behobeho was fought during the East African Campaign of World War I.
The battle
After capturing the coastal capital of German East Africa, Dar es Salaam in September 1916, General Jan Smuts ordered his army's advance to halt due to a malaria pandemic that had devastated the soldiers. Shortly after the new year, the 25th Frontiersmen Battalion, led by famous hunter and explorer, Captain Frederick Selous, advanced into the interior of the colony,{{cite web |last=Henley |first=Jeff |title=Beho-Beho Dec 1916 - Jan 1917 |url=http://www.frontiersmen.org.au/25th_honours.htm |accessdate=17 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203075528/http://www.frontiersmen.org.au/25th_honours.htm |archive-date=3 February 2012 }} up the Rufiji River.
On the 3rd January a unit of British scouts ahead of the main battalion reported that a column of German soldiers was moving down the road. A skirmish ensued between the British and German soldiers. A German marksman reportedly killed Captain Frederick Selous during the battle when he raised his head while using binoculars to locate the enemy. It is said that because of Selous' fame the commander of the German forces in German East Africa at the time, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, sent a letter of condolence to the British after his death.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book
| last = Chisholm
| first = Hugh
| author-link = Hugh Chisholm
| title = The Encyclopædia Britannica, The Twelfth Edition, Volume 2
| publisher = The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, LTD
| year = 1922
| location = New York
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behobeho 1917}}
Category:Battles of the East African campaign (World War I)
Category:Battles of World War I involving Germany
Category:1917 in German East Africa
Category:Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom