10/09/2026
The South West Africa campaign (1914–1915) was a military action fought early in the First World War between forces of the British Empire (primarily the Union of South Africa) and the German Empire over control of German South West Africa (modern-day Namibia).
Requested by the British government, the primary objective of South African forces was to capture vital wireless telegraph stations (such as Windhoek) and ports (Lüderitz and Swakopmund) to prevent German warships from refueling and operating in the Atlantic.
Before launching the invasion, South Africa faced an internal revolt, the Maritz Rebellion, led by pro-German Afrikaners (veterans of the Anglo-Boer War) who opposed fighting alongside Britain. Prime Minister Louis Botha and General Jan Smuts put down the rebellion by early 1915 before focusing fully on the campaign.
South African forces launched a multi-pronged assault across harsh desert terrain. They advanced from the southern border (across the Orange River), landed along the Atlantic coast at Lüderitz and Swakopmund, and marched inland towards the capital.
Heavily outnumbered, German forces under Colonel Victor Franke surrendered to General Botha at Khorab on 9 July 1915.
The campaign was the Allied powers' first major military victory of World War I. Following the War, German South West Africa was administered as a League of Nations mandate under the Union of South Africa, a status that extended until Namibia gained independence in 1990.
Click on the link below, to learn more on the South West African Campaign in the link below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_West_Africa_campaign
Click on the link below, to learn more on the Maritz rebellion, also known as the Third Boer War, in the link below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritz_rebellion
Note on illustration: upper left: foundation of the German colony of South West Africa by Franz Adolf Eduard Luderitz in 1884. Illustrated lower left: vintage map of German South West Africa. Illustrated upper right: illustrations of the Schutztruppe (German protection troops) of South West Africa. Lower right: signing of the surrender of German South West Africa by Colonel Victor Franke to General Botha at Khorab on 9 July 1915.
