Battle of Sandfontein

The Battle of Sandfontein was in SW Africa theater of World War I.

South African General was Sir Henry Lukin, German was Heydebreck

The battle opened on 26 September 1914. The British, detected Germans, but entirely ignored.

135 officers, 2,463 soldiers, and 522 natives four thirteen pounder guns and 4,347 animals marched to the water. The men had been long without water, the animals were near death by thirst, and exposed to the surrounding heights where Germans hid.

The Germans attacked with four machine gun divisions, 10 artillery divisions and 1,700 riflemen, mostly native Africans. but all commanding officers were German. After collecting water, a patrol was sent out but returned with heavy losses. The Schutztruppe gave machine gun fire and advanced.

The South African telephone lines to Ramans Drift had been cut. They were surrounded and couldn't call for reinforcements. The South African artillery fired, but the German artillery did greater fire and outnumbered it.

References

*"The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918" by Byron Farwell. Norton, 1989 ISBN 0393305643