You could be forgiven for thinking Belgium had very little to do with the First World War in Africa if you rely on many British (or English) texts. My first book is no exception, as although I tried to take an holistic view of the theatre using published sources, these were scarce. By the time my second book came out in 2012, I was aware that Belgium's role had been under-represented, but was still not fully cognisant of the true position. It took a presentation by Jan van der Fraenen (Royal Belgian Military Museum) at the first Great War in East Africa Conference in 2012 to really awaken me to the role Belgium played in the Great War in Africa and to realise what a gap there is in the English speaking world. Thankfully, I am able to read both French and Dutch and with a few helpful prompts from colleagues of the Great War in Africa Association, have been able to start piecing together some of what Belgium did in Africa during the First World War.
In Africa, as in Europe, Belgium hoped to stay out of the conflict between the main antagonists. However, as in Europe, the country was unable to assert its right to neutrality. Within days of war being declared in Europe, and whilst the European powers were still deciding what to do about their African possessions, actions were taking place in Africa. One of the first actions of the war took place when Togoland was invaded by the Allies on 7 August 1914. Not long after, Belgian Congo was brought into the war in West Africa through German incursions into Congolese territory across Lake Tanganyika on 15 August 1914 at Mokolubu and on 22 August at the Lukuga naval base.
Further south, on Lake Tanganyika, where the Germans were threatening Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) at Abercorn and Saisi, the Belgians were called on to bolster local defences despite both governments in Europe being against this. The local Belgian commander agreed to send his forces forward but on no account were they to leave Congo territory.
With pressure on the Belgian motherland increasing and much of it occupied by Germany, Belgium looked for ways to assert its rights and to regain the lost territory in due course. The way forward was to occupy German territory in Africa, which could then be used to restore European Belgium. However, the Belgians could not do this alone as there was insufficient man-power (labour) in the colony for various reasons. Requests for porters from the British in Uganda proved futile as the British forces in Africa also needed carrier labour which was hard to obtain.
During 1915, following discussions between Britain and Belgium, it was agreed that a Naval Expeditionary Force would be sent to help Belgium obtain control of Lake Tanganyika. This would have the dual purpose of safeguarding the Belgian colony and enable easier moving of Allied troops against the German forces. The British expedition, led by Commander Geoffrey Basil Spicer-Simson, travelled overland from Cape Town to Lukuga and Kalemie (Albertville) on Lake Tanganyika where it put the first German boat, Kingani, out of action on 26 December 1915. The expedition, despite what the English published accounts say, was quite reliant on Belgian support once in the Katanga region. The Belgians supplied a protective force, initially under Commander Stinglhamber, to accompany the naval expedition and couriered food and other equipment as required. Belgian river and lake craft, such as Ten Ton, Baron Dhanis and Netta, formed part of the naval flotilla attacking the German boats,. Having obtained command of Lake Tanganyika by March 1916, the Belgians were able to occupy the German port of Kigoma, having made use of two planes loaned them by the British but flown by Belgian pilots.
In 1916, Belgium was finally able to realise its aim of occupying German territory. In addition to obtaining control of Lake Tanganyika, in November 1915, the British War Cabinet approved a contingent of South Africans going to East Africa to relaunch the East Africa campaign. This gave the Belgians the opportunity they needed and they undertook, in association with the British Allied forces, an invasion of western German East Africa. However, realising that their position would be eroded if they entered Tabora with the British forces, the Belgians forged ahead with their invasion from Kivu and the island of Kwidjwi. Using a two-pronged approach, the Belgians under Olsen converged on Tabora on 19 September 1916, having occupied Rwanda and Urundi along the way. From the south, they took Nyanza, Usumburu and Kitega.
Having taken Tabora, they then entered into a war of words, with the South African commander Jan Smuts, in overall command of the British East Africa Expeditionary Force, over the administration of Tabora - both sides knew possession was nine-tenths of the law. The Belgians spent the remainder of the war consolidating the African territory they held until, in 1917, the British under General Jaap van Deventer, asked for their assistance and in August they occupied Mahenge. However, they refused to participate in the Allied drive when the Germans entered Portuguese East Africa in November 1917.
A total of 1,895 Belgian and Congolese soldiers and bearers (carriers) lost their lives during the campaign.
There is far more to tell about Belgium's involvement in the war in Africa and hopefully over the next few years, some of the works in other languages will find their way into English.
Further reading
* Daye, Pierre, Les conquêtes africaines des Belge (1918, https://archive.org/details/lesconqutesafr00daye)
* Delpierre, Georges, Tabora 1916: de la symbolique d'une victoire (2002, BTNG, XXXII)
* Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History (Belgium), Lisolo na Bisu 1995-1960: Our history - the Congolese soldier of the Force Publique (2010, Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis te Brussel)
* Samson, Anne, Britain, South Africa and the East Africa campaign 1914-1918: The Union comes of age (2005, London)
* Samson, Anne, World War 1 in Africa: The forgotten conflict of the European powers (2012, London)
* Vangansbeke, Jeannick, Comrades in arms? Het diplomatieke steekspel tussen Begië en het Britse Empire in Afrika tijdens de Grote Oorlog, (2008, BTNG, XXXVIII)
* Vangansbeke, Jeannick, 'Monnaie d'échange?': Belgisch-Congo et Centraal-Afrike in de internationale politiek, 1909-1919 (2012, Nieeupoort)
* Weapons and Warfare blog: http://weaponsandwarfare.com/?cat=62
Dr Anne Samson is an independent historian (www.thesamsonsedhistorian.wordpress.com) and Co-ordinator of the Great War in Africa Association (www.gweaa.com). She has written two books on the First World War in East, Central and Southern Africa.