Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and other guerilla leaders - Page 3 - Historum

Leccy · February 23rd, 2011, 07:40 AM

The link on post 13 is for a downloadable copy of his autobiography about his time in East Africa

**srb7677** · February 23rd, 2011, 07:46 AM

I suppose the closest British equivalent to Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, is Lawrence of Arabia, also in the First World War, or perhaps Orde Wingate and his chindits in the Second.

But Lettow-Vorbeck was definately more successful than the latter, and in the field for longer than both.

fionntanIRA · March 23rd, 2012, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mingming

I still think Mao was the best guerrilla leader of his era. He not only bogged down the Japanese but also defeated the American backed Nationalist army.

NO! just no, anyone can beat America its country of free speech. The best
guerilla leader in history is Michael Collins, His Flying squads and 12 apostles put an empire that spanned 1/3 of the globe to its knees with guns without ammo and lit balls of turf. He infiltrated the highest security building in Ireland and planted a bomb that killed the two bet g-men, in two years he turned farmers into soldiers and defeated the strongest power in history.

**Nemowork** · March 23rd, 2012, 04:38 PM

I like you, you're funny.

Theres a reason that Collins got away with it and its the same reason his portait is hanging in the officers mess of the Irish guards in London, its because the democratic process in Britain had a certain sympathy with Irish independence and the establishment of the time didnt have the authority to drop the full force of Imperial power on Ireland while the government and people were tireed of war and on a pacifist streak after WW1.

PS did Collins ever give back those artillery batteries Churchill loaned him in the 20s to suppress the IRA?

I'm only asking because you seem to be a bit confused in your name about which side you were on?

sylla1 · March 23rd, 2012, 05:35 PM

The relevant point here is that this was colonial warfare, mostly fought on both sides through askaris (local auxiliars):

Quote:

The human cost was staggering.
In more than four years of fighting, the Germans lost 439 killed in action and 874 wounded, while British forces suffered 3,443 combat deaths and 7,777 wounded in action.
Disease claimed 256 German soldiers and 6,558 British troops.
African losses on the German side included 1,290 askaris killed in action and about 7,000 carriers dead from disease; 3,669 Africans sustained wounds.
British forces lost 376 African carriers in combat and 1,645 wounded; 44,911 died of disease.
The Belgians and their Congolese troops lost approximately 3,000, killed or wounded.
Portugal and its African soldiers lost 1,734 killed and several hundred wounded.

Source: THOMAS P. OFCANSKY, Tanganyka (Tanzania): World War I

Von Lettow-Vorbeck was a resourceful commander, but he simply cannot be compared to modern guerilla leaders like Giap or Mao, among other reasons fundamentally because he had no vullnerable civilian population to care for.

He fundamentally simply had to run though a vast barely explored territory and hide from mostly poorly trained askari enemy troops.