Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck

Born in Saarlouis on March 20, 1870, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was a German army officer who served in imperial military campaigns before World War I. He fought in China during the Boxer Rebellion and later in German Southwest Africa, experiences that shaped the hard, mobile style of command for which he became known.

As commander of German forces in East Africa during World War I, he led a prolonged guerrilla campaign against much larger British, Belgian, and Portuguese forces. He became famous in Germany for avoiding defeat in the field and for keeping the campaign going until the war’s end, though historians also connect that campaign to severe hardship across East Africa.

After the war, he remained a public figure in Germany and later wrote about his experiences. He died in Hamburg on March 9, 1964, and is remembered both for his military reputation and for the colonial world he served.