The Hehe or Wahehe in Swahili are a people of 800,000 souls today who fought heroically against the German colonialists in the late 19th century. and they even managed to achieve the most humiliating defeat of the arrogant Germans.
The Hehe live in what is now southern Tanzania in eastern Africa. Their kingdom was a union of about 30 small tribes. In 1891 their king was Mkwawa. The Germans had been present in the area since 1885. Fatefully as the Germans moved inland from the coasts and the Hehe dominated the other tribes and expanded their state, the two powers came into conflict.
The military commander of the German colony Captain von Chelefsky decided to clear the landscape by campaigning against the Hehe. The German force consisted of three companies of Askaris (5th, 6th and 7th Companies of African soldiers). It also had one or two machine guns, depending on the source, and one to three cannons.
This force included six German officers, eight non-commissioned officers, three African officers and 318 African non-commissioned officers and soldiers. There were also 170 African draftsmen, 27 oni, 80 animals for slaughter. The Germans carried single-shot breech-loading Mauser rifles. On the other hand, King Mkwawa gathered 2-3,000 warriors, the vast majority of whom carried javelins, short spears and animal skin shields. Some carried muskets.
Ambush
The Hehe took up positions on a hill south of which ran the road through which the German force was to pass. The hill was covered with tall grass and rocks that hid the Hehe. The German phalanx started at 06.00 in the morning on its march towards the roughly walled capital of Hehe Kalenga. Chelewski, although an experienced officer, made the mistake of not sending reconnaissance patrols forward.
Mkwawa had told his men that the signal for the attack would be given by a shot in the air. As the German phalanx reached just up the hill a German officer shot a bird with his rifle. The Hehe thought it was the signal and rushed off shouting their war cry "Hee...heeeeeee", from which they got their name. Chelevski's men were taken completely by surprise.
Many of his soldiers didn't even have their weapons loaded when the Hehe attacked. The Askaris only managed to unleash two volleys before the enemies fell upon them, ripping them apart from the cluster. Panic ensued. The pack animals fled as they were loaded with ammunition and guns and fell upon the disbanded 5th Askaris Company. The stragglers also threw away their loads and those who caught fled.
Massacre
Within 15 minutes it was all over. Chelevsky was killed by the spear of a young Heche warrior, along with three other German officers and six non-commissioned officers. The Askaris managed to set up a machine gun causing heavy casualties to the Hehe and stopping them for a while. But soon they were surrounded and massacred.
Two German officers, two non-commissioned officers, two African officers, 62 Askaris and 74 enlisted men managed to escape. All the rest were mercilessly slaughtered. A total of 10 Germans, 257 Askaris and 96 Vastaz were killed. It was a humiliating defeat for the fledgling German empire which in a battle with the spear-wielding Hehe lost its military commander and ¼ of its army in German East Africa.
The Germans came back later and eventually broke the Hehe resistance. Mkwawa to avoid capture committed suicide. Freedom for Africans was still slow…