In Namibia, the “War Graves Commission Namibia” has been working for the Volksbund on a voluntary basis for decades with great dedication. They look after around 2,300 graves at 140 sites in Namibia and South Africa. Every year, the helpers cover a distance of 15,000 kilometers or more during their maintenance work, traveling through bush and savannah.
The history of the country:
In 1884, the German government signed the first “protection contracts” with native chiefs in Namibia. This could not be considered a seizure in the true sense of the word, because the German Empire was initially only represented by three officials.
In 1889, the so-called Schutztruppe (protection force) was formed and repeatedly reinforced. It consisted of German military veterans who were initially only bound to the first Landeshauptmann (governor) Kurt v. Francois by private contract. In 1894, it was transformed into an Imperial Schutztruppe and existed until the end of German rule.
On July 9, 1915, the Schutztruppe surrendered to the South Africans. Its active members were interned in the “Aus” prisoner-of-war camp in south-west Namibia until the end of the war (except for the officers released on parole).
The strength of the Schutztruppe in 1894 was about 300, then up to 700 men until the beginning of the so-called Great Uprisings (1904-07), was temporarily increased to 15,000 during the uprisings, and then rapidly reduced again to about 2,000 at the outbreak of World War I. These were reinforced by reservists to just under 6,000. The Schutztruppe recruited from volunteers from all parts of the German army of the time, from the Garderegiment to the Trainbataillon.
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Unlike in the other German protectorates, the Schutztruppe in SWA consisted only of white people. Natives were only used as auxiliaries. However, the individual tribes were obliged by the treaties concluded with the German Empire to provide military assistance against other rebellious tribes. This procedure became obsolete at the end of 1904, as there were almost no allied native tribes left.
The relevant literature reports that the losses due to disease and accidents were much higher than the combat losses.