The Battle of Norechab
| On the road from Ramansdrift to Warmbad the summer of
1905 / 1906 saw the Nama pull off many successful cattle raids
against the Schutztruppe. This, and the rumour of another hard hit, caused
the Schutztruppe to form the 12. Kompanie under Oberstleutnant von
Gaisberg and Hunger, with a total of 105 men under the supervision of the Hauptmann
Friedrich von Erckert.
The Nama, being led by Jakobus Morenga, had indeed planned a massive raid for the 14th of February 1906. |
 A map of the region. For the detailed map click here. |
 The Schutztruppe against the Herero at Okahandja |
|
200 Hottentotts (a name
not politically correct anymore) approached the south entrance of the Norechab
ravine under cover of night and spread themselves out behind boulders unnoticed.
When they attacked the Schutztruppe's posts at first light however, the germans
were alert and managed to successfully defend against the attack. Within six minutes the 12
Company was, due to von Erckerts iron discipline, ready for battle. All "subleaders" (Hunger, von Gaisberg, Pavel, Deininger) attacked immediately. Evasion tactics of the Nama failed. Shortly afterwards a neighbouring division of the Schutztruppe who heard the gunfire took part in the battle with approximately 30 men. |
A battle of several hours ensued, and in the end the germans beat off the attack thanks to a canon and two machine guns from the neighbouring division.
The germans counted five dead and seven wounded. Because the Nama didn't have a chance to give their dead a proper burial and because there's no written record of their account of the battle, we will only find out the number of their dead through further research.