Kurt Wahle

Major-General Kurt Wahle (26 December 1855 – 19 June 1928) was a Saxon-born retired German army officer who travelled to German East Africa in 1914 to visit his son. At the outbreak of World War I, he re-enlisted in the German Army in the colony, becoming one of Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's field commanders. He was involved in the fighting during the East African Campaign until October 1918. During the Campaign, he was awarded the Iron Cross (First Class), and the Pour le Mérite and commanded the German force at the Battle of Tabora.

General Wahle, who had first joined the army in 1867, was the oldest combatant of any nation in World War I.

References

• Paice, Edward Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007, ISBN 0-297-84709-0. (see page 384)