In response additional German troops were dispatched to the area along what is now Botswana’s south-western border with Namibia in the hope of forcing a decisive showdown.
On March 3, 1908 a six-man German patrol was wiped out by Kooper’s men just inside Namibia. With British permission a German expeditionary force of 520 troops, including 23 officers, mounted with support staff on 710 camels, as well as additional oxen, horse and mules, then crossed the border in hot pursuit, further supported by a supply column.