Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck wasn't
the greatest general of all time and some of his deeds may seem controversial, but his knowledge of the area (German East Africa) and the guerilla warfare were truly one-of-a-kind in WWI. His troops consisted mainly of African
askaris who knew how to traverse the lands. He never lost a battle.
But: Lettow-Vorbeck supported General von Trotha's use of genocidal warfare in the uprisings of the Herero and Nama. He also made friends with Jan Christiaan Smuts, a major supporter of apartheid.
Still, he helped his former askaris gain their pay and pension. He also seemed to have an ambivalent relationship to the Nazis, occasionally giving speeches at their rallies until 1938, but he was forbidden from talking publicly by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels because of his deep respect for his askaris.
When offered an ambassadorship by Hitler: "'I understand that von Lettow told Hitler to go fuck himself.' The nephew responded, 'That's right, except that I don't think he put it that politely.'" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Lettow-Vorbeck#Post-war_career). (I don't know if this is confirmed, and it seems kind of unlikely for someone to insult Hitler and get away with it. But true or not, it makes for a nice anecdote.)
This is a clip from 1964 of some of L.-V.'s former askaris honouring him after his death:
Translation to the best of my ability: "Us old gentlemen are here for remembrance. We cannot forget our old Lettow-Vorbeck and we wish for Mister Lettow-Vorbeck not to forget us. We, the German soldiers, we fear God, but nothing else in the world."
