[4] At the Battle of Waterberg he led a column, and afterwards was ordered to pursue the fleeing Hereros through the scarce Omaheke Desert.

Estorff was highly critical of commanding General Lothar von Trotha and his decisions, on both strategical and ethical reasons, which deliberately resulted in the Herero and Namaqua genocide.

[4] He immediately closed the dreaded Shark Island concentration camp, against local political wishes, and relocated the remaining Nama people to the mainland.

[4] When World War I began, Generalmajor Estorff led a brigade in France and was seriously wounded when a bullet shattered his knee.

[10] For his services in the latter campaign Estorff received the Pour le Merite, Germany's highest military award.

He saw no further service but in 1939, in the wave of brevet promotions to commemorate the Battle of Tannenberg, he was given the character of a General der Infanterie.