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Togo

PictureThe Machine Gun Section No.1 Company, Gold Coast Regiment. © Imperial War Museum
Togoland (now Togo) was a German possession pre-1914 – a long thin country with the British-owned Gold Coast (now Ghana) as a western neighbour, French-owned Dahomey (now Benin) on the east, and the Bight of Benin to the south. Militarily speaking, Togoland had only one asset – a powerful radio station at Kamina, capable of transmitting news of Allied shipping or troop movements to German East or German South West Africa, or to Berlin. 

​The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) had been formed by the British from units in their various West African colonies: nearly 14,000 from Nigeria, almost 10,000 from the Gold Coast. Sierra Leone contributed about 650 men, The Gambia some 350. To silence the radio station, WAFF forces from the Gold Coast and French troops from Dahomey invaded Togoland on the outbreak of war in August 1914. On 24 August the Kamina station was destroyed, and two days later the Germans surrendered power in Togoland.


Cameroon

Picture1st Battalion, Nigeria Regiment mobilizing for action in Cameroons. © Imperial War Museum
The German colony of Cameroon had French Equatorial Africa to the north and British Nigeria to the west. In early August 1914 the French and British invaded Cameroon. They captured Duala harbour, and embarked on an 18-month campaign against stiff German opposition. 

The British contingent, part of the West African Frontier Force included about 7,000 Nigerians, along with some units of the Gold Coast Regiment. A battalion of Indian soldiers also took part, as did a Sierra Leone-based battalion of the West India Regiment, and tens of thousands of carriers and back-up personnel. The campaign was tough for everyone. But at last on 10 March 1916 the final German garrison in Cameroon surrendered, and the Allies took control of vital raw materials for their war effort – plantations of cocoa, oil palms and rubber.

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  • HOME
  • About
  • Pavilion Dome
  • Inscriptions
  • Gallery
    • 2022 Commemoration
    • 2021 Commemoration
    • 2020 Commemoration
    • VJ Day 2020
    • 2019 Commemoration
    • 2018 Commemoration
    • Inauguration
  • History
    • First World War >
      • Belgium & France
      • Gallipoli
      • Syria, Palestine & Arabia
      • Egypt & Sinai
      • Mesopotamia
      • Togo & Cameroon
      • East Africa
      • South West Africa
      • Personal story | Winston Millington
      • Personal story | Sgt Miydiyo, CSgt Kumani & Sgt el Hashim
      • Personal story | Khudadad Khan & Manta Singh
    • Second World War >
      • Arctic & Atlantic Ocean
      • Northern Europe & Scandinavia
      • Italy & Sicily
      • Greece & Crete
      • Mediterranean Sea
      • East & North Africa
      • Middle East
      • Burma & India
      • Hong Kong
      • Malaya, Singapore & Dutch East Indies
      • Personal stories | Aziz Brimah, Johnny Smythe & Eric Wilson
      • Personal story | Connie Mark & Billy Strachan
      • Personal stories | Mahinder Pujji, Monohor Ali, Nila Kantan & Tilbahadur Thapa
  • Contact