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| First World War - Cameroon | ||
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| Click on the links above for details of the campaigns pursued in each territory Return to the main WW1 map | ||
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. | ||
1st Battalion, Nigeria Regiment mobilizing for action in Cameroons © Imperial War Museum | ||
The British contingent, part of the West African Frontier Force (Click here for more info. on WAFF in Togoland), 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. | ||