Capitulation of Garua

On 10 June 1915 Garua (today Garoua), the German fortress on the Benue river in the north of German Kamerun, capitulated. The commandant of the fortress, Captain von Crailsheim, surrendered unconditionally to the British and French troops of Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Cunliffe and Colonel Brisset, who since 31 May had been shelling the forts with heavy guns and approaching them by trenches.

By 6 June the besiegers had cut the garrison off from all supplies, and local people reported a shortage of food in the fortress. On the morning of 10 June the Allied trenches were only about a thousand yards (less than a kilometre) from Fort A. It was then that Cunliffe learned that the night before the Germans had left the fortress in full strength, with their transport and ammunition, and had tried to cross the Benue. The river, however, was in flood, fifteen men drowned and Crailsheim turned back. Cunliffe ordered his mounted units to close the ring around the forts and a British company to occupy the south bank of the river. After 1.15 p.m. the Allied heavy guns, especially a French 95 mm gun, again opened fire on the German positions.

At about 3.30 p.m. white flags unexpectedly went up over the forts. Captain Wanka rode out of Fort C and announced to Cunliffe and Brisset that Crailsheim would hand over Garua if the garrison could march off to the south with military honours, with its arms and transport. The Allied commanders demanded unconditional surrender. To a request for a day to consider, they granted only a two-hour truce. At about 6 p.m. Wanka returned with the answer: Crailsheim accepted the terms.

The real reason for such a swift capitulation came to light when Wanka asked for a horse to replace his own, which had been stolen in the fortress. The African soldiers of the garrison, demoralised by the bombardment from the start, had got out of control on 10 June. According to later accounts by German officers, at about 5 p.m. many of them began to plunder the fortress and flee across the Benue. Many drowned, some were killed by the fire of the Allied outposts, and only a few managed to get through, mostly without their weapons. Between 10 and 11 p.m. Crailsheim and four German officers came to the Allied lines as hostages, and Allied troops occupied the main forts during the night. The formal entry into Garua took place at seven in the morning on 11 June.

Thirty-seven Germans, including 17 reservists, and 212 African soldiers were taken prisoner. The Allies captured, almost undamaged, four guns, ten machine guns, more than two hundred rifles and large stocks of ammunition, which the Germans had no means of replacing. According to Crailsheim, the garrison had previously numbered 317 trained soldiers and 187 recruits. Cunliffe estimated that no more than 70 men had escaped, although the British official history admits there may have been more. News of the fall of Garua spread quickly: the German units that had been raiding the Nigerian border withdrew to the south and east, and Cunliffe decided to push on at once to the plateau around Ngaoundéré.