First attack on Garua
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Africa
- Date:
- 30 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Tags:
- Kamerun, German colonies, Great Britain, Germany
During the night of 29–30 August 1914 British troops from Nigeria attacked the German post at Garua (today Garoua) in the north of German Kamerun. The attack ended in defeat for the attackers. It was the first major battle of the Kamerun campaign.
A fortress on the Benue
Garua lay on the Benue river, an important navigable route leading to Nigeria. The Germans had built several modern forts here, sited so that they could support one another with fire. They were protected by trenches, shelters and barbed-wire entanglements. The garrison consisted of three companies of African soldiers under German officers.
On 25 August a British column from Nigeria crossed the border and took the German border post at Tepe, north of Garua. It was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Maclear. The column, made up of African soldiers of the Nigeria Regiment under British officers, then moved south towards Garua.
The night attack
The British reached Garua on 29 August and dug in in front of the German positions. During the night they went in to the assault across several hundred metres of open ground. They took one of the forts, but suffered heavy losses in doing so. On the morning of 30 August the Germans counter-attacked. According to British accounts, some of the Nigerian soldiers fled, leaving their officers alone in the trenches. Among the dead were Lieutenant-Colonel Maclear and most of the British officers taking part in the attack. Losses among the African soldiers reached, according to various estimates, about 40 per cent. The Germans, according to the figures given, lost 28 killed and 75 wounded. By 31 August the remnants of the column had withdrawn towards Nigeria. The body of Maclear, who had disappeared into the bush wounded, was probably never found.
Consequences
The defeat at Garua, like other setbacks of the first weeks of the campaign, showed that the conquest of Kamerun would not be easy. The victory raised the morale of the German defenders. The British suspended operations in the north of the colony and concentrated on an expedition from the sea. Garua did not capitulate until June 1915, after a second, this time carefully prepared siege involving British and French troops as well as artillery.
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 27 August 1914 · AfricaFirst attack on MoraOn 27 August 1914 a British force from Nigeria attacked the German post on Mora mountain in northern Kamerun. It was repulsed; Mora held out until 1916.
- 25 August 1914 · AfricaBritish cross the Kamerun border from NigeriaOn 25 August 1914 British columns from Nigeria crossed the border of German Kamerun. The land campaign against the German colony had begun.
- 25 August 1914 · AfricaSkirmish at Tepe. The French enter Kamerun from ChadOn 25 August 1914 the British drove the Germans from the post at Tepe on the Benue, and French troops from Chad attacked the German fort at Kousséri.
- 23 August 1914 · AfricaGeneral Dobell to command the Kamerun expeditionOn 23 August 1914 General Charles Dobell was appointed commander of the Allied land forces against German Kamerun.