General Dobell to command the Kamerun expedition
- Category:
- Military
- Front:
- Africa
- Date:
- 23 August 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- Kamerun, Great Britain, France, German colonies
On 23 August 1914 Brigadier-General Charles Macpherson Dobell was appointed commander of the Allied land forces that were to occupy German Kamerun. British and French units were to fight under his orders, chiefly African soldiers from the neighbouring colonies.
Kamerun, an Allied target
Kamerun was one of Germany’s largest colonies in Africa. It had an important port at Duala and a radio station that could support German warships in the Atlantic. The colony bordered British Nigeria and French Equatorial Africa, and France wanted to recover the territory it had been forced to cede to Germany in 1911 after the Moroccan crisis. In August 1914, as neighbouring Togoland was just falling, the British and French decided to attack Kamerun as well.
An experienced officer
Dobell, born in Canada, had previously served in many British colonies, including West Africa, where he had commanded units of African soldiers. At the end of August he sailed from Britain with his staff. The first British attacks from Nigeria, made before his arrival, ended in failure.
The capture of Duala
Dobell’s expedition arrived off the coast of Kamerun in September. After naval operations in the estuary of the river Wouri, Duala capitulated to the Allied forces on 27 September 1914. It was the Allies’ biggest prize in the first phase of the campaign. The fighting in the interior, in difficult conditions of jungle and mountains, went on for a long time, however. The last German post in Kamerun surrendered only in February 1916.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 23 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of MonsOn 23 August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battle at Mons. It inflicted heavy losses on the Germans but had to begin a retreat.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificGermany breaks off diplomatic relations with JapanOn 23 August 1914, after the Japanese ultimatum expired, Germany broke off relations with Japan. Ambassador Arthur von Rex left Tokyo.
- 23 August 1914 · Eastern FrontThe Battle of Kraśnik beginsOn 23 August 1914 the Austro-Hungarian First Army and the Russian Fourth Army clashed in the Lublin region. The great Battle of Galicia had begun.
- 23 August 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Tannenberg beginsOn 23 August 1914 Samsonov's Russian Second Army clashed with the Germans in southern East Prussia. Fighting began that would end in its encirclement.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 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.
- 27 September 1914 · AfricaAllies capture DualaOn 27 September 1914 British and French troops took Duala, the main port of German Kamerun. The Germans withdrew inland and fought on there until 1916.
- 26 October 1914 · AfricaFrench take EdeaOn 26 October 1914 Colonel Mayer's French troops took Edea on the Sanaga in Kamerun. The British helped them, and the Germans withdrew into the interior.
- 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.