Kamerun campaign

Kamerun campaign
Part of the African theatre of World War I

British QF 12-pounder 8 cwt firing at Fort Dachang in 1915
Date6 August 1914 – 10 March 1916
(1 year, 7 months and 4 days)
Location03°52′N 11°31′E / 3.867°N 11.517°E / 3.867; 11.517
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes
Kamerun divided into League of Nations mandates under British and French rule (1919)
Belligerents

 British Empire

 France

Belgium Belgium

 Germany

Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Charles M. Dobell
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Frederick H. Cunliffe
French Third Republic Joseph G. Aymerich
Belgium Félix Fuchs
Karl Ebermaier
Carl H. Zimmermann
Units involved
Nigeria WAFF
British Raj WIR[1]
Belgian Congo Force Publique
Schutztruppe
Strength
British:
1,668–7,000[2]
French:
7,000
Belgian:
600–3,000[3][4]

Total:
9,000
1914:
1,855
1915:
6,000[5]
Casualties and losses
British:
917–1,668[6]
French:
906–2,567[7][8]
5,000[9]
hundreds to thousands of Duala civilians killed[10]

The Kamerun campaign took place in the German colony of Kamerun in the African theatre of the First World War when the British, French and Belgians invaded the German colony from August 1914 to March 1916. Most of the campaign took place in Kamerun but skirmishes also broke out in British Nigeria. By the Spring of 1916, following Allied victories, the majority of German troops and the civil administration fled to the neighbouring neutral colony of Spanish Guinea (Río Muni). The campaign ended in a defeat for Germany and the partition of its former colony between France and Britain.

  1. ^ Paice 2007, p. 299.
  2. ^ Karlheinz Graudenz, Hanns-Michael Schindler: Die deutschen Kolonien, P. 261
  3. ^ Karlheinz Graudenz, Hanns-Michael Schindler: Die deutschen Kolonien, P. 261
  4. ^ Strachan 2004, p. 31.
  5. ^ Killingray 2012, p. 116.
  6. ^ Golf Dornseif: Britisch-französische Rivalitäten im Kameruner Feldzug. (pdf; 2,6 MB) (Memento vom 28. September 2013 im Internet Archive)
  7. ^ Golf Dornseif: Britisch-französische Rivalitäten im Kameruner Feldzug. (pdf; 2,6 MB) (Memento vom 28. September 2013 im Internet Archive)
  8. ^ Moberly 1931, p. 426.
  9. ^ Erlikman 2004.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference soldiersoftheirown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).