Bibliographic data

Beling-Nkoumba, Dominique; Mveng, Engelbert: Manuel d’histoire du Cameroun. Yaoundé: Centre d’Edition et de Production de Manuels et d’Auxiliaires de l’Enseignement, 1969, 187–188.

"The Great War in Cameroon (1914-1916)"

[p. 187]

The Great War in Cameroon (1914-1916)

MATERIAL: Map of the War in Cameroon. Cameroon after the War of 1914 (map).

1. German Cameroon Enters the War

Since 1911, the French had not been pleased about having yielded part of their Equatorial Africa to Germany (see lesson 32). This region was divided into three parts at the two offshoots of German Cameroon, one of which borderedon Congo a in Bonga, and the other on Ubangi in Tsinga. b Their aim c is to reconquer Bonga and to free the channels of communication between the different parts of Equatorial Africa.

When, in Europe, Germany declared war on France and Russia on 3rd August 1914, the French troops of the Congo immediately carried out an attack on Bonga and Tsinga, which were occupied effortlessly by 6th August 1914. The Great War in Cameroon thus began through the attack of these German positions on 5th August 1914.

The Germans of Cameroon had at their disposal approximately 4000 men for this war, who were led by 250 Europeans with an abundance of arms and munition. The military forces were put under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Zimmermann. They were grouped into the South (the regions of Oyem and Akoafim), the East (the regions of Moloundou and Nola), the North (the region of Garoua) and the coast .

The allied (French, English and Belgian) forces were twice as numerous

and encircled Cameroon from all sides. They comprised:

– in the north, the columns of Brisset and Ferrandi, who had come from Chad. Here we must also mention the English forces of Northern Nigeria, led by General Cunliffe.

– in the south, the troops of the A.E.F., d commanded by General Aymérich ; the column of le Meillour came from the south via Gabon; the columns of Hutin and Morisson came from the east. They were reinforced by a contingent of the Public Force of Belgian Congo, 761 men strong.

– at the coast, a Franco-English expedition corps consisting of 3000 soldiers originating from Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and 2000 French infantrymen e coming from Dakar under the command of Colonel Mayer, were supposed to debark in Douala and to progressively occupy the two railway lines.

2. The Military Operations

These took place out at four fronts: the north, east, [south] f and at the coast. In order to ensure the coordination at all fronts, a unique command was established as a consequence of three common conferences in Douala. The efforts of all fronts are then orientated towards the conquest of Yaoundé.

In the North : While Kousseri was occupied on 20th September 1914 after several unsuccessful attempts, Mora turned out to be an

[p. 188]

impregnable fortress. Colonel Brisset left a detachment there to continue the siege of Mora and rushed with his troops to the South. Maroua capitulated on 19th December 1914. On 8th January 1915 the siege was moved to Garoua, which resists for six months before capitulating on 10th June 1915.

As soon as Garoua fell, the Southern way was widely opened up for the allied troops. Ngaoundéré, Tibati, Banyo and Yoko, which had been evacuated by the Germans, are successively occupied. The Northern Front is reunited with the troops of the East in Koundé before heading towards Yaoundé.

In the East : the troops of the East, which had occupied Bonga and Tsinga, take over Mbaïki by surprise, but are confronted by vivid resistancein Mbirou. They continue in two columns. Colonel Hutin follows the Sangha, g while the column of Morisson continued the offensive in the LobayeValley. h

After taking over the position of Nzimou, where he lost numerous officers and soldiers, Colonel Hutin reached Moloundou on 22nd December 1914 and marched towards Yokadouma (30th January 1915). He found Lomié abandoned.

During this time, the column of the Lobaye marched towards Batouri (9th December 1914) and Bertoua, which fell after serious resistance (29th December). Reoccupied by the Germans, it was ultimately evacuated on 22nd July 1915.

The enemy entrenched itself around Ngelemenduga and carried out a counterattack. On 16th October 1915 General Aymérich launched a general offensive. The German troops of Colonel Zimmermann withdrew in the direction of Yaoundé.

The Southern front : the Southern front had been confronted with a superior enemy who had defeated it at all levels, above all in Akoafim. Un-

til 10th February 1916, the Southern column had not succeeded in crossing the Ntem. i

The maritime front : On 26th September 1914, the expedition corps opened fire upon Douala, which surrendered on 27th . On 13th and 14th October 1914, the English occupied Victoria and Buea. After bursting Japoma Bridge j and the bridge over the Dibamba, k Colonel Zimmermann, together with the majority of his troops, had escaped via Edéa. Some violent battles took place on the railway and around Edéa, which was evacuated on 5th January 1915. Eséka resisted for a long time before being taken on 30th October 1915.

3. The encounter in Yaoundé

The English troops arrived in Yaoundé. On 24th November 1915, they had left their French companions close to Eséka. On 1st January 1916, they entered the capital.

The Germans had left towards the South and took almost the whole populationwith them.

On 7th January 1916 the troops of the A.E.F., commanded by General Aymérich, were reunited with the English in Yaoundé.

The allies decided to pursue the Germans in the direction of Ebolowa. There were some battles on the Sô, l in Ngoulemakong, in the land of the Boulou people. The enemy, having evacuated Ebolowa, retreated to Spanish Guinea. From there, Governor Ebermeier sent a telegram to the German government informing them that the whole of Cameroon had been abandoned. But the fortress of Mora still resisted. It did not surrender until 20th February 1916, when it received news of the evacuation of Cameroon by the German troops. The war of Cameroon was over.

[a] Translator’s note: Nowadays the Republic of the Congo.

[b] Translator’s note: The former French colony Ubangi-Shari today belongs to the Central African Republic.

[c] Translators’ note: In the original text, the storytelling passages are written in the historic present, while the past tense is used for explanations.

[d] Translator’s note: A.E.F. means Afrique-Équatorialefranҫaise, that is the Central African colony of French Equatorial Africa between the Gulf of Guinea and Western Sudan, with the capital Brazzaville.

[e] Translators’ note: In the original text the expression tirailleurs français is used. Literally translated, this would mean French infantrymen, but most probably the authors refer to tirailleurs sénégalais . Those were divisions of the French army in Senegal and other regions of French West Africa.

[f] Translators’ note: In the original book south is left out and added in handwriting.

[g] Translator’s note: The Sangha is a river that partially constitutes the border between the current Central African Republic and/or Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

[h] Translator’s note: The Lobaye is another river.

[i] Translator’s note: The Ntem or Campo is a border river between Cameroon, Equatorial Guinee and Gabon.

[j] Translator’s note: The Japoma Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the Sanga river close to the city of Edéa.

[k] Translator’s note: These are two important railway bridges crossing the Sangha and the Wouririver.

[l] Translator’s note: The Sô is a Cameroonian river.


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