West Africa Campaign (World War I) - Togoland

Togoland

This small colony located in present-day Togo was almost immediately conquered in 1914 by a military force from the British Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) and a small force from French Dahomey (modern-day Benin). The colony had no official military forces, only around 700 paramilitaries, police, and border guards at the start of the war.

After the Allies' demand for the surrender of Togoland on August 6 was denied, British and French forces entered the colony on August 9. On 12 August British forces seized Lomé and most of the coast without facing any resistance. They then advanced northwards, following German forces that had withdrawn towards Kamina, a wireless station vital to communication between Germany, her navy, and the other African colonies. The Germans destroyed the railway bridges on the line to Kamina, slowing the British advance.

The first and only significant action throughout the invasion was at the Battle of Chra on August 22 between British and entrenched German forces attempting to stall the British advance to Kamina. British forces were halted by approximately 60 German and 500 native Togolese soldiers entrenched on the opposite bank of the Chra River. German forces held their line of defense for a two days until withdrawing further inland to Kamina. British forces had suffered 17% casualties or 23 killed and 52 wounded, while the Germans had only suffered 13.

The radio station at Kamina was demolished by the Germans on 24 August 1914. As the Allies converged on it the local German commander, Major Hans-Georg von Döring, surrendered three days later. British forces under Colonel Bryant found the wireless station at Kamina completely destroyed, and took the surrender of 200 German and native Togolese soldiers. All operations were over by 26 August. John Keegan identified the two Allied units as the West African Rifles and the Tirailleurs senegalais.