8. COLONIAL AND JAPANESE CAM PAIGNS. Africa.—At the outbreak of war the colonial possessions of Germany in Africa, Asia and the Pacific covered an area of considerably over 1,000,000 square miles, with a total popula tion of about 15,000,000, of whom some 25,000 only were whites and the rest natives or abor igines. The defense forces were composed of roughly 5,000 German and 4,000 regular native troops. In Africa the colonies were German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Togo land and the Cameroons (Kamerun); in Asia, Kiao-chau or Tsing-tau, a protectorate in the Chinese province of Shantung; in the Pacific, the Bismarck Archipelago, Samoa Islands, Kai ser Wilhelm's Land (New Guinea), the Caroline, Marshall, Solomon, Marianne and Pelew Is lands. Although these colonies would have be come automatically cut off in any case by the British blockade of the North Sea, it was essential to the Entente Allies that they should be occupied as soon as possible because of the assistance they could otherwise render with their wireless stations, coaling depots and other es tablishments to the German warships— von Spec's China squadron and the commerce raiders outside of European waters. The Goeben and Breslau were in the Mediterranean; three German light cruisers, the Bremen, Dres den and Karlsruhe were known to be in the Atlantic and a fourth, the Konigsberg, was sta tioned off East Africa with her base at Dar-es Salam, while von Spee with five cruisers had left Kiao-chau before war was declared. A few gunboats, of little fighting value, were sta tioned on the West Coast of Africa and one in Australasian watLi3— the Gci,:).
Togola.nd.— The first Allied blow against' German colonies was struck on 8 Aug. 1914, when a British cruiser captured Lome, the capital of Togoland, without firing a shot The German forces fell back 100 miles inland to Atakpame. French and British. territory en veloped the colony — about the size of Ireland — on three sides, and the coastline was open to naval attack. Defense was obviously impos sible. Captain Bryant crossed the western frontier with the Gold Coast Regiment and a French force entered the colony from the other side— Dahomey. In two days the whole of Southern Togoland fell to the Allies; on 27 August the government station at Atakpame was taken with very few casualties. The wireless installation was destroyed and the Germans surrendered. A Franco-British administration was set up, and in a few weeks normal peace conditions prevailed again.
Camteroons.— The Cameroons presented greater difficulties owing to the wider area in volved and lack of communications. Heituned in between French Equatorial Africa and Nigeria, the colony was entered from the French Kongo and by British columns from the Nigerian frontier about 25 Aug. 1914. One of the latter, a mounted infantry detachment of the West African Frontier Force under Lieuten ant-Colonel Maclear, reached the Benue River and seized a German oost. Advancing to the river station of Garua, they attacked the forts on 29 August, captured one fort, but were driven back next day across the frontier by a violent C;erman counterattack, in whicli a machine-gun fire killed several British officers, including Maclear, and accounted for 40.per cent of the native troops. Tm o other British detachments that crossed the frontier also met ith disaster. At the end of August one col umn occupied the German station of Nsana kong and the other had taken Archibong. Early in September the Germans made a de termined attack on the positions and compelled the invaders to retreat. Their ammunition be ing exhausted, the British garrison fought their way through by bayonet charges and re c:ained Nigerian territory with heavy losses. The complete failure of the land attack is at tributable to inadequate preparatton, topographi cal ignorance and the rainy season then in prog ress. A joint naval and military operation was now begun from the mouth of the Cameroon River. A Franco-British force was convoyed by the cruiser Cumberland, the French cruiser Bruir and the gunboat Dwarf. On 4 Septem ber the Germans attempted to wreck the Dwarf by an infernal machine; on 16 September the German merchantman Nachtigall tried to ram the gunboat, but was herself wrecked with a loss of 36 men. Another attempt, made a few days
later with spar torpedoes,* likewise miscarried. The Germans having sunk sorne steamers to block the passage to the port of Duala, several days were spent by the Allies in clearing wreck age and mines. On the 27th they reached Duala, and a short bombardment resulted in un conditional surrender. The neighboring coast town of Bonaberi also surrendered to Brigadier General Dobell, and the Cumberland took pos session of nine merchant ships of the Hamburg Amerika and Woerman lines, 'containing gen eral and homeward cargoes and considerable quantities of coal. These vessels, together with the German gunboat Soden, were added to the British navy. Meanwhile a French force had arrived by sea from Libreville in the French Kongo. Under cover of a French cniiser they attacked Ukoko on Corisco Bay, sank two armed vessels ' and completed the conquest of the coast. The Germans retreated inland by rail and along the Wuri Valley, making a stand at Japorna, the terminus, and Jabassi, on the Wuri. Fighting stubbornly, they were pushed badc from Japoma by a French column on 8 October and from Jabassi by the British — on a second attempt. From this stage the Germans were reduced to a desultory defensive. Col umns of French Colonial infantry under Colo nel Mayer and British troops under Dobell moved along the two railroads leading to the interior. Dense forests through which they passed concealed enemy snipers; they reached Edea. 50 miles from Duala, and occupied the town on 26 October, the Germans fallffig back on Yaunde. They returned later, however, and made a desperate effort to recapture Edea. Dur ing November the German capital, Bifia, and its seaport Victoria were taken by the Allies; in December they had gained the whole of the northern line, including Nkongsamba and Bare. Skirmishing continued on the frontiers; a Brit ish force crossed from Nigeria and occupied Ossidinge, which surrendered; French columns entered from the Tchad region in the north; French and Belgians intruded from south and east, and gradually a wide circle was formed around the defenders. The campaign developed slowly; swamps, forests and tropical heat im peded operations and the Allies had occasional difficulties with hostile tribes of natives. The siege conditions then prevailing in Europe were here reproduced in miniature. The Germans held on during the whole of 1915; they lost Eseka in May, Ngaundere, Lome and Garua in June, by which time there were nearly 10,000 Allied troops in the colony. engaged in rounding up the enemy, whose force. consisted of about 4,000, scattered over a country half as large again as the German empire and perfectly adapted for guerrilla warfare. Broad, deep rivers, rocky heights and elephant grass up to 20 feet high, provided ideal defenses and cover. To guard their lines of communications the Al lies had to establish blockhouses every 20 miles arid garrison them. After the fall of Duala in September 1914 the seat of the German govern ment was transferred to Yaunde, about 120 miles inland. In March 1915 the Allies began a concerted move on Yaunde. Their widely scattered columns were checked by topographical conditions and frequent digressions necessary to clear adjacent regions. The rainy season inter vened and operations were held up until Octo ber. Meanwhile, in August, an attempt by Gen eral Cunliffe to reduce the German stronghold on the mountain Mora, 1,700 feet high, had failed. The main advance on Yciunde began 9 October. After severe jungle fighting over a wide area the Allied columns closed in on the Germans and entered Yaunde on 1 Jan. 1916. After marching and fighting apart for 17 months those columns converged on their objective within a few days of one another. The bulk of the German troops not already prisoners es caped into Spanish Guinea; the garrison on Mora surrendered on the offer of generous terms 18 Feb. 1916. The conquest of the coun try was complete; the white prisoners of war were sent to England and the native troops to their homes. A joint Franco-British adminis tration was established.