The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928 it received royal patronage, becoming the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF).
The decision to raise this force was taken in 1897 because of concern at French colonial expansion in territories bordering on Northern Nigeria. The first troops were from that area and thought of by the British as "Hausas" and to the end of colonial rule the Hausa language was a lingua franca in a very multi-tribal force, especially in Nigeria. The task of raising the new locally recruited force was entrusted to Colonel F.D. Lugard who arrived in Nigeria in 1898. The following year an interdepartmental committee recommended the amalgamation of all existing British colonial military forces in West Africa under the designation of the West African Field Force. Rivalry between Britain and France for control of the trade on the River Niger lead to occupation of areas by the French, for instance at Illo, and the stationing of the Frontier Force at Yashikera and elsewhere in the region.
On formation in 1900, the WAFF comprised:
- The Gold Coast Regiment – 1 battalion infantry and 1 battery mountain artillery
- Northern Nigeria Regiment – 3 battalions infantry (including 1 mounted)
- Southern Nigeria Regiment – 2 battalions infantry and 2 batteries mountain artillery
- The Sierra Leone Battalion – 1 battalion
- The Gambia Company – 1 company
By 1908 the WAFF in Northern Nigeria comprised two battalions of infantry, two batteries of artillery and one company of engineers. The infantry battalions at that time had an establishment of 1,200 men, the artillery 175 and the engineers 46. There were 217 British officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists. Mounted infantry detachments were subsequently raised. The standard weapon was the .303 Martini-Enfield carbine, and the force had a total of 30 QF 2.95 inch mountain guns (quick-firing, man-portable pack howitzers) for the artillery.
The parade uniform of the RWAFF throughout its history was a distinctive one. It comprised khaki drill shorts with red fezes. Scarlet zouave style jackets edged in yellow and red cummerbunds. Artillery units wore blue jackets with yellow braid and engineers red with blue braid. African warrant officers were distinguished by yellow braiding on the front of their jackets. The badge on the fez was a palm tree. For field dress khaki shirt, shorts, jersey and puttees were worn with a round kilmarnock cap.
British officers wore khaki serge or drill uniforms with tropical helmets (later bush or slouch hat) for review order and field dress. A green and black hackle was worn in the bush hats. A white mess uniform with rolled collar was worn for evening functions with cummerbunds in blue for artillery and battalion colours for infantry officers. Because of its identification with colonial rule this uniform was replaced shortly after Nigerian independence by a high collared dark green tunic, peaked cap and light coloured trousers. In Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast) a scarlet and blue British style dress uniform was adopted.
First World War (1914–1918)
The West African Frontier Force first saw action during the occupation of the German Kamerun (present day Cameroon). The experience gained during in this campaign during 1914–16, in difficult terrain against stubborn resistance, made the WAFF a valuable reinforcement to the British Empire forces operating against the German Schutztruppe (colonial troops) in East Africa led by General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. A single battalion of the Gold Coast Regiment arrived in German East Africa in 1916, and was soon joined by four battalions of the Nigerian Regiment. All remained active in this theatre of war until 1918.
WAFF strength, 1914–1918
By the end of the First World War, regimental strengths were as follows:
- The Queen’s Own Nigeria Regiment – 9 battalions
- The Gold Coast Regiment – 5 battalions
- The Royal Sierra Leone Regiment – 1 battalion
- The Gambia Regiment – 2 companies
Battle honours, 1914–1918
Second World War (1939–1945) and after
In 1939 the RWAFF was transferred from Colonial Office to War Office control. Under the leadership of General George Giffard (GOC West Africa) the RWAFF served as a cadre for the formation of 81st (West Africa) Division and 82nd (West Africa) Division. Both divisions saw service during the Second World War serving in Italian Somaliland, Abyssinia, and Burma. In 1947 the RWAFF reverted to Colonial Office control. After the war the RWAFF comprised the Nigeria Regiment (five battalions, stationed at Ibadan, Abeokuta, Enugu, and two in Kaduna, with a field battery of artillery and a field company of engineers), the Gold Coast Regiment, and the Sierra Leone Regiment (including a company in Gambia). When Queen Elizabeth II visited Nigeria in 1956 she gave the Nigeria Regiment the title "Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment".
Despite the approach of independence, the military authorities were very slow in commissioning African officers. For example, at the time of the Queen's visit the lst battalion of the Nigeria Regiment had only two African officers, both lieutenants, Kur Mohammed (later assassinated with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa) and Robert Adebayo (commissioned in 1953 as the 23rd West African military officer). Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was at that time the only African who had advanced to the rank of major, and this accounted for his becoming the first military ruler of independent Nigeria.
- Brigadier G. V. Kembell DSO – 1901–1905
- Brevet Colonel Thomas Morland DSO – 1905–1909
- Major-General Sir Percival Spearman Wilkinson KCMG CB – 1909–1913
- Brevet Colonel Charles M. Dobell DSO – 1913–1914
- Vacant – 1914–1920
- Colonel A.H.W. Haywood, CMG CBE DSO – 1920-1924
- Colonel R.D.F. Oldman, CMG DSO
- Colonel S.S. Butler, CMG, DSO – 1926–1930
- Vacant – 1930–1932
- Brigadier C.C. Norman, CMG, CBE, DSO – 1932–1936
- General Sir George Giffard GCB, DSO – 1936–1938
- Vacant – 1938–1945 (role filled by General Officer Commanding, West Africa Command)
- General Sir George James Giffard, GCB, DSO – 1945–1954
- Brigadier Charles Roger Alan Swynnerton, CB, DSO – 1954–1958
- General Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler, GCB, KBE, DSO – 1958–1960
The RWAFF received royal patronage through its Colonels-in-Chief:
- 1928 FM HM King George V
- 1936 FM HM King Edward VIII
- 1936 FM HM King George VI
- 1953 HM Queen Elizabeth II
RWAFF disbanded at independence
In 1957 the British colony of The Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana and the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the RWAFF to form the Ghana Regiment of Infantry in the newly independent nation.
The RWAFF was finally disbanded in 1960 as the British colonies of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia moved towards independence. The former RWAFF units formed the basis of the new national armies of their respective states.
- West African campaign (World War I)
- East African Campaign (World War II)
- 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade
- 2nd (West Africa) Infantry Brigade
- Hugh Trenchard in Nigeria
References and sources
- Adekunle, Julius. (2004) Politics and Society in Nigeria's Middlebelt: Borgu and the Emergence of a Political Identity. Africa World Press, pp. 131-134. ISBN 1592210961
- Gorges (1930)
- Gorges E.H. (1930) The Great War in West Africa, Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., London; Naval & Military Press, Uckfield, 2004: ISBN 1-84574-115-3
- Haywood, A. & Clarke, F.A.S. (1964) The History of the Royal West African Frontier Force, Aldershot: Gale & Polden
- Military Report on Northern Nigeria, War Office (1908)
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