Lt George AM Anthony, 9 Queens, KIA 24.1.16

[Guest Pete Wood]

Name: ANTHONY, GEORGE ADAM MORIARTY

Initials: G A M

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Lieutenant

Regiment: The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regt.)

Unit Text: 9th Bn.

Secondary Regiment: Nigeria Regiment, W.A.F.F.

Secondary Unit Text: attd.

Date of Death: 24/01/1916

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Cemetery: IBADAN MEMORIAL

WAFF is West African Frontier Force

Our man was Killed In Action

[christine liava'a]

West African Frontier (WAFF)

In 1897, the need to have a more effective military force to counter French incursions into Northern Nigeria led to the secondment of Col. F. D. Lugard with a team of other officers to Nigeria to raise two battalions. Lugard did a good job in the brief time between 1897 and December 1898.

At the end of this conflict with the French, the British government reorganised the forces in Nigeria and this reorganisation ended In 1900. At the same time, the charter granted to the Royal Niger Company was revoked. Consequently, two battallions were established in Northern Nigeria compris ing the original battalions established by Lugard and the fragment of the Royal Niger Constabulary Quartered in the south Another Scomoanv battalion was formed in the Lagos colony.

With the amalgamation of the Lagos colony and protectorate with the Southern protectorate in 1906, the battalion and the Southern Nigerian regi ment were also amalgamated to form two distinct battalions i.e.

1. Battalion with Calabar as Head quarters

2. Battalion with Lagos as Headquarters.

In 1897, all constabulary forces in British West African territories were fused together by Lugard to form the West African Frontier Force, The amalga mation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 led to the fusion of both regiments to form a single Nigeria Regiment in the WAFF. Thus, Nigeria Regiment was then divided into four battalions with 1 and 2 in the north while 3 and 4 were in the south and the whole force came under one unified command. In 1940, WAFF was conferred with the royal charter to become the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF). This was in recognition of the gallant performance of Nigerian soldiers in the two world wars.

It is pertinent to note that during Worid War 1, of the 30,000 soldiers raised for the war effort in the West African area, 13,980 were 'from Nigeria. Again, in World War II, 121,652 Nigerian soldiers were raised and used in such places as Sierra Leone, Italian Somali land as well as the Middle East, Assam and Burma. The gallantry of these soldiers helped to project the image of the country positively.

Despite the excellent gallantry and discipline displayed by Nigerian soldiers during these cam paigns, not a single one was commissioned as an officer.

WAFF

[christine liava'a]

The Ibadan, Calabar, Lokoja and Zaria War Memorials were erected by public subscription to commemorate the war dead of the different units of the Nigeria Regiment. The Ibadan Memorial commemorates 360 Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives during the 1914-1918 War. It comprises a clock tower, located near the railway station in the centre of the city of Ibadan. The names of the dead are recorded on bronze tablets, one of which bears the inscription: "IN MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS, BRITISH N.C. OFFICERS, NATIVE N.C.O.s AND MEN OF THE 4TH BN. NIGERIA REGT. WHO FELL IN THE CAMEROON CAMPAIGN 1914-1916 AND THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN 1916-1918." The city of Ibadan, the capital of the Western Region, an old garrison town now noted for its modern University College and teaching hospital, is one of the largest cities in Africa, and lies approximately 145 kilometres north of Lagos.

[christine liava'a]

The German colony of Cameroon had French Equatorial Africa to the north and British Nigeria to the west. In early August 1914 the French and British invaded Cameroon. They captured Duala harbour, and embarked on an 18-month campaign against stiff German opposition.

The British contingent, part of the West African Frontier Force, included about 7,000 Nigerians, along with some units of the Gold Coast Regiment. A battalion of Indian soldiers also took part, as did a Sierra Leone-based battalion of the West India Regiment, and tens of thousands of carriers and back-up personnel. The campaign was tough for everyone. But at last on 10 March 1916 the final German garrison in Cameroon surrendered, and the Allies took control of vital raw materials for their war effort - plantations of cocoa, oil palms and rubber.

Memorial Gates Trust

[Glosters]

24th January 1916 an Anglo-French force fought an action at Mafub in the Cameroons. The British column was made up:

Nigeria Battery (Section)

36th Coy. R.E. (Field Section)

2nd Nigeria Regt.

Gold Coast Bn (1 coy)

"... it was only after some hours, in which the British suffered rather heavily, that the enemy was finally driven out of his position.... among the casualties were Lieutenant G.A. Anthony killed and Lieutenant K. McIver mortally wounded."

(Official History: Military Operations Togoland and Cameroons)

Steve

[Guest Pete Wood]

Thanks for that Steve. But I wonder, as the WAFF suffered "heavy casualties" where the others are buried/commemorated. I could only find around 10 soldiers who were killed on the same day or just after the date in question.

Lt Kenneth Patrick John McIver (Special List) died of wounds on the 26.1.16

[rflory]

From "History of the Royal West African Frontier Force":

Mafub, 24th January [1916]

"An enemy force under Buhler held up Colonel Hayward most of this day. There were no paths to outflank the position, but the Nigerian troops crept down through the bush on either side of the road to try and turn the flanks of the German position, which was on the far bank of a small stream in thick cover. The Germans counter-attacked, killing Lieutenants Anthony and McIver and almost capturing Captain Waller's telephone party which that officer was attempting to get to a position on the right flank of the German position from which to observe the battery fire."

Regards. Dick Flory