Cameroon 1960s

[linlin]

Looking for anyone who can provide information on the political and military situation in Cameroon during the 1960's.

 

[Busterdog]

The northern part of (Brit) Cameroon joined with Nigeria while the southern part opted for (French) Cameroun in 1960. I know a Bn of the Grenadier Guards were flown there to quell some minor disturbances, they were later relieved by an English Line regiment, the KORB I think.
Try their Regimental web sites for information on that country in the era you are interested in from an infantryman's point of view.

 

[linlin]

Thanks for the tip but there's no mention on the Grenadier Guards website - probably included the small campaigns mentioned since 1945. My specific area of interest is West Cameroon - Victoria/Douala in 1964.

 

[Moonraker]

1st Bn Grenadier Guards were sent to the British Cameroons in May 1961. In those days they went by troopship. HMT Devonshire departed Southampton on 12 May and arrived at Victoria on 27 May. The British Cameroons was a strip of land 400 miles long and 100 miles wide sandwiched between Nigeria in the West and the Cameroun Republic (the former French territory which had gained independence the previous year) in the East. The British Cameroons was divided into 2 provinces imaginatively titled North Cameroon and South Cameroon. The battalion was deployed following a plebicite in South Cameroon in which the overwhelming majority had voted in favour of joining the Cameroun Republic. At the time communist terrorists or people's freedom fighters (depending on your point of view) of the Armee de Liberation Kamerounaise (ALNK) were conducting attacks on plantations, Gendarmerie posts, missions and villages. The Bamaleke Tribe whose territory adjoined British Cameroon supported the ALNK and so there was a strong possibility of unrest spreading into South Cameroon after the province joined the Republic. The battalion's operations consisted mainly of patrols to gain intelligence and to "show the flag" but they undertook one two-company operation to assault a terrorist camp just over the border in the Republic. Most of the terrorists successfully vacated the camp although two were shot dead by a stop party covering a likely escape route. One Guardsman was KIA. The battalion handed over to the Republic Security Forces on 1 October and embarked on HMT Devonshire for the return voyage to Southampton the following day.

 

[linlin]

Thanks for that information Moonraker but from what you say it appears they left well before 1964. Is anything known of the situation at that time?

 

[Moonraker]

By 1964 South Cameroon was fully part of the Cameroun Republic. The rest of the Republic's territory had been a French mandate up to 1960 and remained within the French sphere of influence. I believe that unrest continued and all political parties other than the governing party were outlawed in 1966. I don't have any details of the security situation in 1964 but no British troops were deployed there after 1961 but French troops may have been.