Military operations in the Volta Region of German Togoland from 1884-1913 and the Togoland Polizeitruppe

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UncleBourbon
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Military operations in the Volta Region of German Togoland from 1884-1913 and the Togoland Polizeitruppe

#1

Post by UncleBourbon » 16 Nov 2019, 03:52

For the past year or so I've been doing off and on research on military actions by Germany in the Volta Region of Togoland (modern day Ghana) prior to the Great War, preferably involving the Ewe.
I've found only two incidents and some other info, and am hoping to expand my knowledge on the subject.

The first is the Battle of Adibo against the Dagban in 1896, which was the largest military action in the region with thousands of Dagban against hundreds of Polizeitruppe.
The Polizeitruppe, armed with just single-shot Mauser '71s, made mincemeat of the Dagban who were armed with bows and flintlock muskets.
There were instances of the Dagban attempting to rush the Polizeitruppe to get within musket range, but only a handful ever made it within range and were killed before being able to inflict any significant damage.

The second was a minor incident with no reported deaths in 1894, when a Lieutenant Klose was delivering the German flag to the Kpandu, Anfoega and Tafi tribes and forcing them to give up the Union Jack.
The Avatime, opposed to German governance, attacked the people of Tafi for submitting to German rule. The German Polizeitruppe headed toward Avatime for reprisal, and Avatime avoided bloodshed by raising the German flag before their arrival, allegedly being convinced to do so by Bremen missionaries.

The Battle of Adibo didn't involved the Ewe, who are my primary interest in this research.
Facts I've acquired on the Ewe in Togoland are that the Governor from 1905-1910, Julias Graf von Zech auf Neuhofen, allegedly had a high opinion of the Ewe people, and that the Togoland Polizeitruppe were actually comprised mostly of Native recruits from Nigeria.

Any other information on the military history of the Ewe people in German Togoland would be greatly appreciated!

OldBill
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Re: Military operations in the Volta Region of German Togoland from 1884-1913 and the Togoland Polizeitruppe

#2

Post by OldBill » 17 Nov 2019, 00:53

I was completely unaware of what you posted. Thanks for sharing it!


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Chris Dale
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Re: Military operations in the Volta Region of German Togoland from 1884-1913 and the Togoland Polizeitruppe

#3

Post by Chris Dale » 17 Feb 2020, 02:16

All good information, Uncle B. I'll let you know if I find more on the Ewe...

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