British West Africa, British colonies or protectorates totalling about 41 million inhabitants. They were Nigeria (which administered British Cameroons), Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast, the last administering Togo (later Togo trans-Volta), that part of Togoland mandated to the UK after the
First World War. The colonies proved invaluable to the British war effort, not only for providing troops and labourers for the West African Military Labour Corps, but for
raw materials. Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, became an important naval base and staging post for
convoys, and the Gold Coast was the starting point for the
Takoradi air route along which aircraft reinforcements flew to the Middle East.
British West African regiments already existing in 1939 were enlarged to include seven new West African brigades (three from Nigeria, two from the Gold Coast, one each from Sierra Leone and Gambia) which were formed in 1940. These became part of the 1st and 2nd (East Africa) Divisions which fought in the
East African campaign. In 1943, when recruitment had reached 169,000 men, these brigades were formed into the 81st and 82nd (West Africa) Divisions. With one exception all these brigades fought in the
Burma campaign—where they suffered nearly 2,000 casualties, including 494 killed—and one participated in the second
Chindit operation.
