| Battle of Gabon | |||||||||
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| Part ofWorld War II | |||||||||
 Free FrenchHotchkiss H39 tanks during the Battle of Gabon | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Naval support: United Kingdom | |||||||||
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| Strength | |||||||||
| Free French: 1,060 men[1] 1 aviso 1 minesweeper 1 cargo ship Royal Navy: 1 heavy cruiser 1 sloop | 1,500 men[2] 1 aviso 1 submarine | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 20–100 killed 4 aircraft destroyed | At least 35 killed[3] 1 aviso destroyed 1 submarine scuttled | ||||||||
TheBattle of Gabon (French:Bataille du Gabon), also called theGabon Campaign (Campagne du Gabon),[4] occurred in November 1940 duringWorld War II. The battle resulted in forces under the orders of GeneralCharles de Gaulle taking the colony ofGabon and its capital,Libreville, fromVichy France, and the rallying ofFrench Equatorial Africa toFree France.
In June 1940, Germanyinvaded and defeated France, and subsequently occupied a portion of the country.Philippe Pétain established acollaborationist government in Vichy to administer unoccupied French territory. On 18 June French GeneralCharles De Gaulle broadcastan appeal over the radio to his compatriots abroad, calling on them to reject the Vichy regime and join the United Kingdom in its war against Germany and Italy. The broadcast provoked division in France's African territories, where colonists were forced to choose sides.[5]
On 26 August, the governor and military commanders in the colony ofFrench Chad announced that they were rallying to De Gaulle'sFree French Forces. A small group of Gaullists seized control ofFrench Cameroon the following morning, and on 28 August a Free French official ousted the pro-Vichy governor ofFrench Congo. The next day the governor ofUbangi-Shari declared that his territory would support De Gaulle. His declaration prompted a brief struggle for power with a pro-Vichy army officer, but by the end of the day all of the colonies that formedFrench Equatorial Africa had rallied to Free France, except for French Gabon.[6] On the evening of 28–29 August 1940, Governor Georges Masson had pledged Gabon's allegiance to Free France. He met immediate opposition from much ofLibreville's French population and from Gabon's influential, conservative Catholic bishop, Louis Tardy, who favoured Vichy France's anti-Freemason policies. Facing pressure, Masson was forced to rescind his pledge.[7] Free French sympathizers were subsequently arrested by the colonial administration and either imprisoned on board the auxiliary cruiserCap des Palmes or deported toDakar, Senegal.[8] De Gaulle was perturbed by Gabon's refusal to join his cause and described his dilemma in his memoirs: "a hostile enclave, that was hard to reduce because it gave on to the ocean, was created in the heart of our equatorial holdings."[9] GeneralEdgard de Larminat stated that the failure to secure the territory would threaten "the very principle of our presence in Africa."[10]
Following the rallying of Cameroon on 27 August, the authorities in Gabon decided to reinforce their frontier with that province along with theNtem river. On 3 September,Roger Gardet enteredBitam by a ruse. On the pretext of medical necessity, he received permission from Captain Gourvès at Bitam to cross the frontier. Gourvès agreed to rally his troops to Free France only if his superior, the chief administrator ofWoleu-Ntem based atOyem, a certain Besson, did the same. Besson at first refused, but on 5 September Gardet informed him that he was relieving him of his command. Besson left for Cameroon and the following day, 6 September, Free French forces arrived in Bitam and Oyem with Pierre Roger Martocq as the new administrator of Woleu-Ntem.[11]
On 11 September, Masson held a meeting with his army and navy commanders at which it was decided to reinforceMayumba. On 9 and 15 September, Colonel André Parant brought a dozen Free French fighters into Mayumba on aPotez 540. On 15 September, the Vichy reinforcements arrived on theCap des Palmes, escorted by the submarinePoncelet: a troop of marines from theavisoBougainville and the defence ofPort-Gentil. While the commander of the submarine, CaptainBertrand de Saussine du Pont de Gault was breakfasting with the district administrator, the Free French invaded the administrator's residence. After several hours of discussions, and with Parant's men occupying the city, Saussine was permitted to leave, taking with him whoever did not wish to join the Free French. Most of the marines opted to stay in Mayumba.[12] On 7 October, Free French forces from Moyen-Congo occupiedBooué.[13]
On 8 October, De Gaulle arrived inDouala, Cameroon. Four days later he authorised plans for the invasion of French Equatorial Africa. He wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlledLibya. For this reason, he personally headed northward to survey the situation inChad, located on the southern border of Libya.[14] The Free French devised a two-prong attack, whereby one force from Douala would invade northern Gabon and another would attack southern Gabon from Moyen-Congo before both converged on Libreville.[13]
On 27 October 1940, Free French forces crossed into French Equatorial Africa and took the town ofMitzic.[citation needed] The European officers and colonists in the town fled following a Free French aerial bombardment, and the remaining Gabonese soldiers rallied to the Free French.[15]
On 5 November, the Vichy garrison atLambaréné capitulated.[citation needed] After Vichy officers fled, the Gabonese soldiers looted the town.[15] Meanwhile, the main Free French forces under GeneralPhilippe Leclerc and Battalion Chief (major)Marie Pierre Koenig departed from Douala. Their goal was to take Libreville in French Equatorial Africa.[14] The British expressed doubt in De Gaulle's ability to establish control over the Vichy territory, but they eventually agreed to lend naval support to the Free French.[16][a] The British limited their involvement to a naval blockade of the territory.[17]French Foreign Legion officerJohn Hasey reported that after the first few days of fighting, 150 prisoners were taken who joined the Free French a few weeks later – "no one tried to convince them. They argued it out among themselves and joined up voluntarily."[18]
On 7 November, Free French forces under Leclerc landed at the Bay of Mondah. In response, Commander Robert Morin of the Vichy French sloopBougainville ordered theRedoutable-classsubmarinePoncelet to attack the Free French naval force.[17]
On 8 November, theShoreham-classsloopHMS Milford discoveredPoncelet shadowing the Anglo-French task force and gave chase. The sloop was too slow to intercept the submarine, so AdmiralCunningham ordered hisflagship,HMS Devonshire, to launch itsSupermarine Walrus biplane. The aircraft straddled the submarine with two salvos of 100-pound (45 kg)depth charges as it attempted to dive, damaging it.[19] The captain of the submarine evacuated his crew and then opened the vessel's sea valves,scuttling it off Port-Gentil.[20][17] Koenig's forces landed at Pointe La Mondah on the night of 8 November. His forces included French Legionnaires (including the13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade),Senegalese and Cameroonian troops.[14]
On 9 November, Free FrenchWestland Lysander aircraft operating out of Douala bombed Librevilleaerodrome.[21] The aerodrome was eventually captured, despite stiff resistance met by Koenig's force in its approach.Free French naval forces consisting of theminesweeperCommandant Dominé and the cargo vesselCasamance[22] were led byGeorges Thierry d'Argenlieu aboard theBougainville-class avisoSavorgnan de Brazza in conducting coastal operations.[23] Meanwhile,De Brazza encounteredBougainville on theOgooué River. Following an attack by Free French aircraft, theBougainville opened fire onDe Brazza. As one third of its crew was on land to counter the invasion, its fire proved erratic and ineffective. After 20 minutes, the Vichy ship was disabled and set ablaze.[17] Libreville was captured on 10 November.[24]
On 12 November, the final Vichy forces atPort Gentil surrendered without a fight. Governor Georges Masson – despairing of his actions – committed suicide.[14]
The Free French lost four aircraft and six aircrew in the campaign.[25] There is disagreement about the total number of human losses. De Gaulle said "some twenty" died in the campaign. Jean-Christophe Notin claimed 33 were killed. Eliane Ebako wrote that "dozens" lost their lives, while Jean-Pierre Azéma said "roughly one hundred" were killed.[10] Another account states that 35 Vichy troops were killed to 8 Free French.[26]
On 15 November, de Gaulle made a personal appeal that failed to persuade most of the captured Vichy soldiers—including GeneralMarcel Têtu—to join the Free French. As a result, they were interned asprisoners of war inBrazzaville, French Congo for the duration of the war.[14]
With their control consolidated in Equatorial Africa, the Free French began focusing on thecampaign inItalian Libya. De Gaulle relieved Leclerc of his post in Cameroon and sent him toFort Lamy, Chad to oversee offensive preparations.[27]
The conflict in Gabon triggered a mass migration of Gabonese toSpanish Guinea.[16] French Equatorial Africa cut its ties with the Vichy-controlledWest African territories, and rebuilt its economy around trade with nearbyBritish possessions, namelyNigeria.[24] Tensions between Vichy and Free French factions remained long after the invasion.[28] The seizure of Gabon and the rest of French Equatorial Africa gave Free France new-found legitimacy; no longer was it an organization of exiles in Britain, as it now had its own sizable territory to govern.[29]
0°23′24″N9°27′6″E / 0.39000°N 9.45167°E /0.39000; 9.45167
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