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The Battle of Gabon or the Battle of Libreville was part of the West African Campaign of World War II fought in November 1940. The battle resulted in the Free French forces under General Charles de Gaulle taking Libreville, Gabon, and taking all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French forces.
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Background
On 8 October 1940, General de Gaulle arrived in Douala. On 12 October, he authorized plans for the invasion of Gabon. De Gaulle also wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlled Libya. For this reason, he personally headed northward to survey the situation in Chad, located on the southern border of Libya.[1]
On 27 October, Free French forces crossed into Gabon and took the town of Mitzic. On 5 November, the Vichy garrison at Lambaréné capitulated. Meanwhile the main Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc and General Marie Pierre Koenig departed from Douala, French Cameroon. Their goal was to take Libreville, Gabon.[1]
Course of battle
On 8 November 1940, HMS Milford sank the Vichy submarine Poncelet.[2] Koenig's force landed at Pointe La Mondah. His forces included French Legionnaires (including the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade), Senegalese, and Cameroonian troops.[1]
On 9 November, Lysander aircraft operating out of Douala bombed the Libreville aerodrome. Koenig's force met stiff resistance approaching the city. But eventually he took the aerodrome. Free French naval forces, including the colonial sloop Savorgnan de Brazza attacked and sank the Vichy colonial sloop Bougainville. The Bougainville was the sister ship to the Savorgnan de Brazza.[1] [2]
On 12 November, the final Vichy forces capitulated at Port Gentil. Governor Masson, despairing of his actions, committed suicide.[1]
Aftermath
On November 15, de Gaulle's personal appeal failed to persuade most of the captured Vichy soldiers, including General Tetu, to join the Free French. As a result, they were interned as prisoners of war in Brazzaville, Congo for the duration of the war.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "The Second World War in the French Overseas Empire". http://worldatwar.net/timeline/france/empire40-45.html. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ^ "Gabon Timeline". http://www.schudak.de/timelines/gabon1839-1960.html. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
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