The Cameroons, West Africa, 17 November 1914
In August 1914 Germany's African colonies consisted of German East Africa, German South-West Africa and, in the west, the Cameroons and Togoland. It was naturally the aim of the British and French armies to drive Germany out of these territories. It was obvious from the beginning of the war that the Germans would eventually be defeated and pushed out of Africa, if only by the sheer weight of troop numbers.
The wily German Commander Gen. von Lettow-Vorbeck was military commander in German East Africa in August 1914 and never had more than 15,000 troops under his command during the war. On the other hand, the Allies had command of the sea and were able to muster up to 100,000 men from India and many parts of Africa itself. The German aim was to tie up this Allied force for as long as possible and prevent the soldiers from being used on the Western Front. It is an odd, but very well-known fact, that the enemy in East Africa was never defeated and had to be instructed to cease fire only several days after the Armistice had been agreed in Europe.
In Togoland in West Africa on 12 August 1914, in what must have been one of the very first actions of the war (even the BEF had not yet set foot in France), a single native regiment of the Gold Coast Regiment, together with French troops, conducted a successful mounted attack against the German forces to the east of Gold Coast. On 25 August Tepe was taken by the Allies and, by the following day, Togoland had been conquered.
North of Duala, Cameroons, 17 November 1914.
Three days later, however, the British were defeated at Garua and also suffered another reverse near Nsanakong (Nsana Kang). But also on 26 October the Allies captured Duala, the capital of the Cameroons. During the Cameroons Campaign much of the fighting took place around the important railways that ran to the north and east of Duala.
Three weeks later, on 17 November, Capt. J.F.P. Butler of the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC), attached to Pioneer Company, Gold Coast Regiment, West African Forces, became the first man to win the VC in Africa during the First World War when he won the decoration for conspicuous bravery in the Cameroons fighting. He was with a party of thirteen men in thick bush when they attacked a force of about 100 troops, including several Europeans. Butler's party defeated them and captured their machine-gun, as well as a great quantity of ammunition. Nearly six weeks later, on 27 December, when an advance was held up, Butler was on patrol with a small group and swam across the River Ekam, which was in enemy hands. Alone and in the face of brisk fire he carried out reconnaissance on the far bank before swimming back to safety.
The New Year began with an Allied thrust into the bush-filled interior when their German adversary was making considerable use of native troops. In March, Butler was made a captain before returning to England. His VC was gazetted on 23 August 1915 and it was presented to him by the King at Buckingham Palace the following day. J.F.P. Butler's citation appeared in the London Gazette on 23 August 1915 as follows:
John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler, Capt., King's Royal Rifle Corps, attached Pioneer Coy [Company] Z, Gold Coast Regt., West African Frontier Force. For most conspicuous bravery in the Cameroons, West Africa on 17 Nov. 1914. With a party of 13 men he went into the thick bush, and at once attacked the enemy, in strength about 100, including several Europeans; defeated them, and captured their machine gun and many loads of ammunition. On 27 Dec. 1914, when on patrol duty with a few men, he swam the Ekam River, which was held by the enemy, alone and in face of a brisk fire; completed his reconnaissance on the further bank and returned in safety. Two of his men were wounded while he was actually in the water.
Despite the capture of Duala, the Germans were still well entrenched and used a number of mountain strongholds from which they were able to conduct raids into neighbouring countries. Although they made considerable use of native troops, they did not treat them well; a factor that later in the war was to tell against them.
Capt. Butler was involved again in the Cameroons Campaign in December 1915 when fighting with the Gold Coast Regiment, which managed to get behind the German lines and capture a village, together with a machine-gun and the papers of the local German commander before establishing a base there. Two weeks later, Dschang Mangas, between Wum Biagas and Jaunde, a German base on the fringe of the Jaunde district, was also captured by them. By this time most of the forestry region was behind them, and before them lay a cultivated area which would be much easier to operate in. By 30 December they were entirely clear of the bush and a small party marched into Jaunde on New Year's Day 1916. Seven weeks after the enemy had been slowly squeezed out of the country, the German Army surrendered. The citation for Butler's DSO was published in the London Gazette on 5 June.
On 6 July the Gold Coast Regiment left the West African capital of Accra and sailed to East Africa, landing at Kilindini on the 26th. When they reached the firing line, the enemy was pushed back across the central railway. In German East Africa, the first firm contact with the enemy occurred on 4 September near the main highway to the east of the Matombo mission station. This was south of the railway in the Uluguru Mountains, which the Germans were preparing to strongly defend. The Allied positions were overlooked by the Kikirunga Hill, which was about 3,000ft high and covered with trees and undergrowth; this was a landmark that had to be captured. The action lasted two and a half days and duly ended with the capture of the hill, but the day was marred by the death of Capt. Butler. The full details of the incident are recorded in the history of the Gold Coast Regiment by Sir Hugh Clifford:
At 7 a.m. on the 4th September the Regiment moved out of camp, and about two hours later the enemy opened fire with a couple of howitzers upon the road a little ahead of the marching troops. No casualties were inflicted but the Regiment was halted, moved off the road and took up a sheltered position on the right side of it, in a gut between two hills.
Captain Butler was then sent forward with a Pioneer Company to reconnoitre the enemy positions and the small party climbed towards the head of the pass that led to the Uluguru Mountains, that had Kikirunga as its culminating point. The Pioneer Company reached a point where they could overlook the enemy positions but they must have been spotted as a German machine gun opened up from the right and another gun about 100ft higher also opened up on the small party.
It was not until about 5 o'clock in the afternoon that the Pioneer Company became seriously threatened and it was when Butler had gone forward to check his picket on the bend of the road that he and several of his party were wounded by a sudden burst from one of the machine guns. They had been lying down, close to the road and the enemy machine gunners were either aware of them, or just fired off a round or two at random. Twelve men were wounded during the afternoon but the party still managed to stand firm. Later 'B' Company under a Captain Shaw was sent up to reinforce the Pioneers, and to make the ground won, good. They settled down for the night after attending to the wounded.
Butler had been wounded in the shoulder, but more seriously a bullet had penetrated one of his lungs and, according to a witness, Maj. G.H. Parker MC, RA, he lay dying by his side all through the night. The Regimental History noted the following of Butler:
A young officer, possessed at once with a charming and forceful personality, of an absolutely fearless disposition, and of more than ordinary ability, he has won for himself a conspicuous place in the Gold Coast Regiment, and had earned the devotion and affection of the men in a very special degree. His death, in this first action in which the Regiment had been engaged since its arrival in East Africa, was felt to be a specially malignant stroke of ill-fortune and he was mourned as a personal loss by his comrades of all ranks.
Unofficially, Butler died of his wounds on 5 September 1916 near Matombo (later Tanzania). He was buried in the Morogoro Cemetery, Tanganyika (Tanzania), Plot III, Row C, Grave 3. He was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) three times.
John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler was the son of Lt Col Francis John Paul Butler of Wyck Hill, Gloucestershire, and his wife the Hon. Elspeth Fitzhardinge, daughter of the 2nd Lord Gifford. He was born at the Chantry, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, on 20 December 1888, and was a nephew of Maj. Lord Gifford VC, the 3rd baron, who had won the VC in the First Ashanti War (1823-31).
John Butler was educated at Mr Kempthorne's House at Wellington, and then the Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Sandhurst, where he won the Military History Prize. In February 1907, when he was 18, he was awarded a commission in the KRRC, and in August 1909 he was promoted to lieutenant, serving in India until 1913. On 1 October 1913 he was seconded to the Gold Coast Regiment in West Africa and during the war served in the Togoland and Cameroons Expeditions.
John Butler had married Alice Amelia of Apsley House, Portfield, Chichester, and after the war his name was commemorated on the war memorial at Cirencester Parish Church. He also has a pair of candlesticks in his name in St Lawrence's Church, Bourton-on-the-Water. His decorations are in the keeping of the Royal Green Jackets in the Peninsular Barracks, Winchester, Hampshire. Apart from the VC and DSO they...
