Battle of Gurin
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| Battle of Gurin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kamerun campaign in World War I | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Cap. Derek Pawle †[1] Lt. Joseph F. J. Fitzpatrick |
 Cap. von Crailsheim Cap. Schipper | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 42[1] | 350–400[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 13[3] | 45[4] | ||||||
 | |||||||
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The Battle of Gurin took place on 29 April 1915 during the Kamerun campaign of World War I in Gurin, British Nigeria near the border with German Kamerun. The battle was one of the largest of the German forays into the British colony. It ended in a successful British repulsion of the German force.
By April 1915, British forces were concentrated mainly in southern and central Kamerun, leaving much of the Nigerian border with the German colony relatively undefended. Following the failed siege of the main German outpost in northwestern Kamerun at the First Battle of Garua in August 1914, German forces in the area had substantial freedom of movement. This allowed Captain von Crailsheim, the German commander at Garua, to conduct a number of raids into British Nigeria. In late April, a force commanded by von Crailsheim joined with a smaller one commanded by Captain Schipper to attack the village of Gurin, just inside the Nigerian border[3]
The village of Gurin was protected by one circular fort and a garrison of 42 men consisting mostly of policemen commanded by Captain Derek Pawle.[1][3]
Battle
At daybreak on 29 April 1915, the German force surrounded and attacked the fort at Gurin. Early in the battle, the British commander Captain Pawle was killed in action, leaving Lieutenant Joseph F. J. Fitzpatrick to lead the defense of the fort. The Germans brought up five machine guns, which were able to damage the fort's defenses.[3] Despite superiority in both manpower and weapons, the Germans did not succeed in capturing the fort at Gurin. At around midday, after seven hours of fighting, von Crailsheim and his force withdrew from Gurin[2] The British lost 13 men[3] or approximately 30%[4] of their force through the battle. The German unit lost 40 African and 5 European soldiers.[4]
