Canadian Soldiers in West African Conflicts, 1885–1905

The history of the Canadian Army at the beginning of the twentieth century is most often defined by its operational participation in the war in South Africa. Between 1899 and 1902 Canada dispatched a few thousand soldiers to fight for British interests against Boer settlers, supporting a war that had a considerable impact on both the evolution of Canada’s fledgling army as well as Canadian politics in general. The sheer magnitude of this event in fact overshadowed just about every other British and Canadian army activity at the time, but it was by no means the only conflict in which Canadian soldiers were then engaged. In addition to helping secure the veldt of the Transvaal for Great Britain, Canada’s soldiers were also active participants in a number of other campaigns across equatorial Africa. Though much smaller in total number and often serving as part of a general frontier force instead of being organized into specific Canadian units, their presence was still both influential and at times critical for operational success in these other theatres of conflict. This article specifically examines the role played by Canadians at the turn of the century in West Africa. 2 Though not intended to draw sweeping conclusions about the influence of such operations on the Canadian Army as a whole ‐ such analysis must follow at a later time when much more contextual evidence is available ‐ it does rediscover a largely forgotten chapter in the origins and evolution of that army, as well as raise a number of questions that obviously deserve greater attention. Most important, perhaps, this article demonstrates overall that a new approach to the analysis of the pre Great War Canadian Army is required, one that focuses as much on the influence of those who left Canada for military service as those who remained within the ranks of the institution at home. There is little question that the development of a better understanding of the pre-Great War Canadian Army is long overdue. Existing literature too often focuses solely on political or operational summaries, and then usually only in terms of how the British Army controlled and influenced a much more nascent Canadian militia. 3 As this article reveals, not only are such

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