Regulations for the West African Frontier Force.

The 1923 edition, following the 1904 provisional edition. In addition to the standard regulations this volume outlines a number of policies specific to the African theatre, such as the requirement for British officers to pass examinations in Hausa or Yoruba. We have traced only one institutional copy, at Oxford University. The West African Frontier Force was formed by the Colonial Office in 1900, consisting of five units from Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Gambia. In the First World War they fought in modern-day Cameroon and East Africa against the German Schutztruppen. In 1939 their command was transferred from the Colonial Office to the War Office, who sent them to serve in Somaliland, Abyssinia, and Burma. The need to be adaptable to conditions outside Africa was foreseen in this volume, as paragraph 83 notes: "Training is not to be confined to the tactics suited to purely local conditions. The various corps of the West African Frontier Force are liable to be called on to serve anywhere. No one system of tactics is, therefore, universally applicable" (p. 18). Octavo. Interleaved with blanks as issued. Original buff paper wrappers lettered and stamped with royal crest in black. Binding worn, spine stabilized, contents bright: a good copy.…