Second Battle of Garua The Second Battle of Garua took place from 31 May to 10 June 1915 during the Kamerun campaign of the First World War in Garua , German Kamerun . The battle was between a combined French and British force and defending German garrison and resulted in an Allied victory . Background . Since the British failure at the First Battle of Garua in August 1914 , the German force at Garua had been afforded considerable freedom of movement . This was demonstrated by the German commander , Captain von Crailsheim , by a series of incursions into British Nigeria which culminated in the Battle of Gurin in April 1915 . This was one of the largest German raids into Nigeria and shocked the recently appointed Allied commander in the region , Colonel Cunliffe . The foray prompted a renewed British and French attempt to take the German forts at Garua . A British force under the command of Cunliffe arrived in Gurin the day after the battle . The British later joined with a French force before moving on to Garua in late April . In addition , the 12 - pounder gun from the British naval ship HMS " Challenger " and a French 95 mm naval gun were brought up from the coast to Garua . The German four forts at Garua had undergone considerable construction and fortification following the repulsion of British forces at the First Battle of Garua . Von Crailsheim had employed approximately 2 , 000 native laborers to strengthen his fortifications with barbed wire , earthworks and pits to prepare for a long siege . He also reinforced the garrison with German sailors who had been evacuated from their ships on the colony ' s rivers . The German fortresses also possessed eleven machine guns and six field guns . In preparation for the siege that von Crailsheim believed to be imminent , the forts stockpiled food , ammunition and other vital supplies . Siege and battle . French and British forces entrenched themselves around the forts at Garua and began to lay siege to the position on 31 May 1915 . Following an assessment of the German defenses , Cunliffe came to the conclusion that the weakest positions could be attacked from the north . He concentrated his attacks there and a series of trenches were dug opposite these weaker positions . Each night sapping and mining operations would take place weakening the German defenses even further . The British and French trenches moved closer to the forts as these operations went on . The Germans responded to this with constant but somewhat ineffective fire from the forts . The bombardment from the large naval guns succeeded greatly in damaging the German defenses . The shelling also eroded the morale of the German troops defending the forts which had been built up after their initial successes in the war . One shell killed 20 German soldiers . On 9 June , many of the native soldiers in the German forts began to mutiny and refused to man the defenses . One group of deserters attempted to break through the British and French lines and escape but was forced back to the forts by rifle fire . Another group took horses and rode past the Allied lines to the Benue River which was flooded at the time . While attempting to swim across the river , many of the native soldiers drowned . 70 bodies were later recovered from the river and only 45 seem to have managed to escape . Those who did however were attacked by a British detachment and pursued by French cavalry . After losing a large proportion of the garrison and suffering severe bombardment , white flags rose from the German forts at around 4 p . m . on June 10 . Von Crailsheim made a request for full honors of war and a 24 hour armistice to which the Allied commander refused . At 6 : 30 p . m . , the German commander surrendered unconditionally and on June 11 , Allied troops entered the forts at Garua . Only 37 Germans and 212 natives remained from the once larger garrison . The rest had either deserted or been killed in the bombardment . According to some sources , the Allies did not suffer any serious casualties during the conflict . Aftermath . With the German surrender on 10 June , the remaining garrison was taken prisoner . The bounty of weapons , ammunition and supplies that had been prepared in anticipation for a longer siege was captured by the Allies . The capture of the German forts at Garua left the besieged stronghold at Mora isolated in northern Kamerun until its surrender at the end of the campaign . Clearing the north of German forces allowed Cunliffe , who had once been on the defensive , to push further into central Kamerun . After the success at Garua , he lead his force south to the town of Ngaundere which was taken after some fighting .