ABSTRACT
The experience of the Second World War was a significant one for Sierra Leone, such was the critical nature of its strategic value. Prior to the Second World War, the British media wrote little about this part of West Africa. During the First World War, the Colony became a supply depot for expeditionary forces operating across West Africa, whilst the port was termed a fortified Imperial coaling station and turned into a fortress for convoys awaiting escort from Royal Navy warships to provide protection against enemy submarines. For local security, there was the West African Regiment (WAR), administered by the War Office in London, which consisted of 60 British officers, 25 British non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and 1,500 locally recruited troops who stood ready as potential defenders. With the WARs disbandment, the newly titled Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) and, more specifically, its Sierra Leone Battalion assumed responsibility for local defence.
