Victims of Nationality: German Civilian Internment in British West Africa during the Second World War

Abstract: The captivity of enemy civilians in wartime was a radical transformation of social relations. Earlier studies on the internment of enemy aliens during the Second World War have omitted the West African experience. This study examines German civilian internment in West Africa during World War II, with reference to Nigeria and Cameroon under British Mandate. Primary archival sources provided data for its analysis. It argues that the internment of German subjects in British West Africa during World War II was a reflection of the legacy of the First World War and a part of the empire-wide wartime strategy of persecuting Germans, pursued by the British and coordinated from London. The internment of German “civilians” in West Africa during World War II was against the principle of the inviolability of the enemy “civilian” ratified at the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 as well as the Geneva Convention of 1929.