Capture of Lomé Late on 6 August, French police occupied customs posts near
Athiémè and next day Major Jean Maroix, the commander of French military forces in Dahomey, ordered the capture of Agbanake and Aného. Agbanake was occupied late on 7 August, the Mono River was crossed and a column under Captain François Marchand took Aneho early on 8 August. The moves were unopposed and Togolese civilians helped to see off the Germans by burning down the Government House at
Sebe. The approximately and
Askari retreated inland, impressing civilians and calling up reservists as they moved north. Repairs began on the Lomé–Aného railway and the French advanced to Porto Seguro (now
Agbodrafo) and Togo before stopping the advance, once it was clear that Lomé had been surrendered to British forces. The British invasion had begun late on 7 August; the British emissaries returned to Lomé by lorry, to find that the Germans had left for Kamina and given Rudolf Clausnitzer, the
Bezirksamtmann of Lomé (equivalent to a British
District officer), discretion to surrender the colony up to Khra, inland, to prevent a naval bombardment of Lomé. On 8 August, the emissaries took command of fourteen British soldiers and police from Aflao; a telegraph operator arrived by bicycle and repaired the line to Keta and Accra. The British flag was raised and on 9 August, parties of troops arrived, having marched in exhausting heat. Over the border, Bryant had arranged to move the main force by sea and embarked on the
Elele on 10 August. Three other companies had been ordered to Kete Krachi, to begin a land advance to Kamina.
Elele arrived off Lomé on 12 August and the force disembarked through the surf. Arrangements were made with the French for a converging advance towards Atakpamé by the British and the French from Aného, a French column under Maroix from
Tchetti in the north and the British column at Kete Krachi (Captain Elgee). Small British forces on the northern border were put under the command of Maroix and ordered to move south, as about cavalry were ordered across the northern border from Senegal and Niger, to advance on Mango from The British force at Lomé comprised police and volunteers, who were preparing to advance inland when Bryant received news of a German foray to Togblekove.
Skirmish at Bafilo The skirmish of Bafilo took place between a company of
French troops and German in north-east
Togoland on 13 August. The French had crossed the border between
French Dahomey and Togoland from and were engaged by German in the districts of Mango and Sokodé–
Bafilo. The French company retreated after facing greater resistance than expected.
Advance from Lomé After the capture of Lomé on the coast, Bryant was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, made commander of all Allied forces in the operation and landed at Lomé on 12 August, with the main British force of soldiers, carriers, police and volunteers. As preparations began for the advance northwards to Kamina, Bryant heard that a German party had travelled south by train the day before. The party had destroyed a small wireless transmitter and railway bridge at Tabligbo, about to the north. Bryant detached half an infantry company on 12 August and sent another companies forward the next day, to prevent further attacks. By the evening, "I" Company had reached
Tsévié; scouts reported that the country south of Agbeluvhoe was clear of German troops and the main force had reached Tabligbo. At "I" Company began to advance up the road to Agbeluvoe. The relatively harsh terrain of bushland and swamp impeded the Allied push to Kamina, by keeping them on the railway and the road, which had fallen into disrepair and was impassable by wheeled vehicles. Communication between the parties was difficult, because of the intervening high grass and thick scrub. The main force moved on from Tabligbo at on 15 August and at local civilians told Bryant that a train full of Germans had steamed into Tsévié that morning and shot up the station. In the afternoon the British advanced guard met German troops near the
Lili river, who blew the bridge and dug in on a ridge on the far side.
Affair of Agbeluvoe The demolitions and the delaying action held up the advance until ; the force spent the night at Ekuni rather than joining "I" Company as intended. Doering had sent two raiding parties with south by train, to delay the advancing Allied force. "I" Company had heard the train run south at while halted on the road near Ekuni, a village about south of Agbeluvoe. A section was sent to cut off the train and the rest of "I" Company pressed on to Agbeluvoe. A Togolese civilian guided the section to the railway, where Lieutenant Collins and his men piled stones and a heavy iron plate on the tracks, about north of the bridge at Ekuni and then set an ambush. One of the trains of was derailed by the obstacles on the tracks and the other train was halted by the rest of "I" Company at the Affair of Agbeluvoe. Pfähler was killed and a quarter of the German force became casualties.
Affair of Khra Despite the skirmish in the north-west at Bafilo and the Affair of Agbeluvoe, Allied forces advancing towards the German base at Kamina had not encountered substantial resistance. The last natural barrier south of Kamina was the
Khra River, where Doering chose to make a stand. The railway bridge over the river was destroyed and the approaches to the river and village were mined. On 21 August, British scouts found entrenched on the north bank of the river. The West African Rifles, supported by French forces from the east, assembled on the south bank and during 22 August Bryant ordered attacks on the German entrenchments. The British were repulsed and suffered Lieutenant George Thompson became the first British officer to be killed in action in the First World War. Although the Germans had repelled the Allied force from an easily supplied, fortified position, French troops were advancing from the north and east towards Kamina unchecked and a British column was advancing on the station from Kete Krachi in the west. On the morning of 23 August, the British found that the German trenches had been abandoned. The Germans had withdrawn to the wireless station and during the night of explosions were heard from the direction of Kamina. French and British forces arrived at Kamina on 26 August, to find that the nine radio towers had been demolished and the electrical equipment destroyed. Doering and surrendered the colony to Bryant; the rest of the German force had deserted. The Allied troops recovered three
Maxim machine-guns, and about of ammunition. == Aftermath ==