The Threat of Aerial Bombing in World War Two Lagos, 1938–1943

Oliver Coates

doi:10.1163/24680966-bja10002

Abstract

Abstract The spectre of air bombing attacks on West African cities during World War Two remains an unexplored dimension of World War Two history. Lagos had long been perceived as vulnerable to attack from neighbouring Dahomey (Benin), and the Fall of France in June 1940 intensified these threats, while increasing anxiety concerning potential Axis raids. Focusing on air-raid planning in Lagos particularly, this article will argue that the possibility of aerial bombing exposed not simply the incapacity of the colonial government and officials’ limited understanding of housing and employment in 1940s Lagos, but also the inadequacy of measures to protect African lives. Conversely, the air-raid threat motivated Africans to critique limited government provision and propose their own interpretations of this new and deadly threat. Although the feared aerial raids never materialised, the crisis and anxiety they provoked yield significant insights into wartime Nigeria, local participation in civil defence, and African responses to World War Two more generally.

Highlights

Via free access the threat of aerial bombing in world war two lagos, 1938–1943 67 representative of African opinion more generally, we may observe the visceral fear that putative aerial bombing could engender
The air-raid threat occupies an undeservedly obscure position within West African history; the feared raids and the subsequent Air Raid Protection (A.R.P.) plans reveal the limited capacity of the colonial state, both in terms of financial resources and political authority
We will examine civil defence measures and their limitations, before showing how Lagosians appraised these efforts and mounted their via free access coates own interpretations of the air-raid threat; this article draws on sources from the Nigerian National Archives, Ibadan, and the United Kingdom’s National Archives in London, as well as the anti-colonial newspaper the West African Pilot and the pro-government Nigerian Daily Times

Summary

Civil Defence in Lagos

Plans and Measures Civil defence enabled the Lagos authorities to undertake protective measures, appoint and train personnel, remove damaged buildings, and create first aid posts. Officials in Nigeria looked to England and to Britain’s Asian colonies for guidance on how to prepare for aerial attack. ‘Report on Civil Defence Measures in the Township of Lagos for September 1942, drawn up in accordance with the Secretary of State’s secret circular telegram of the 18th April 1942,’ Civil Defence, Nigeria, Progress Reports, T.N.A., C.O. 986/ 72/9. Committee, consisting of representatives from the police, fire brigade, private businesses, and various parts of government, including the Public Works, Medical, Marine, Railway, and Posts and Telecoms Departments. Based at the Yacht Club on Magazine Point, the Committee’s headquarters had a dedicated telephone connection to the local military installations of the Signal Station and the Headquarters of the Machine Gun Platoon.

The Practical and Conceptual Limits of Civil Defence in Wartime Lagos

Between Fear and Critique

Conclusion