Gold Coast in World War II

British war material being offloaded inTakoradiin the Gold Coast

The involvement of theGold Coast(modern-dayGhana) inWorld War IIbegan with the declaration of war onNazi Germanyby theBritish Empirein September, 1939. Though no combat occurred in the Gold Coast colony, the colony supplied resources and manpower for theAllies.

Home Front

Two days after theGerman invasion of Polandon 1 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany. Due to the German loss inWorld War I,the country possessed no African colonies.German Togolandwas added to the Gold Coast under British colonial rule. The Gold Coast still came to have an involvement in the war.

Accra,the capital of the Gold Coast, hosted Allied aircraft as they flew between theUnited States,Europe and thePacific Ocean.Colonial troops also played an important role in thetaking controlofItalian East Africa,particularly what is nowEthiopia.

The Gold Coast benefited financially from the war. By 1945, increased British government spending and the introduction of an income tax led to an expansion of local revenue.

World War II changed thedemographicsof the Gold Coast, concentrating workers in a few large towns and cities. The colonial government launched a program to deal with a housing shortage, by constructing inexpensive but sturdy local building material (an earthquake in 1939 had badly damaged infrastructure in many cities and towns). In 1943, British architectMaxwell Frylaunched a simultaneous effort to plan the Gold Coast's cities. Fry prepared blueprints for the future layout and development ofAccra,KumasiandSekondi.

Industrial development

Prior to 1943, Gold Coast was an extractive colony producing gold and cocoa. During the war,U-boatattacks limited commercial shipping to West Africa. As a result, the Colonial Development Fund was used to finance theWest African Institute of Industries, Arts and Social Sciences,in 1943, under the direction of British official Herman Meyerowitz. Although the institute was intended for all British colonies in West Africa, it benefited the Gold Coast disproportionately. The institute lasted for two years, until Meyerowitz's death in 1945. During that time, it supported the development of a local tile, brick and ceramic industry in Ghana and cotton textiles in Togo. The construction of new buildings in Gold Coast cities also benefited the lumber industry, which was able to export four million cubic feet of timber in 1946.

See also

• 1948 Accra riots

References

• Bourret, F.M. The Gold Coast: A Survey of the Gold Coast and British Togoland, 1919–1951. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1952.
• Lawler, Nancy Ellen (2002).Soldiers, Airmen, Spies, and Whisperers: The Gold Coast in World War II.Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.ISBN9780821414309.
• Killingray, David (1982). "Military and Labour Recruitment in the Gold Coast During the Second World War".The Journal of African History.23(1): 83–95.doi:10.1017/S0021853700020259.ISSN0021-8537.JSTOR181272.
• Holbrook, Wendell P. (1985). "British Propaganda and the Mobilization of the Gold Coast War Effort, 1939-1945".The Journal of African History.26(4): 347–361.doi:10.1017/S0021853700028784.JSTOR181654.

External links

• How West Africa Helped Win World War IIatForeign Policy in Focus,
• The Story of Africa: World War IIatBBC World Service.