Item MCC/1 - Correspondence

75 MSS letters from Carr-Gomm to his father, nearly all written from the Cameroons, and all signed 'Culling'. Carr-Gomm, who had been in West Africa in the Colonial Service since April 1912, joined the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force to the Cameroons in September 1914, and later that month was gazetted to the 2nd Battalion of the Nigerian Regiment. Until January 1915 his letters (15 of them) describe the campaign, which consisted chiefly of trying to force the inferior German forces into a major engagement, at first hand. After this, Carr-Gomm was transferred to the Royal Engineers, and the next 36 letters (until March 1916) are nearly all written from Duala, the main port of the Cameroons, and frequently refer to the administrative and technical problems of catering for the many Europeans in the town, and of dealing with captured enemy property, especially the rubber and cocoa plantations. The letters continue to describe the progress of the campaign until its completion in February 1916, and Carr-Gomm frequently comments on the state of affairs in England and Europe. In March 1916 the Cameroons were divided between Britain and France, and from then until November, when he returned to England, Carr-Gomm was in charge of the Public Works Department in Buea, the main administrative centre of the British sphere. The final 20 letters describe the problems raised by the partition, the pressures imposed on Carr-Gomm by the interference of the Nigerian authorities, and his increasing desire to leave the Cameroons and play a more active part in the war. He landed in England on 9 November 1916, and the last letter in the collection is from Arthur Street Maitland, Parliamentary Under-secretary at the Colonial Office, discussing Carr-Gomm's future employment. Some of the more interesting letters are described below: 3pp., MSS. On troopship of Duala, the capital of the Cameroons, preparing to land tomorrow. 25 September 1914 8pp., MSS. Surrender of Duala. 30 September 1914 3pp., MSS. Defending Susa, sixteen miles inland. Germans adopting Boer tactics, sniping and then melting away. (And next 3 letters). 9 November 1914 4pp., MSS. At Duala. Germans still at large. Criticises whinings in English press about recruitment and the navy. 20 January 1915 6pp., MSS. Inaccuracy of press reports on the Cameroons. 1 February 1915 3pp., MSS. His work in Duala, The problems of coping with the increased population there. 1 March 1915 2pp., MSS. German good conduct in the Cameroons, as compared with their barbarity in SW Africa. 3 June 1915 5pp., MSS. Disappointing return of Heywood's battalion, which had been expected to finish off the Germans at Jaunde. 8 June 1915 4pp., MSS. Influx of 'Kitchener' soldiers - arrogant and ignorant of West Coast habits, but full of martial vigour. Arrival of auditors and bureaucrats. 27 October 1915 4pp., MSS. Defends Dobell, the GOC, against criticisms. Bitterness against the War Office for supplanting them with upstarts and Dugouts. Unfairness of promoting 'stay-at-homes'. 22 December 1915 5pp., MSS. Disappointment over the handing over of most of the Cameroons to France, and confusion over future developments. Complains about his letters being sent to the Daily Graphic. 'We here in this little corner of the world's affairs are more of a family party so to speak than those who wage their warfare in the limelight of European publicity'. 16 March 1916 6pp., MSS. Present situation. The arbitrary division of the territory, with no regard for tribal boundaries, makes relations with the natives difficult. 12 April 1916 3pp., MSS. Visit of Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor-General of Nigeria. Problem of who should get cocoa and rubber profits: if they will ultimately go to the Germans, why should we work the plantations? 20 May 1916 2pp., MSS. Anxious to exchange this leisurely life for something more strenuous. 21 August 1916

Imperial War Museum Department of Documents >> Lieutenant M C C Carr-Gomm

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