German Colonial Uniforms

The German Pacific Colonies
The German Empire in the Pacific was divided into two colonies; New Guinea and Samoa.

New Guinea Police and Reservists prepare for war 1914

Early History of German New Guinea
In the early 1880's German traders began to take a serious interest in the Pacific South Seas. The German New Guinea Company was formed in 1880 and in 1884 the North Eastern part of Papua New Guinea was established as a German colony and renamed Kaiser-Wilhelmsland. Other islands were added to the colony; the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands and Paulu in 1885, three of the Solomon Islands in 1886 (of which only Bougainville was retained after 1899), Nauru in 1888 and finally the the Marianas in 1899 until German rule on these tiny islands extended across a large area of the Pacific Ocean. The only major native revolt against the Germans was the 1910 rebellion of the Sokehs people on Pohnpei (or Ponape in German) in the Carolines which was put down by sailors from the SMS Emden with support from the German New Guinea Police. Aside from this, New Guinea was largely a peaceful colony exporting mainly coconut products and supporting scientific explorations of the islands and their uncharted interiors.

Forces in German New Guinea at the outbreak of war

I. Schutztruppe
There were no regular Schutztruppe on New Guinea, although occasional expeditions were led by regular army and Schutztruppe officers deployed under the command of the Colonial Ministry.

II. Police
The first Police force in New Guinea was raised by the Germans in 1887. In total there were 19 German Police officers and NCOs and about 670 native para-military police spread across the many islands of German New Guinea in 1914.

III. Navy
Despite being of strategic importance there was no permanent militarised naval presence in New Guinea in 1914.

IV. Reservists
Germans living on the islands of New Guinea were called up as reservists in wartime. Some had some military training but many were simple settlers and farmers.

The First World War in German New Guinea
The only strategic places worthy or capable of resistance was the radio station at Rabaul, near the capital of Herbertstöhe (now known as Kokopo) on the island of Neu-Pommern (now known as New Britain). There were only 240 native police on Neu-Pommern when the Australians invaded on 12th Septmeber 1914 and over half of these were new recruits. These along with about 50 German reservists made up the German defence. The Australian force was over 3,000 strong and included artillery support the Australian Navy. After some fighting involving casualties on both sides the Germans surrendered the following day.

The other islands of the German colony of New Guinea that lay North of the equator such as the Carolines, the Marshalls, the Marianas and Palau were all taken over by the Japanese in 1914 without a struggle.

While most accepted the surrender and Australian rule a small band of Germans and native police under Hauptman Herman Detzner who had been part of the expedition to explore the interior of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland escaped into the jungles and evaded capture until after the 1918 armistice.


	Governor of German Samoa with officials and Fita Fita guard		Early History of German Samoa Germany had trading stations, coconut plantations and other commercial interests in Samoa since the 1860's. Their influence in the area grew with a consulate and increasing naval presence in the 1880's. Finally after negotiations with Britain and the USA, the Samoan Islands of Upolu and Sawai were recognised as German protectorates in 1899. The people of Samoa were largely peaceful, there no major rebellions, and as a result German rule was less harsh here than in the African colonies. The main export of Samoa was coconuts and coconut oil but it was also a useful naval base for Germany in the Pacific.

Forces in German Samoa at the outbreak of war

I. Schutztruppe
There were no Schutztruppe on Samoa.

II. Police
Samoa's police force consisted of one German officer with 25 native police and a ceremonial paramilitary guard (known as the Fita Fita) who numbered about 30. They had one out-dated ceremonial artillery piece that took half an hour to load and was fired once a day from Apia harbour.

III. Navy
Although warships of the German navy called in on Samoa regularly, there was no standing naval presence there.

IV. Reservists
The few German civilians on Samoa were not called up to fight as no resistance was offered to the entente's clearly superior power.

The First World War in German Samoa
With such limited defences at his means, the German governor Dr. Schultz-Erwerth was under no illusions as to his ability to defend the colony against as serious entente invasion. Indeed his orders from Berlin were simply to negotiate with any aggressors. When a 1,400 strong New Zealand invasion force arrived off Apia on 29th August 1914 with back up from British and French warships he negotiated a surrender without a shot being fired.