The Battle of Gabon or the Battle of Libreville was part of the West African Campaign of World War II fought in November 1940. The battle resulted in the Free French forces under General Charles de Gaulle taking Libreville, Gabon, and taking all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French forces.
On 8 October 1940, General de Gaulle arrived in Douala. On 12 October, he authorized plans for the invasion of Gabon. De Gaulle also wanted to use Fre...
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The Battle of Gabon or the Battle of Libreville was part of the West African Campaign of World War II fought in November 1940. The battle resulted in the Free French forces under General Charles de Gaulle taking Libreville, Gabon, and taking all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French forces.
On 8 October 1940, General de Gaulle arrived in Douala. On 12 October, he authorized plans for the invasion of Gabon. De Gaulle also wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlled Libya. For this reason, he personally headed northward to survey the situation in Chad, located on the southern border of Libya.
On 27 October, Free French forces crossed into Gabon and took the town of Mitzic. On 5 November, the Vichy garrison at Lambaréné capitulated. Meanwhile the main Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc and General Marie Pierre Koenig departed from Douala, French Cameroon. Their goal was to take Libreville, Gabon.
On 8 November 1940, HMS...
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