Colonel Robert Logan led a 1400-strong expeditionary force to capture German Samoa (later renamed Western Samoa). The handful of German personnel stationed there were in no position to resist.
On 6 August, shortly after the outbreak of war, the British told the New Zealand government that the capture of a wireless station in German Samoa would be a ‘great and urgent Imperial service’. The wireless station was protected by a German-officered constabulary of a few dozen men. This was no match for the Samoa Expeditionary Force, which achieved its objective without resistance. This was the second German territory, after Togoland in east Africa, to fall to the Allies in the First World War.
New Zealand administered the islands for the remainder of the war. From 1920 until 1962 New Zealand administered Western Samoa under mandates from the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations.
Read more on NZHistory
New Zealand goes to war – First World War - overviewCapture of German Samoa – Capture of German SamoaFirst World War timeline – First World War - overviewBackground – New Zealand in SamoaHistory of New Zealand, 1769-1914 – A history of New Zealand 1769-1914Robert LoganPost and Telegraph Detachment in Samoa – Capture of German SamoaFirst World War farewells – First World War farewells
External links
- Robert Logan biography (DNZB)
- Samoa: First World War (1966 encyclopaedia)
- Raising the German flag (Te Ara)
How to cite this page
'NZ force captures German Samoa', URL: /new-zealand-expeditionary-force-captures-german-samoa, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 5-Jun-2015
