M'Fam goes home: African soldiers in the Gabon campaign of 1940

Reeves, Mark

Abstract

Introduction Over three days in October 1940, Marcel M’Fam, a thirty-three-year-old Gabonese first-class guard in the French colonial army, decided to go home and spend time with his wife rather than return to his post. His desertion, along with that of a comrade, created a minor stir in the Gabonese Army during the fall of 1940, at a time when Vichy and Gaullist forces battled for control of the African territory. Throughout his journey, M’Fam was presented with orders from French authority figures from both camps.1 His reactions to these authorities, and his explanations in the colonial archive, provide valuable insight into African perceptions of the French Empire and highlight the largely ambivalent attitude African soldiers had towards the French state. M’Fam’s decisions demonstrated little concern for the national or political affiliations of the Europeans competing for his obedience. Instead, his actions addressed his own concerns and desires. M’Fam was one of approximately 30,000 troops under French command throughout sub-Saharan Africa in 1940. Most of France’s African forces (the famed but misnamed tirailleurs sénégalaises) remained in the metropole, where they had been concentrated since the declaration of war in 1939. Once Germany defeated France in June 1940, the tirailleurs sénégalaises found themselves trapped in Europe. Consequently, France’s military strength in sub-Saharan Africa constituted mere “sovereignty forces,” totaling approximately 17,500 soldiers, 86 percent of them African “natives.”2 France’s partial occupation meant uncertainty as to who governed its empire abroad. At the behest of the fleeing French government, Marshal Philippe Pétain established a new government at Vichy and signed armistices with Axis powers. Rather than accept this new government, on June 18 a little-known general, Charles de Gaulle, made an appeal over the BBC to Frenchmen everywhere. De Gaulle claimed that he represented the legitimate French government, which rejected Pétain’s agreement with Axis powers. This “Gaullist” call created a dilemma for French colonials throughout French Equatorial and West Africa, particularly those neighboring British territories. They were forced to decide whether they should accept the legitimacy of de Gaulle’s movement and continue cooperating with Britain against Italy and Germany, or demobilize in
accordance with Vichy’s armistice.

• Online Publication Date: Dec 29, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 91-113
• Series Title: Global Africa
• Series Number: 1
• Book Title: Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 978-1-138-22003-4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315413099-13
• Keywords: Area Studies, Humanities, Politics & International Relations, Social Sciences
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10477677
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315413099-13/fam-goes-home-african-soldiers-gabon-campaign-1940-mark-reeves?context=ubx&refId=9158029a-6528-42e0-a1a1-144972fd7c1d