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Abstract
The amphibious landing of troops at Bonny during the Nigerian Civil War is often described as a landmark feat accomplished by the military of a modern Black African state. It was the first of five landings which along with the instituting of a naval blockade formed the basis of the encirclement and eventual defeat of secessionist Biafra. This article captures the transformation of an erstwhile civilian marine department into a naval force which endured sabotage and defection prior to successfully transporting, landing, and affording covering fire for the federal Third Infantry Division. The article explains the military and political objectives, and also reveals the pivotal role played in its planning and execution by James Rawe, an expatriate British naval officer who was a veteran of the Normandy landings.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank the family of the late Captain James Rawe for granting him access to extracted content from his privately published memoir. He would also like to thank the anonymous peer reviewer for their input.
Notes
1 Nigerian Navy Ordinance, 1956 (No. 28 of 1956). This was followed by the Nigerian Navy (Establishment of Force) Notice, 1958 by which the Governor-General ‘established the Nigerian Navy with effect from the 1st day of May 1958.’
2 Excluding the coast of what was the British Southern Cameroons which is now part of southern Cameroon.
3 Stapleton, African Navies: Historical and contemporary perspectives, 67.
4 Ibid., 72–4.
5 ‘Royal Nigerian Navy,’ Daily Telegraph, 10 Aug. 1959; Nigeria (Republic) Act 1964.
6 The old marine departments ferried British forces embarked on colonial campaigns of sub-jugation including those concerned with the conquest of the Benin Kingdom and the Aro Expedition.
7 Commodore Wey also attended the peace talks held under the auspices of the Ghanaian government in the town of Aburi in January 1967
8 Navigational aids, communication apparatus, armaments, gunfire pins and engine parts were either totally removed or disabled. Adekunle, The Nigeria–Biafra War Letters, 93.
9 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 224.
10 The decree, which was issued in March 1967, modified section 18(1) of the Interpretation Act of 1964.
11 ‘Pay now or no oil, says Nigeria,’ The Guardian, 15 Jun. 1967.
12 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
13 Speller and Tuck, Amphibious Warfare, 71–85.
14 Ishizu, ‘Amphibious Warfare: Theory and Practice,’ 141.
15 The Naval War College Nigeria was established in 2017.
16 Operation Menace, Operation Iron Clad and Operation Torch were conducted by European and North American militaries. The Union of South Africa, using men of the South African branch of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR/SA), performed an amphibious invasion of German South West Africa in 1914.
17 ‘Steam Up Over Man O’ War Bay: Nigerian objections to base,’ The Guardian, 1 Apr. 1960.
18 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
19 Ibid.
20 ‘Captain James Rawe, naval officer who served on D-Day and later helped to develop the Nigerian navy – obituary,’ Daily Telegraph, 30 May 2023.
21 In 1974 he won damages in court when an author insinuated that he had been a soldier of fortune during the Nigerian Civil War.
22 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
23 James Rawe via Timothy Rawe, Pers. Comm., 20 Feb. 2023.
24 They were Dieppe, Omaha Beach and Walcheren. Rawe, ‘Landing by Sea on Enemy-held Territory’, 2.
25 Timothy Rawe, pers. comm., 20 Feb. 2023.
26 Rawe, ‘Landing by Sea on Enemy-held Territory’, 3.
27 Ibid., 3–4.
28 Ibid., 4.
29 Ibid., 4.
30 Prettie, ‘Britain still trying to keep up flow of oil from Nigeria,’ The Guardian, 11 July 1967. See also Raji, and Abejide, ‘Oil and Biafra: An Assessment of Shell–BP’s Dilemma During the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970.’
31 In the case of an American-made patrol boat which was gifted to the Netherlands during the Second World War, Rawe circumvented the arms embargo imposed on both sides by the US through an arrangement where shells were sent to Holland and then re-directed to Nigeria.
32 Rawe, ‘Landing by Sea on Enemy-held Territory’, 4–5.
33 Ibid., 2.
34 Naval Order (No.1) of 1967.
35 A company was stationed in Bonny. Odu, The Future that Vanished, 103.
36 Naval Order (No.1) of 1967, 1.
37 Ibid., 1.
38 Ibid.
39 Annexe ‘A’ to Naval Operation (No. 1) of 1967 (Overlay to Admiralty Chart 3287).
40 Pyrotechnic flare.
41 Naval Order (No.1) of 1967, 2.
42 Ibid., 3–5.
43 Osakwe and Udeagbala, ‘Naval Military Operations in Bonny during the Nigerian Civil War 1967–1970,’ 234.
44 Ibid. When shortly after secession he was asked at a London press conference about the threat posed by the Nigerian Navy, Matthew Mbu, the Biafran foreign minister quipped ‘What navy? I was minister for the Federal Navy.’ See Stremlau, The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 72.
45 Adekunle, The Nigeria–Biafra War Letters, 93.
46 Ibid.
47 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
48 Rawe, ‘Landing by Sea on Enemy-held Territory’, 4.
49 Timothy Rawe, pers. comm., 20 Feb. 2023.
50 Corbett, Some Principles of Maritime Strategy.
51 Adekunle, A Soldier’s Story, 91.
52 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 228.
53 Adekunle, A Soldier’s Story, 91.
54 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
55 Ibid.
56 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 247.
57 Von Moltke, ‘Second Part: Article from 1871 on Strategy,’ Moltke’s Military Works: II. Activity as Chief of the Army General Staff in Peacetime.
58 Rawe did not dwell on back up plans in his paper and operation order. He was clear about the circumstances in which a landing could not be made and insisted that the plan be a ‘straightforward’ one.
59 ‘The side with the most ships almost always wins.’ See Tangredi, ‘Bigger Fleets Win’.
60 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
61 Odu, The Future that Vanished, 114.
62 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
63 Odu, The Future that Vanished, 115.
64 Ibid.
65 Ibid.
66 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
67 Osakwe and Udeagbala. ‘Naval Military Operations in Bonny’, 236.
68 Odu, The Future that Vanished, 115.
69 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
70 Ibid.
71 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
72 James Rawe via Timothy Rawe, Pers. Comm., 20 Feb. 2023.
73 Yusuf, The Nigerian Navy, 3.
74 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 231.
75 Corbett, Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, 87.
76 Odu, The Future that Vanished, 111. The floating dock was later disabled during an encounter with patrolling Nigerian Navy vessels led by Rawe.
77 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
78 Ibid.
79 Ibid.
80 Ibid.
81 Odu, The Future that Vanished, 121. Operation Sea Jack commenced on 25 Sept. 1967.
82 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid.
85 Ibid.
86 Udeagbala, ‘A Comparative Study of the Nigerian and Biafran Navies During the Nigerian Civil War’, 101.
87 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 241
88 Ibid, 241–2.
89 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
90 Soroh, A Sailor’s Dream, 243.
91 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
92 Odu wrote of his pride in preventing Port Harcourt from being taken ‘from the Bonny River’, 154.
93 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
94 The difficulties are mentioned in Rawe’s memoir.
95 De St. Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War, 141.
96 Rawe, That Reminds Me.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Adeyinka Makinde
Adeyinka Makinde is a visiting lecturer in Law at the University of Westminster. The son of a Nigerian naval officer, he has presented lectures on the Bonny Landing as part of the Naval History module on the Naval Warfare course at the Naval War College Nigeria.