Colonel Robert Logan led a 1400-strong expeditionary force to capture German Samoa in New Zealand’s first military action of the First World War. This was the second German territory, after Togoland in West Africa, to fall to the Allies in the war.
On 6 August, shortly after the outbreak of war, Britain asked New Zealand to capture a wireless station in German Samoa. The station, situated in the hills behind Apia, was strategically important because it was capable of sending signals to Berlin and the German fleet in the Pacific.
A small force of local constabulary protected the wireless station. They were no match for the Samoa Expeditionary Force, which achieved its objective without resistance.
New Zealand occupied the islands for the remainder of the war, then from 1920 until 1962 administered Western Samoa under mandates from the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. New Zealand’s rule was marred by its inept handling of the deadly influenza epidemic of 1918 and suppression of the Mau nationalist movement in the 1920s (see 28 December).
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 farewellsSamoan 'invasion' Great War Story – Capture of German Samoa
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How to cite this page
'New Zealand force captures German Samoa', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealand-expeditionary-force-captures-german-samoa, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 9-Jul-2020
