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Gold Coast Regiment c.1916.
- British West Africa

Gold Coast Regiment

My limited edition soldier features the Gold Coast Regiment(Ghana) c.1916 on Campaign in German East Africa wearing a Chinese Coolie Hat.

The regiment descended from the various military bodies which existed in the Gold Coast from the 17t and 18th centuries for the protection of trading settlements.It was formed in 1879 as the Gold Coast Constabulary, from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to perform internal security and police duties in the British colony of the Gold Coast. In this guise, the regiment earned its first battle honour as part of the West African Ashanti Wars of 1873-4 and 1900, and in the Great War in Togoland, the Cameroons and East Africa. The regiment, recruited from Africans in the Gold coast was officered by officers of the British Army.

The Gold Coast Constabulary was renamed in 1901 as the Gold Coast Regiment, following the foundation of the British West African Frontier Force, under the direction of the Colonial Office of the British Government. The regiment raised a total of five battalions for service during the First World War, all of which served during the East Africa campaign. During the Second World War, the regiment raised nine battalions, and saw action in Kenya's Northern Frontier District, Italian Somaliland, Abyssinia and Burma.

In 1957, the Gold Coast became the first black African nation to declare independence from Britain. As a result, in 1959, all of the Gold Coast Military Forces, including the Gold Coast Regiment, were withdrawn from the Royal West African Frontier Force. With the country's change of name to Ghana, the regiment was renamed as the Ghana Regiment.

British Colonial Africana Soldier Collection

Click here for details of the hand carved wooden Kings African Rifles Soldiers and Colonial Africana Soldiers.

Wooden Soldier Regimental Histories

All of our wooden soldiers are made in strictly limited editions, click here for a regimental history of each soldier.