The Samoa Expeditionary Force (SEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 1,400 men raised in

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shortly after the outbreak of

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to seize and destroy the

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wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

station in

German Samoa German Samoa officially Malo Kaisalika / Kingdom of Samoa (; Samoan: ''Malo Kaisalika'') was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the Independent State ...

in the south-west

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. Britain required the German wireless installations to be destroyed because they were used by ''

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'' (Vice Admiral)

Maximilian von Spee Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a German naval officer in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine)'', who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the n ...

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of the

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, which threatened

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ping in the region. Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the SEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war.

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provided a similar force for the Allied occupation of German New Guinea.

History

Purpose

Upon the outbreak of World War I on 5 August 1914, the

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authorised the raising of the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

(NZEF) for service in the war. Mobilisation for the war had already begun, with preparations discreetly beginning a few days prior. The day after the declaration of war, the British Government requested New Zealand seize the wireless station at

, a protectorate of the

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, deeming it "a great and urgent Imperial service." The occupation of German Samoa was actually in accordance with plans laid down prior to the war by the Commander of the New Zealand Military Forces, Major General

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Formation and deployment

The Samoa Expeditionary Force began forming following the British request. Colonel Robert Logan, a member of the

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and commander of the Auckland Military District, was appointed to command of the SEF. By 11 August 1914, the SEF consisted of over 1,400 personnel, including three companies of infantry and a company of field engineers. It departed New Zealand on 15 August in a convoy of troopships escorted by the cruisers ''Philomel'', ''Pyramus'' and ''Psyche''. After stopping at

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, where the convoy was joined by the

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HMAS ''Australia'', the cruiser HMAS ''Melbourne'' and the French cruiser ''Montcalm'', the entire expedition, now under the command of Rear Admiral George Edwin Patey, went on to Fiji. Here several Legion-of-Frontiersmen and Samoan chiefs joined the SEF and it then sailed for Samoa on 27 August. Despite concerns that Spee's East Asia Squadron of two

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

s ( and ) and four

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s (, , and ) would interfere with proceedings, the SEF arrived at

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, the capital of Samoa, on 29 August. It made an unopposed landing, covered by the guns of the accompanying escorts, and secured the Government offices in the town as well as the wireless station several miles away. Logan, now the Military Administrator of Samoa and with the German governor Erich Schultz-Ewerth as prisoner of war, oversaw the official raising of the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

the following day, formally declaring the occupation of German Samoa. The SEF remained in Samoa until March 1915, when it began returning to New Zealand. A small relief force arrived in Apia on 3 April 1915 and the troopship that brought them to Samoa transported the last of the SEF back to New Zealand. Logan remained and would continue to administer the country on behalf of the New Zealand Government until 1919. His term was controversial for he significantly mishandled the arrival of the

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in November 1918, resulting in over 7,500 deaths.

Order of Battle

Samoa Expeditionary Force (August 1914) * 3rd (Auckland) Regiment (one company, 253 personnel) * 5th (Wellington) Regiment (two companies, 559 personnel) * D Battery, New Zealand Artillery (two BL 15-pounder Mk IV guns and two QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt guns, 100 personnel) * No.4 Company,

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(two sections, 60 personnel) * New Zealand Railway Engineers (one company, 258 personnel) * New Zealand Medical Corps (78 personnel, including 6 nursing sisters) * Divisional Signal Corps (26 personnel) * 5th (Wellington) Regimental Band (26 personnel)

Gallery

File:Occupation of German-Samoa 1914.jpg, The raising of the Union Jack on 30 August 1914 in Apia, Samoa. File:Col. Logan, Samoa, 1914.jpg, Colonel Robert Logan reading a proclamation in Apia, Samoa, on 29 August 1914, the day he assumed responsibility as military administrator. File:Officers of 5th Wellington Regiment Samoa WW1.jpg, Officers of the 5th (Wellington) Regiment in Apia, 1914-1915 File:00NZPHomeNews201408291-german-flag-feature.jpg, New Zealand troops displaying a captured German flag in Apia

Notes

;Citations

References

* * * {{Anzac Ad hoc units and formations of New Zealand Expeditionary units and formations Military units and formations of New Zealand in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914