The Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment, Royal West African Frontier Force, also known as the Nigeria Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force was formed by the amalgamation of the Northern Nigeria Regiment and the Southern Nigeria Regiment on 1 January 1914.
At that time of its founding, the regiment consisted of five battalions:
The regiment served throughout the First World War in the Cameroons (1914-1916), and in East African Campaign (1916-1918). In the Second World War, the regiment saw service in the East African Campaign where it carried out the fastest advance in military history against Italian forces and in Burma where it provided the bulk of the 81 and 82 West African divisions. In addition 3 West African Brigade was attached throughout the Second Chindits operation of 1944.
At the start of World War II the 4th battalion, along with the 6th, 7th and 12th battalions, was grouped with the 1st Sierra Leone Rifles and 1st Battalion, Gambia Regiment, to form the 6th (West Africa) Infantry Brigade. The battalion remained in Nigeria while the first three battalions fought the Italians in East Africa. The battalion remained in Nigeria for local defense and to train new recruits. With the Fall of France the battalion was the only defense for the country against possible Vichy French threats from neighboring colonies. The battalion continued on this duty until the Vichy French threat faded in 1942.
With the decision to form two West African divisions the 6th West African Brigade joined the 81st West African Division on 31 Mar 1943. The regiment returned to Nigeria in May 1946.[1]
In 1956, at the time of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, the regiment was renamed The Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment, Royal West African Frontier Force, part of the Nigerian Military Forces.[2][3][4]
Finalmente hubo un Centro de Entrenamiento del Regimiento de Nigeria en Zaria , una compañía de ingenieros de campo y una batería de artillería de campo. En sus últimos años los batallones estuvieron estacionados en Kaduna , Enugu , Ibadan y Abeokuta (uno cada uno); estas estaciones rotadas.
A nivel interno, el regimiento tenía una imagen negativa por su comportamiento punitivo como instrumento de la política imperial británica. [5] Hasta poco antes de la independencia en 1960, todavía había una mayoría de oficiales británicos y algunos suboficiales británicos especializados. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi fue nombrado ya en 1949 (con el resultado de que más tarde se convirtió en el primer oficial general nigeriano al mando del ejército y el primer jefe de estado militar), pero el número de oficiales africanos aumentó sólo lentamente durante la década de 1950.
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