{"product_id":"ww2-royal-west-africa-frontier-force-cloth-shoulder-title","title":"WW2 Royal West Africa Frontier Force cloth shoulder title.","description":"\u003cp\u003eWW2 Royal West Africa Frontier Force cloth shoulder title in mint condition, title worn also post war until its disbanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e• In 1939 the RWAFF passed from Colonial Office to War Office control and was rapidly expanded from a small garrison force into a field army contribution, eventually providing about ten infantry brigades grouped into the 81st (West Africa) and 82nd (West Africa) Divisions.\u003cbr\u003e• Battalions were drawn from the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Gambia, with African other ranks under British and West African officers and NCOs; they trained in jungle and mountain warfare in West Africa and India before deployment.\u003cbr\u003eCampaign service\u003cbr\u003e• RWAFF units first saw WWII action in Italian Somaliland and Abyssinia (East African campaign, 1940–41), fighting alongside East African and Indian formations to drive the Italians out of the Horn of Africa.\u003cbr\u003e• From 1943–45 the bulk of the force served in the Burma campaign under the British Fourteenth Army: the 81st and 82nd (West Africa) Divisions slogged through the Arakan and Kaladan valleys, operating in extremely difficult jungle terrain and relying heavily on air‑supplied columns.\u003cbr\u003e• Their operations helped cut Japanese supply lines on the Arakan front and contributed to the eventual Allied advance to Mandalay and Rangoon; contemporary accounts note their endurance on long porter‑based supply lines and steep hill tracks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gradia Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52781525107016,"sku":"6.3.26 (18)","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0924\/1103\/5976\/files\/IMG-0033.heic?v=1774562506","url":"https:\/\/www.gradiamilitaria.com\/products\/ww2-royal-west-africa-frontier-force-cloth-shoulder-title","provider":"Gradia Militaria","version":"1.0","type":"link"}