Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/West Africa Campaign (World War II)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   no consensus. The discussion suggests that non-deletion improvements such as mergers or renames/rewrites are possible.  Sandstein  08:48, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

West Africa Campaign (World War II)

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I am proposing that this article be nominated for deletion, or its information merging with other articles. No such campaign took place during the war. Yes, there was two battles fought in West Africa but they were not part of a related campaign (Further noted by the time difference and the goals, noted in their respected articles. Gabon: “De Gaulle also wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlled Libya”; Dakar: “Another Vichy French colony changing sides would have great political impact. Also the gold reserves of the Banque de France and the Polish government in exile were stored in Dakar; and the port of Dakar as a naval base was far superior to Freetown, Sierra Leone, which was the only Allied port in the area.” The article uses a single weak source, which does not support the article title or if there was a such a campaign, and is barely edited. The external links, also to weak sources and dead links also do not support the article. The article is not backed by reliable sources, and appears to be either a hoax or OR. Anon090512 (talk) 18:57, 9 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. Necrothesp (talk) 13:58, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. Necrothesp (talk) 13:58, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Africa-related deletion discussions. Necrothesp (talk) 13:58, 10 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Delete per nom. No 'campaign' took place. Buckshot06 (talk) 23:31, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Automated comment: This AfD was not correctly transcluded to the log (step 3). I have transcluded it to Articles for deletion/Log/2012 May 10.  Snotbot   t &bull; c &raquo;  23:42, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Keep - This is a simple editing issue. Rename to Battles of West Africa in World War II or some such and lose the language about there having been a "campaign." Carrite (talk) 00:32, 11 May 2012 (UTC)
 * But why should the two battles be linked? How do you justify linking them? Buckshot06 (talk) 00:50, 11 May 2012 (UTC)
 * There are two articles already covering the battles, and, while not perfect, a summary article of the entire theatre that mentions the battles. See Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.8.192.142 (talk) 08:19, 11 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Delete per nomination: this wasn't a coherent campaign, but rather two separate battles several months apart. Nick-D (talk) 02:11, 12 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Ron Ritzman (talk) 01:19, 17 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I have discovered a very easy way to link this article with the other two using a redirect. Would that be acceptible? DrPhen (talk) 03:42, 17 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Merge with Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II. Content of article meets event notability guideline, but almost no source uses the term "West Africa Campaign."  — Preceding unsigned comment added by NJ Wine (talk • contribs) 04:24, 17 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Comment – These were part of a larger conflict between Britain and Vichy France, described at Vichy_France. The articles in that conflict need to be tied together. Maybe "Anglo-French conflict of 1941". Regards, RJH (talk) 18:29, 17 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Although there were multiple reasons for why the various attacks were made on Vichy, by the British. Mers-el-Kebir: to stop the French fleet being used by Germany. Gibraltar: reprisal for Mers-elKebit. Dakar: British aiding de Gaulle attempt to take the strategic vital port and seize the gold reserves. Middle East: Vichy colonies had aided Axis forces support the Iraq rebellion, it was an attempt to secure the rear of Egypt, the oil fields, and remove a possible threat/staging base. Madagascar: removal of ports that could be used by the Japanese. Not exactly a straight up Anglo-Vichy conflict. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.8.192.142 (talk) 17:45, 19 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Keep – While perhaps not a traditional "campaign", the Allied/Vichy French conflicts in West Africa form a related sequence of events. In histories it is often given treatment as a British front or theater of war, not least of which in the recent England's Last War Against France. Renaming would be agreeable, but not deletion. SteveStrummer (talk) 09:19, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
 * How where they related? When i read the respective articles, there was no hint of any kind of connection other than there being French and British forces involved, and it being in Africa. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.8.192.142 (talk) 20:03, 20 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Rename to French West Africa in World War II. This is a poor article and a better summary of events is in the Vichy France article, but (renamed) this would make a stub from which a more satisfactory article clould be built up, dealing with the subject of how the Free French Forces too control of this French colony and then advanced to join up with the British and allies in Libya.  Equally the question of how the Free French managed to gain control of French Equatorial Africa could usefully be included.  Peterkingiron (talk) 16:42, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.