[a] British troops occupying the Togolese capital of Lomé on the coast, had advanced towards a wireless station at Kamina, 100 mi (160 km) inland on hills near Atakpamé.

Two trainloads of German troops steamed south to engage the British and delay the Anglo-French invasion but were ambushed at Agbulovhoe, suffered many casualties and fled, leaving 30 mi (48 km) of the railway to the north intact.

[8] By 14 August the British had reached Tsevié unopposed and patrols reported the country south of Agbeluvoe clear of German forces.

When the main force reached Dawie, civilians reported that a train full of Germans had shot up the station at Tsevié earlier that morning.

[10] A second train, carrying Captain Georg Pfähler, commander of the German forces in Togoland, stopped in front of the obstacle and managed to reverse before the ambushers reached it.

The rest of "I" Company had heard the train pass, set another ambush and riddled the engine with bullets as it travelled past at full steam.

Both trains were south of Agbeluvoe and the convoy of carriers with "I" Company's supplies was harassed by German attacks for two hours before they arrived at the British position.

[10] An attempt to break through the "I" Company road and rail block collapsed when the Togolese troops refused orders and then began shooting in all directions.

[10] Next morning Baron Cordelli von Fahnenfeldt, who had designed the wireless station at Kamina and the German explosives expert were captured; the column set off for Agbeluvoe, no news having arrived from "I" Company.

The British lost six killed and 35 wounded, some of whom had injuries which raised suspicions that the Germans had used soft-nosed bullets, which was later discovered to have been partly true, as some hurriedly incorporated reservists had used their civilian hunting ammunition.

[16] The Germans were not able to obtain information about the British in the neighbouring Gold Coast (Ghana) and instructions by wireless from Berlin only insisted that the transmitting station be protected.

The speed of the invasion by several British and French columns, whose size was over-estimated and lack of local support for the colonial regime, had been insuperable obstacles for the German colonialists.