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‪At the same time as waves of demobilisation of riflemen (“tirailleurs”) were taking place throughout the colonial empire, certain territories were experiencing profound social and political changes. In Cameroon, a territory subjected to the war effort since the advent of Free France in 1940, urban riots broke out in 1945, particularly in the port city of Douala where, in addition to trade union demands, French and British riflemen were demobilised and stationed. Faced with a crisis in the means of transport and the transportation of riflemen to their colonies of origin, the colonial authorities were under pressure from the demands of these soldiers, who came from two colonial armies and whose material conditions for demobilisation were different. In addition to this double constraint, the pressure of trade union movements, which emerged with the Brazzaville conference, led to the structuring of the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) in 1948: by aiming to overthrow the colonial order, this nationalist movement intended to federate the anger of demobilised infantrymen against the colonial authorities, who in return used all means to keep these soldiers loyal to the nationalist demands. Between the nationalist project and the promises of the colonial power, the “tirailleurs” of Cameroon adopted a plural positioning, halfway between their own interests and their political opinions, under the gaze of an increasingly politicised colonial public opinion.‪