Gambia Armed Forces defence and security in The Gambia was the responsibility of the Field Force. The Field Force was a paramilitary unit of the police, consisting of roughly 140 men at independence and rising to around 500 in 1980. It has been formed in 1958 following the disbandment of the Gambia Regiment, part of the British Army. There was little concern about security in The Gambia due to its small size and the safety provided by being totally surrounded by Senegal, with which it had signed a mutual defence pact in 1965. This lax attitude to defence changed following the 1981 coup
The Gambia in World War II 1945. In 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the Gambia, the first visit by a sitting President of the United States to the African continent. The Colony-class light cruiser HMS Gambia, which saw active service during World War II, took its name from the colony. It maintained a connection with the Gambia throughout its service, and on 28 May 1943, called at Bathurst when it was en route to Cape Town. The Gambia is also home to Fajara War Cemetery, now maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which contains 203 Commonwealth burials from World War II, four of which are