Portuguese Empire Portuguese personnel established logging infrastructure in an area now referred to as the "Portuguese Fireplace". Throughout 1917 Portugal dispatched contingents of troops to the Allied front in France. Midway in the year, Portugal suffered its first World War I casualty. In Portuguese Africa, Portugal and the British fought numerous battles against the Germans in both Mozambique and Angola. Later in the year, U-boats entered Portuguese waters again and once more attacked Madeira, sinking multiple Portuguese ships. Through the beginning of 1918, Portugal continued to fight along the Allied front against Germany, including participation in the infamous Battle of La Lys.
West Africa Time observed. West Africa Time is used by the following countries: West Africa Time West Africa Time, or WAT, is a time zone used in west-central Africa; with countries west of Benin instead using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT; equivalent to UTC with no offset). West Africa Time is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (), which makes it the same as Central European Time (CET) during winter, or Western European Summer Time (WEST) and British Summer Time (BST) during the summer. As most of this time zone is in the equatorial and tropical region, there is little change in day