The task of raising the new locally recruited force was entrusted to Colonel F.D. Lugard who arrived in Nigeria in 1898. The following year an interdepartmental committee recommended the amalgamation of all existing British colonial military forces in West Africa under the designation of the West African Field Force.

On formation in 1900, the RWAFF comprised:

• Northern Nigeria Regiment - 3 battalions
• Southern Nigeria Regiment - 2 battalions
• The Gold Coast Regiment - 1 battalion
• The Sierra Leone Battalion - 1 battalion
• The Gambia Company - 1 company

By 1908 the RWAFF in Northern Nigeria comprised two battalions of infantry, two batteries of artillery and one company of engineers. The infantry battalions at that time had an establishment of 1,200 men, the artillery 175 and the engineers 46. There were 217 British officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists. Mounted infantry detachments were subsequently raised. The standard weapon was the .303 Martini-Enfield carbine, with QF 2.95 inch mountain guns (quick firing pack howitzers) for the artillery.

In 1957 the British colony of The Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana and the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the RWAFF to form the Ghana Regiment of Infantry in the newly independent nation.

The RWAFF was finally disbanded in 1960 as the British colonies of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia moved towards independence. The former RWAFF units formed the basis of the new national armies of their respective states.