East African campaign (World War II)

East African Campaign
Part of African Campaigns, World War II
Personnel from the King's African Rifles (KAR) collect weapons surrendered by Italian forces at Wolchefit Pass, Ethiopia. (Photographer: Lt H. J. Clements.)
Date 10 June 1940-27 November 1941 Location Sudan, British Somaliland, Kenya, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia Result Complete Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Sudan British Somaliland British East Africa File:Imperial-India-Blue-Ensign.svg British India Gold Coast Nigeria N. Rhodesia S. Rhodesia File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897).png Ethiopia Free France Belgian Congo Union of South Africa	Italy Italian East Africa
Commanders and leaders
Archibald Wavell File:Flag of Ethiopia (1897).png Haile Selassie William Platt Alan Cunningham	Duke of Aosta Guglielmo Nasi Luigi Frusci Pietro Gazzera
Strength
30,000	250,000-280,000

The East African Campaign refers to the battles fought between Allied forces and Italian Empire forces in Italian East Africa during World War II. This campaign is often seen as part of the North African Campaign. The vast majority of the Allied forces were from the British Commonwealth, including the Indian Empire, South Africa, Rhodesian, Nigeria, and Gold Coast. In addition, Ethiopian irregular forces, Free French forces, and Free Belgian forces also fought on the Allied side.

Political situation

Italy partially occupied Ethiopia in 1936 and eventually created Italian East Africa out of newly-occupied Ethiopia and the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.

On 10 June 1940, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini entered World War II against the Allies, the Italian forces in Africa became a potential threat to British supply routes along the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. An Italian invasion of either French Somaliland or British Somaliland were reasonable choices. But Mussolini looked past these small, isolated colonies and, instead, looked forward to triumphs in the Sudan and Kenya.

In the early part of the war, British General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief of the Middle East Command, had a total of 86,000 British and Commonwealth troops at his disposal to handle potential conflicts in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and East Africa. Worse, his forces were spread out in Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, British Somaliland, Kenya, and several other locations. Faced with forces spaced out along the enemy frontiers at intervals of about eight men to the mile, Wavell resolved to fight the Italians with delaying actions at the main posts and hope for the best. The delaying actions, bolstered by aggressive raids into Italian territory, were fought with skill and spirit. From July 1940 onwards, British and Commonwealth reinforcements started to appear in significant numbers.

Short of men, Wavell needed all of the local support he could find. One answer was Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. The deposed emperor had been living in England ever since the Italians invaded his country in 1936 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

In July, the British government recognised Emperor Selassie and promised to help him to reclaim his throne. But, before July, related activities were already taking place.

On 13 June, only three days after Mussolini declared war against Britain and France, a "Mr. Strong" took off in a Short Sunderland flying boat from Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. Emperor Selassie, alias Mr. Strong, was headed home. On 25 June, Mr. Strong arrived in Alexandria, Egypt. Seven days later, as "Mr. Smith," he flew to Khartoum in the Sudan. In Khartoum, Mr. Smith met Lieutenant-General William Platt. Emperor Selassie and Platt discussed plans to free Ethiopia from the Italian yoke.

Military situation

Italian ground forces

Amedeo, Duke of Aosta was the Governor-General of Italian East Africa and he had between 250,000 and 280,000 Italian troops available to him. However, most of the troops (about 70%) were local East African askaris. While many of the best Italian units in East africa were askaris, the vast majority of these units were recruited, trained, and equipped to do no more than maintain order in the colony. Even so, the Italians in East Africa were equipped with about 3,300 machine guns, 24 medium tanks, a large number of light tanks (tankettes), 126 armored cars and trucks, and 813 pieces of artillery. Unfortunately, there was limited munitions available for the machine guns, the tanks and armored cars were generally obsolete, the the artillery was of many different calibers (a logistics nightmare) and much of the artillery was very old (many guns dated back to the World War I era and before). Worse, the Italians in East Africa were isolated with very little chance for re-inforcements or re-supply.

British and Commonwealth ground forces

The British and Commonwealth forces in East Africa amounted to about 30,000 men under Lieutenant-General William Platt in the Sudan, Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham in Kenya, and Colonel Arthur Reginald Chater in British Somaliland. The British and Commonwealth forces were slightly better equipped, had access to re-supply and re-inforcements, and enjoyed something of an advantage in armor and artillery. However, they were vastly outnumbered by the Italian forces available in Italian East Africa alone. To make matters worse for the British, the Italians had at least another 208,000 men (fourteen divisions) available in Libya.

On 10 June 1940, in all of the Sudan, prior to the arrival of the Indian 4th Infantry Division and Indian 5th Infantry Division, Platt had only three infantry battalions (which were absorbed into the under-strength 5th Indian Division when it arrived) and the machine-gun companies of the Sudan Defense Force. The three battalions were the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment , the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment and the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment which in mid-September became part of Indian 29th, 10th and 9th Infantry Brigades respectively.

In Kenya, the King's African Rifles (KAR) was composed of two brigade-strength units organized as a "Northern Brigade" and a "Southern Brigade." In 1938, the combined strength of both units amounted to 94 officers, 60 non-commissioned officers, and 2,821 African other ranks. After the outbreak of war, these units provided the trained nucleus for the rapid expansion of the KAR. By March 1940, the strength of the KAR had reached 883 officers, 1,374 non-commissioned officers, and 20,026 African other ranks. The size of a KAR battalion was established at 36 officers, 44 non-commissioned officers and other ranks, and 1,050 African other ranks.

Initially the KAR deployed as the 1st East African Infantry Brigade and the 2nd East African Infantry Brigade. The first brigade was responsible for coastal defense and the second was responsible for the defense of the interior. By the end of July, two addional East African brigades were formed, the 3rd East African Infantry Brigade and the 6th East African Infantry Brigade. Initially a Coastal Division and a Northern Frontier District Division were planned. But, instead, the 11th African Division and the 12th African Division were formed.

On 1 June, the first South African unit arrived in Mombassa, Kenya. By the end of July, the 1st South African Infantry Brigade Group joined the first unit. On 13 August, the 1st South African Division was formed. This division included the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Brigade Groups. By the end of the year, approximately 27,000 South Africans were serving in East Africa. The South Africans were either in the 1st South African Division, the 11th African Division, or the 12th African Division. Each South African brigade group consisted of three rifle battalions, an armored car company, and supporting signal, engineer, and medical units.

By July, under the terms of a war contingency plan, two brigades were provided on rotation for service in Kenya by the "Royal West African Frontier Force." One brigade was from the Gold Coast (Ghana) and one brigade was from Nigeria. The Nigerian brigade, together with two East African brigades (the KAR brigades) and some South Africans, formed 11th African Division. The 12th African Division had a similar formation with the Ghanaian brigade taking the place of the Nigerian brigade.

In British Somaliland, Chater commanded the Somaliland Camel Corps and the re-inforcements that were trickling in. At the outbreak of hostilities, the camel corps had a total of 1,475 men to defend the colony. This number also includes a battalion of the Northern Rhodesian Regiment.

Gideon Force

A significant aspect of the Allied campaign to retake Ethiopia was irregular forces. It was expected that these forces would be able to tie down large numbers of Italian units throughout the colony. Major Orde Wingate, later to gain fame in Burma with the Chindits, was a major mover behind the Ethiopian "patriots" (or Arbegnoch}. Wingate's Gideon Force, named after the biblical judge Gideon, was comprised of the Sudan Defence Force Frontier battalion and the 2nd Ethiopian Battalion.

Gideon Force was able to travel relatively freely throughout the countryside. At any time during its brief history, the Italian East African Empire was only nominally under Italian control. It is estimated that as much as two thirds of Ethiopia remained under the control of Ethiopian nobles. The Italians did not endear themselves to the Ethiopians. On 22 May 1936, when General Rodolfo Graziani was made Viceroy of Ethiopia, the Italians may have possibly chosen the man least likely to pacify the country. On 6 June, Mussolini cabled Graziani: "All rebels captured are to be shot." This gave the new Viceroy, infamous for his pacification of Libya, all the power he needed. Soon, Graziani's reputation for brutal repession earned him the title: "the Butcher of Ethiopia." For their part, the Ethiopian patriots gave the Italian troops every reason to fear losing to them.

Very importantly to the success of Gideon Force, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia accompanied the force of Ethiopian patriots. Sizeable patriot forces were concentrated in the provinces of Gojjam, Shoa, Gimma, Galla-Sidama, and Harage. Ras Desta and Ras Imru, two Ethiopian army commanders from the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and still loyal to Emperor Selassie, had continued a guerilla war against the Italians. They and the forces they commanded awaited the return of the emperor.

Air power

ln June 1940, the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) in East Africa had between two and three hundred "combat ready" aircraft. Some Italian aircraft were obsolete, but the Italians also had Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers and Fiat CR-42 fighters. In relative terms, these were some of the best aircraft available on either side in East Africa. In addition, the Italian aircraft were often based at better airfields. As the war began, Mussolini's airmen were justifiably full of confidence, but there was the problem of lack of fuel for the italian aircraft.

British and Commonwealth air forces were dispersed as follows: In the north (Sudan) were two Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber squadrons at Port Sudan (one of these squadron was equipped with obsolete aircraft) and the RAF Army Co-operation Squadron on the Sudan frontier. In the south (Kenya) were No. 12 Bomber Squadron of the South African Air Force (SAAF) (equipped with Junkers Ju 86 bombers), No. 11 Bomber Squadron of the SAAF (equipped with Fairey Battles), No. 40 Army Co-operation Squadron SAAF (equipped with Hawker Hartebeestes), No. 2 Fighter Squadron, SAAF (equipped with Hawker Furies), and No. 237 (Southern Rhodesian) Army Co-operation Squadron (equipped with Hawker Hardys).

The Italian Red Sea Flotilla

The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) had the "Red Sea Flotilla" in East Africa. Most vessels were stationed in the port of Massawa in Eritrea. Mogadishu in Italian Somaliland also had some port facilities. The Red Sea Flotilla had seven destroyers organized into two squadrons, five motor torpedo boats (MTB, or Motoscafo Armato Silurante, MAS) organized into one squadron, and eight submarines organized into two squadons.

While the Italian naval squadrons were not used all that aggressively, the British viewed them as a threat to Allied convoys heading from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. As Italian fuel supplies in Massawa dwindled, so did the Italian Navy's opportunity for offensive action in the Red Sea.

Opening moves

Starting in June 1940, the Italians tested the resolve of the British and Commonwealth forces along the borders of the Sudan and Kenya and in the shipping lanes of the Red Sea.

On 13 June, early in the morning, three Italian Caproni bombers appeared and bombed the Rhodesian air base at the fort located at Wajir in Kenya. The Rhodesian aircraft were still warming up and preparing to take-off on a dawn patrol. The Capronis bombed the fort, the landing-ground, and nearby housing. The King's African Rifles (KAR), then garrisoning the fort, lost four killed and eleven wounded. Two Rhodesian aircraft were badly damaged and a large dump of aviation fuel was set on fire. Following this, the air base at Wajir received regular visits from the Italians every second or third day and the Rhodesian pilots were made to realize the significant shortcomings in speed and fire-power of the Hawker Hardys they themselves flew.

At dawn on 17 June, the Rhodesians struck back and supported a successful raid by the KAR on the Italian desert outpost of El Wak in Italian Somaliland, some ninety miles northeast of Wajir. The Rhodesians bombed and set alight the thatched mud huts and generally harassed the enemy troops. But, since the main fighting at that time was centered around Italian advances towards Moyale in Kenya, the Rhodesians concentrated on that town. In conjunction with the South African Air Force, the Rhodesians undertook the task of reconnaissance and bombing in that disputed area.

The Italian Red Sea Flotilla saw early action too as they attempted to make their presence known. But they introduced themselves at a high cost. In mid to late June, four of the eight submarines based in Massawa were lost. On 15 June, the Italian submarine "Macalle" ran aground and was a total loss. On 16 June 1940, the Italian submarine "Galileo Galilei" sank the Norwegian tanker "James Stove" approximately 12 miles south of Aden. On 19 June, the "Galileo Galilei" was on patrol off of Aden and, after a gun duel, was captured by the armed trawler “Moonstone.” On 23 June, in the Gulf of Aden but off of French Somaliland, the Italian submarine "Evangelista Toricelli" was sunk by the British destroyers “Kandahar” and “Kingston” with assistance from the sloop “Shoreham.” During this action, the British destroyer “Khartoum” suffered an internal explosion and sank in shallow water off Perim Island. The British destroyer was a total loss. Later on 23 June, the Italian submarine "Luigi Galvani" sank the Indian patrol sloop "Pathan" in the Indian Ocean. However, on 24 June, the "Luigi Galvani" was sunk by the sloop "Falmouth" in the Gulf of Oman.

Early in July, Italian forces in Eritrea crossed the Sudan border and forced the small British garrison holding the railway junction at Kassala to withdraw. The Italians also seized the small British fort at Gallabat, just over the border from Metemma, some 200 miles to the south of Kassala. Having taken Kassala and Gallabat, however, the Italians decided to venture no further - because of lack of fuel - and they proceeded to fortify Kassala with anti-tank defences, machine-gun posts, and strong-points. The Italians sent a brigade-strong garrison to Kassala.

The Italian invasion of British Somaliland

On 3 August 1940, approximately 25,000 Italian troops invaded British Somaliland. The Italians were commanded by General Guglielmo Nasi.

The Italian invasion of British Somaliland in august 1940

The Italian force had initially been assembled to capture the major French base in French Somaliland. The French commander, Brigadier-General Paul Legentilhomme, had some seven-thousand men in seven battalions of Senegalese and Somali infantry. He also had three batteries of field guns, four batteries of anti-aircraft guns, a company of light tanks, four companies of militia and irregulars, two platoons of camel corps, and an assortment of aircraft. But the Vichy French government's neutrality after the fall of France in June 1940 allowed the Italians to shift their focus to the more lightly defended British Somaliland. French Somaliland remained Vichy until 1942.

The Italian force attacking British Somaliland included five colonial brigades, three Blackshirt battalions, and three bands (banda) of native troops. The Italians had armoured vehicles (about one-hundred light and medium tanks), artillery, and, for the moment, superior air support.

The Italians were opposed by a British contingent of about four-thousand men consisting of the Somaliland Camel Corps, elements of the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion King's African Rifles (KAR) and the 1st Battalion Northern Rhodesian Regiment, the 3rd Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion Black Watch.

The Italians advanced in three columns, with the western column advancing towards Zeila, the central column towards Hargeisa, and the eastern column towards Odweina in the south. The commander of the Somaliland Camel Corps, Colonel Chater, used his force to skirmish with and screen against the advancing Italians as the other British and Commonwealth forces pulled back towards Tug Argan.

Battle of Tug Argan

On 5 August, within two days of the invasion, the towns of Zeila and Hargeisa were taken. The occupation of Zeila effectively sealed British Somaliland off from French Somaliland. Odweina fell the following day and the Italian central and eastern columns combined to launch attacks against the main British and Commonwealth positions at Tug Argan.

On 7 August the British and Commonwealth forces in British Somaliland received reinforcements with the arrival of the 1st Battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment. On 11 August, a new commander, Major-General Alfred Godwin-Austen, reached Tug Argan.

But, early on 15 August, Godwin-Austen concluded that further resistance to the Italians would be futile in Tug Argan. He contacted the British Middle East Command headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. Godwin-Austen requested and received permission to withdraw his forces from British Somaliland. The determined effort of the Black Watch battalion, which covered the retreat, allowed the entire British and Commonwealth contingent to withdraw to Berbera with reduced lossess. By 17 August, the contigent was successfully evacuated to Aden.

On 19 August 1940, the Italians took control of Berbera and then moved down the coast to complete their conquest of British Somaliland. The British colony was annexed to Italian East Africa.

British and Commonwealth losses in the short campaign were relatively low:

• 38 killed in action (KIA)
• 102 wounded
• 120 missing

By contrast, the Italians losses were almost ten times that of the British:

• 465 KIA (mostly colonial troops)
• 1,530 wounded
• 34 missing

The British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, criticized General Archibald Wavell concerning the loss of British Somaliland. It was Wavell's Middle East Command which was responsible for the loss of the colony. Because of the low casualty rate, Churchill fretted that the British had abandoned the colony without enough of a fight.

In response to this criticism, Wavell claimed that Somaliland was a textbook withdrawal in the face of superior numbers. He pointed out to Churchill that “A bloody butcher’s bill is not the sign of a good tactician.” According to Churchill's staff, Wavell's retort moved Churchill to greater fury than they had ever seen before.

The conquest of the British Somaliland was the only victory Italy achieved -- without the support of German troops -- during World War II against the Allies.

Insights

Among the insights from the campaign in British Somaliland are the following:

• The invasion of British Somaliland showed that Italian forces could co-ordinate columns separated by many miles of desert.
• British forces showed good discipline in the retreat and were able to salvage most of their forces.
• The invasion of British Somaliland was the only campaign the Italians won unaided in World War II.
• British Somaliland was the first British colony to fall to enemy forces in World War II.
• After the first months of the war were over, the Italians had nothing to show for their offensive efforts except for the colony of British Somaliland, the Sudanese border outposts of Kassala and Gallabat, and a few square miles in Kenya around Moyale.

Britain's initial reaction

The Indian 5th Infantry Division started to arrive in the Sudan in early September 1940. Soon after, a surprise attack was staged to take back Gallabat. The attacking force comprised William "Bill" Slim's Indian 10th Infantry Brigade of the Indian 5th Infantry Division. Slim was accompanied by a squadron of 12 medium and light tanks, a field regiment of artillery and supported by the RAF. The attack began with the successful capture of Gallabat on 6 November which was followed by an assault on Metemma, on the other side of the ravine forming the border. However, the Italian defenders occupied strong prepared positions and were supported by a fierce onslaught from the counter-attacking Italian air force (Regia Aeronautica). Italian aircraft appeared from Gondar in great strength to support the hard-pressed Italian infantry. The Italian airmen shot down seven RAF Gloster Gladiators whilst losing five Fiat CR-42s and, for forty-eight hours, proceeded to methodically bomb the 1st Battalion Essex Regiment and the 3rd Battalion 18th Royal Garwhal Rifles. They did this until the British and Commonwealth troops were compelled to withdraw from the positions they had just won. 10th Brigade re-occupied the ridge west of Gallabat three days later but the operation against Metemma was not continued.

For the next two months 10th Indian Brigade and after them 9th Indian Brigade (who relieved 10th in December) simulated the activities of a full division. They blazed lines of communication east from Gedaref and created dummy airfields and stores depots to convince Italian Intelligence that Platt's main thrust would be towards Gondar rather than Kassala.

On 16 October, Gazelle Force was created in the Sudan as a mobile reconnaissance and fighting force. It comprised three motor machine-gun companies from the Sudan Defence Force, the 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse (the reconnaissance regiment from the Indian 5th Infantry Division), and some mobile artillery. Gazelle Force was commanded by Colonel Frank Messervy.

Throughout November, December and early January, Lieutenant-General Platt continued to apply constant pressure on the Italians all along the border with the Sudan. He applied this pressure by continuous patrolling and raiding with both his ground troops and his air force. During this time, better British aircraft started to replace some of the older models. The British and Commonwealth air forces were now starting to get Hawker Hurricanes and more Gloster Gladiators which were better or at least the equal of the Italian Fiat CR-42 fighters and Savoia-Marchetti bombers.

On 6 December, a large concentration of Italian motor transport a few miles north of Kassala was bombed and strafed by Commonwealth aircraft. The same aircraft then proceeded to machine-gun from low level the nearby positions of the Italian Blackshirts and colonial infantry. A few days later, the same aircraft bombed the Italian base at Keru, fifty miles east of Kassala. The pilots had the satisfaction of seeing supply dumps, stores, and transport enveloped in flame and smoke as they flew away.

One morning in mid-December, a force of Italian fighters paid a visit to a Rhodesian landing-strip near Kassala and strafed some Hawker Hardys on the ground. As a result of the Italian attack, several aircraft were destroyed. However, there were no casualties.

Italians adopt a defensive posture

After the invasion of British Somaliland, the Italians adopted a more defensive posture. The setbacks suffered by Italian forces elswhere in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Western Desert, in the skies over Britain, and in Greece prompted the new Italian Chief of the General Staff in Rome, General Ugo Cavallero, to adopt a new course of action in East Africa. In December 1940, he argued to the Italian High Command that Italy should abandon offensive actions against the Sudan and against the Suez Canal. Instead, Cavallero argued that Italy should focus on defending the Italian East African Empire. The italian Commando Supremo in Rome knew that the italian troops had limited fuel and armaments to successfully fight the growing and technically superior british forces, so gave "orders to withdraw" toward better defensive positions.

Orders were sent to General Luigi Frusci, Acting Governor of Eritrea and commander of the Italian forces there, to withdraw from Kassala and Metemma on the lowlands along the Sudan/Eritrea border. Frusci was ordered to hold instead the more easily defended mountain passes on the roads running eastward from Kassala to Agordat and Metemma to Gondar. However, Frusci chose not withdraw, arguing that withdrawal would involve too great a loss of prestige. Additionally, Kassala was an important railway junction.

Action at sea

During this time of passivity, attention shifted to the naval sphere and to the Italian Red Sea Flotilla. Fuel and parts shortages continued to severely hamper the capabilities of the italian flotilla.

On 13 August, the Italian submarine "Gauleo Ferraras" tried to intercept the British battleship Royal Sovereign in the Red Sea. The Royal Sovereign, coming from Suez, escaped the Italian ambush and made it safely to Aden.

On 6th September, the Italian submarine "Guglielmo" waited for prey south of the Farisan Islands. The "Guglielmo" succeeded in torpedoing and sinking only one ship, the oil tanker "Atlas."

Between 20 October and 21 October, the Italian submarines "Guglielmo" and "Gauleo Ferraras" tried to intercept a large British Red Sea convoy coming from Indian Ocean and sailing to Port Sudan and Suez. The BN7 convoy included 31 cargo vessels escorted by the New Zealand cruiser "Leander," the British destroyer "Kimberley," and five sloops. The convoy also had an air escort provided by 50 fighters and bombers based in Aden. The "Guglielmo" and "Gauleo Ferraras" did not succeed in intercepting the convoy. Later, the same convoy was intercepted and attacked by three Italian destroyers.

On 21 November, the British Red Sea convoy BN7 was attacked by the Italian destroyers "Pantera," "Leone," and "Francesco Nullo." The convoy escorts drove the Italian destroyers off. Two of the convoy escorts, the New Zealand cruiser "Leander" and the British destroyer "Kimberley," drove the Italian destroyer "Francesco Nullo" ashore with their combined gunfire. The "Francesco Nullo" was destroyed the next day by Royal Air Force (RAF) Blenheim light bombers.

On 27 February 1941, after breaking out of Massawa with the colonial ship "Eritrea" and the armed merchant cruiser "Ramb II", the armed merchant cruiser "Ramb I" was located off the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean and sunk by the New Zealand cruiser "Leander." Both "Eritrea" and "Ramb II" made it to Kobe, Japan.

Allied counter-offensive

After the fall of British Somaliland, General Archibald Wavell's plan for the counter-offensive by British and Commonwealth forces included a "northern front" led by Lieutenant-General William Platt and a "southern front" led Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham. A third front would be created by the forces which re-took British Somaliand by sea.

Simply put, Wavell planned for Platt to advance southward from the Sudan, through Eritrea, and into Ethiopia and for Cunningham to advance northwards from Kenya, through Italian Somaliland, and into Ethiopia. While Platt advanced from the north and Cunningham from the south, Wavell planned for a third force to be landed in British Somaliland in an amphibious assault and to then re-take that colony prior to advancing into Ethiopia. According to the plan, all three forces were to ultimately join forces at the capital of Italian East Africa, Addis Ababa.

The capture of Italian East Africa would remove land-based threats to supplies and reinforcements coming from Australia, India, South Africa, and British East Africa and passing through the Suez Canal for the campaign in North Africa and open the overland route from Cape Town to Cairo.

The emperor returns

On 18 January 1941, Emperor Selassie crossed the border near the village of Um Iddla. Two days later he joined Gideon Force which was already in Ethiopia. The standard of the Lion of Judah was raised again.

The crossing was made some 450 miles northwest of Addis Ababa, the capital Emperor Salassie was forced to flee when the Italian General Pietro Badoglio captured the city on 5 May 1936 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

Emperor Selassie and Gideon Force under Major Orde Wingate conducted a guerrila campaign for the next three months in the Ethiopian province of Gojjam and other parts of Ethiopia as the campaign progressed. Emperor Selassie and Gideon Force rallied Ethiopian patriots wherever they went, often causing local tribal leaders and Italian askaris to switch sides. Using surprise and bluff, this relatively small force disrupted Italian supply lines and provided important intelligence to the more conventional British and Commonwealth forces.

In less than three months, Gideon force and an ever growing army of Ethiopian patriots were advancing on the Italian fortifications at Debra Markos. On 3 April, the Ethipians captured the capital of Gojjam, Debra Markos. At the same time, other Ethiopian patriots under Ras Abeba Aregai consolidated themselves around Addis Ababa in preparation for Emperor Sellassie's return. In response to the rapidly advancing British and Commonwealth forces and to the general uprising of Ethiopian patriots throughout the country, the Italians retreated to the mountain fortresses of Gondar, Amba Alagi, Dessie, and Gimma.

Northern front

On 12 January, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, sent 3 brigades of the elite Savoia Grenadiers to defend Keren. The Italian force at Keren soon included 3 colonial brigades and 3 brigades of Savoia Grenadiers. The Italians at Keren also included battalions of elite mountain troops (Alpini) and highly-mobile infantry (Bersaglieri).

Northern front: Allied advances in 1941

Platt's attack from the Sudan to take Eritrea could only begin once re-inforcements arrived from Egypt, in the meantime he continued to conduct harrying raids on Italian positions. The arrival of an Australian division in Egypt allowed General Wavell to release the Indian 4th Infantry Division from Operation Compass in the Western Desert. The main British attack on Eritrea originally scheduled to start on February 8 with an attack against the railway junction at Kassala was bought forward to January 18. However, the aggressive skirmishing in the previous month had prompted the Italians to withdraw from Kassala and Tessenei on 17 January to concentrate in the Keru - Biscia - Aicota triangle where the mountains began.

Platt's forces advance into Eritrea

On January 19, 1941, Platt's two divisions, the Indian 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse and the Indian 5th Infantry Division, commanded by Major-General Lewis Heath, entered Kassala making for the heavily fortified town of Agordat to the east. On that first day, as the British and Commonwealth troops passed through Kassala, the Italians were already dug in among the jagged foothills of the Eritrean Plateau on the approaches to Agordat.

As the Indian divisions crossed the Eritrean border in the west Briggsforce, operating independently from the main force and under Platt's direct command, advanced eastwards from the Sudan and entered Eritrea from the north through the border town of Karora. Briggsforce was four battalions under Brigadier Harold Rawdon Briggs — two battalions from Briggs's own Indian 7th Infantry Brigade (from the Indian 4th Infantry Division), together with one Senegalese and one Free French battalion (under Major-General Paul Legentilhomme). After capturing Italian positions near Karora, Briggsforce fought its way to the northern defences of Keren and linked up with the main force in March.

Agordat

Advancing east from Kassala towards Agordat the Indian 4th Infantry Division took the northern road via Keru and the 5th Indian Division took the southern road via Barentu. Within nine days, the forces of Beresford-Peirse and Heath had advanced 100 miles (160 kilometres) and broken through the Italian positions in the foothills to capture Agordat on February 1. During the advance of the 5th Indian Division, Brigadier William "Bill" Slim was wounded on 21 January by aerial strafing. Slim's command of Indian 10th Infantry Brigade was handed over to Brigadier Thomas "Pete" Rees.

On 31 January, the Italian garrison at Metemma in northern Ethiopia, having been under increasing pressure for three weeks and realising that Platt's main thrust would not be coming from the Gallabat direction withdrew towards Gondar. This withdrawal allowed the Indian 9th Infantry Brigade of the Indian 5th Infantry Division to occupy Metemma. Brigadier Mosley Mayne, 9th Brigade's commander, sent units along the road towards Wahni to harry the retreating Italian forces fighting lively engagements 20 miles and 45 miles east of Metemma. Progress on the road was difficult because of the thickly laid minefields and it was during this period that 2nd Lieutenant Premindra Singh Bhagat of the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners won the first Victoria Cross for the British Indian Army in World War II for a "...continuous feat of sheer cold courage" clearing 15 minefields and 55 miles of roads in 48 hours of unbroken effort.

By 31 January, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, reported that the Italian military forces in East Africa were down to 67 operational aircraft with limited fuel.

Keren

Main article: Battle of Keren

The key action on the northern front then took place at Keren in Eritrea. Keren is 60 miles further east of Agordat towards the Red Sea coast. On 5 February, the Battle of Keren began. The battle started with assaults by the Indian 4th Infantry Division and the Indian 5th Infantry Division on the Italian positions in the mountains leading to Keren. Initially the resolute Italian defenders prevailed with heavy casualties on both sides. Further heavy attacks took place over the next ten days. But the Italians held and there was no break through.

Platt decided to regroup before attacking again. On 1 March, his command was joined by Briggsforce. Although it lacked the artillery for a major offensive, Briggsforce drew off a significant part of the Keren garrison. This aided Platt's main offensive which was being launched from the west. Briggsforce also posed a threat to Massawa to the east. This threat obliged the Italians to maintain a reserve on the coast.

On 14 March, by the time the next assault on Keren commenced, Platt's force of about 13,000 men faced a re-inforced Italian defense of about 23,000 men. Once again, both sides fought with determination and both sides suffered heavy losses. It took until 27 March for Keren to fall. In the account of the battle written in Eastern Epic, an official history of the British Indian Army in World War II, Compton Mackenzie wrote:

Keren was as hard a soldiers' battle as was ever fought, and let it be said that nowhere in the war did the Germans fight more stubbornly than those [Italian] Savoia battalions, Alpini, Bersaglieri and Grenadiers. In the [first] five days' fight the Italians suffered nearly 5,000 casualties - 1,135 of them killed. Lorenzini, the gallant young Italian general, had his head blown off by one of the British guns. He had been a great leader of Eritrean troops

The unfortunate licence of wartime propaganda allowed the British Press to represent the Italians almost as comic warriors; but except for the German parachute division in Italy and the Japanese in Burma no enemy with whom the British and Indian troops were matched put up a finer fight than those Savoia battalions at Keren. Moreover, the Colonial troops, until they cracked at the very end, fought with valour and resolution, and their staunchness was a testimony to the excellence of the Italian administration and military training in Eritrea.

January 22, 1941. Ethiopians transporting supplies by camel through the bush. (Photographer: FE Palmer, No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit, (UK).)

Casualties at Keren were relatively high for both sides. The British and Commonwealth forces had approximately 500 men killed. The Italians suffered between 1,000 and 3,000 men killed. Both sides had several thousand men wounded, injured, or sick. Much of the Italian garrison was captured.

Keren was decisive in terms of the strategic objectives of the Allied forces (to the extent that when Wavell was created an earl he chose as his second title the viscounty of Keren and of Winchester). While hard fighting lay ahead before the campaign would come to an end, the fall of Keren broke the resistance of the Italian forces and led to the almost immediate capture of Massawa on the coast. This made it possible to safely use the Red Sea for ships bringing munitions and supplies to the North African theater.

Asmara and Massawa

After Keren fell, the Indian 5th Infantry Division set off eastwards in pursuit of the retreating Italians and towards the Eritrean capital of Asmara, some 50 miles away. They left the Indian 4th Infantry Division behind to mop up in Keren. After mopping up, the Indian 4th Infantry Division returned to Egypt.

The retreating Italians fought minor skirmishes but mounted no major stand. On 1 April, Asmara was declared an open town. Three days later, after resupply along the lengthening road to the Kassala railway junction on the Sudanese border, the Indian 5th Infantry Division set off east again towards Massawa. Massawa was some 50 miles away, 7000 feet lower, and on the coast.

Rear Admiral Bonnetti, commander of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla and the commander of the garrison at Massawa, had been ordered by Mussolini to defend the town to the last man. . The Italians had 10,000 troops and 100 tanks and armoured cars to defend Massawa. About 1,000 of the defenders at Massawa were veterans from Keren and another bloody battle seemed likely. However, after some initial strong opposition by the Italians, resistance collapsed and Massawa was captured on 8 April, mainly because of italian lack of fuel, ammunitions and food.

Before Massawa fell, Bonnetti ordered the remaining Italian destroyers and the remaining motor torpedo boat (the other four boats were no longer operational) to put to sea from Massawa on a "do or die" mission. Four destroyers were ordered to attack the fuel tanks at Port Sudan. Two of these destroyers, "Daniele Manin" and "Nazario Sauro," were sunk by shore-based Swordfish airplanes (of the Fleet Air Arm} from the carrier "Eagle". The other two destroyers that were headed to Port Sudan ran aground near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The remaining two destroyers were ordered to attack Suez, but were sunk prior to reaching their objective. Before being scuttled by its crew, the Italian motor torpedo boat (MTB) "MAS-213" torpedoed and damaged the cruiser "Capetown." The cruiser was escorting a convoy off Massawa.

The remaining Italian submarines at Massawa were not part of Bonnetti's "do or die" mission and they escaped destruction by going south. After making it past the Cape of Good Hope, they turned north and sailed to Bordeaux, France, via the west coast of Africa.

On 11 April, Major-General Heath was promoted to command the Indian III Corps in the Far East. Command of the Indian 5th Infantry Division was assumed by Mosley Mayne who had been commanding the division's 9th Brigade.

Seaborne assault in Somaliland

On 16 March 1941, two Sikh battalions of the Indian Army, staging from Aden, made the first successful Allied landing on an enemy-held beach in World War II. They did so to re-capture British Somaliland from the Italians.

When the Sikhs landed, an Italian colonel along with the 60 men constituting the Berbera garrison (who have had no food and water supply for weeks) stood in formation on the beach to surrender to the totally superior British force. The British promptly "secured" Berbera. A British officer present at the Italian surrender later wrote: "War can be very embarrassing."

The British and Commonwealth forces in British Somaliland spent the next few months clearing the colony of the last remnants of its former invaders. The italians started a guerrilla fighting in the area that lasted until summer 1942.

From British Somaliland, British and Commonwealth forces advanced southwest into southern Ethiopia. The Somaliland Camel Corps was re-founded and re-acquired its job of rounding up local bandits.

Southern front

Cunningham's forces on the southern front included the South African 1st Division, the 11th African Division, and the 12th African Division (the latter divisions were comprised of East African, South African, Nigerian, and Ghanaian troops under British or South African officers). The South African division was led by Major-General George Brink. The 11th African Division was commanded by Major-General H. E. de R. Wetherall. The 12th African Division was commanded by Major-General Alfred Godwin-Austen.

The Italian generals had decided in January 1941 that the plains of Italian Somalia could not be defended and decided to withdraw to the better defensive terrain of the mountains of Ethiopia.

From 16 January to 18 January 1941, the South Africans captured El Yibo and on 19 January, an advance force of South Africans captured Jumbo in Italian Somaliland. From 24 January to 25 January, the South Africans fought on the Turbi Road and on 24 January, Cunningham's main force invaded Italian Somaliland from Kenya.

From 1 February, the South Africans captured Gorai and El Gumu. On 2 February, the South Africans captured Hobok. From 8 February to 9 February, the South Africans captured Banno. On 15 February, the South Africans fought on the Yavello Road. From 15 February to 18 February, the South Africans captured Mega in Ethiopia.

Mogadishu

On 25 February 1941, a motorized Nigerian Brigade of the 11th African Division advanced up the coast and occupied Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland. Meanwhile, the 12th African Division pushed up the Juba River in Italian Somaliland towards the Ethiopian border town of Dolo.

On 1 March, the 11th African Division began a fighting pursuit of the retreating Italian forces north from Mogadishu. The division pursued the Italians towards the Ogaden Plateau. By 17 March, the 11th African Division completed a seventeen day dash along the Italian built "Imperial Road" (Strada Imperiale) from Mogadishu to Jijiga in eastern Ethiopia,

By early March Cunningham's forces had captured most of Italian Somaliland and were advancing towards the ultimate objective, Addis Ababa.

The liberation of Addis Ababa

On 6 April 1941, Addis Ababa was liberated by Cunningham's force. In 53 days, Cunningham had advanced 1,725 miles from Kenya to reach the Ethiopian capital.

Emperor Haile Selassie had entered the city on 5 May, five years after being forced to flee when the Italians captured his capital on 5 May 1936 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Since then, 5 May has been observed in Ethiopia as Liberation Day, a national holiday. Ethiopia became the first country to be freed from Axis conquest.

While still investing Addis Ababa, Cunningham sent a force under Brigadier Dan Pienaar comprising 1st South African Brigade and Campbell's Scouts to continue the northward advance and link up with Platt's forces advancing south.

On April 20, after a rough battle, Pienaar's force captured Dessie on the main road north from Addis Ababa to Asmara. Pienaar was some 200 miles south of Platt's forces gathering at Amba Alagi.

Amba Alagi

Wavell's strategic priority was for Platt to push southwards from the Sudan to Addis Ababa and for him to meet up with Cunningham pushing northwards from Kenya. A major obstacle for Platt was located at Amba Alagi, located between Asmara and Addis Ababa. Amba Alagi is a 12,000 foot high mountain.

The Italians decided to defend the area around Amba Alagi in force. They drove galleries into the solid rock to protect their troops and to hold ample ammunition and stores. In this mountain fortress, the defenders, under command of Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, thought themselves to be impregnable.

Platt gave newly-promoted Major-General Mosley Mayne and the Indian 5th Infantry Division the task of taking Amba Alagi. Mayne was only able to deploy a single expanded brigade, the Indian 29th Inantry Brigade, for this action. His attacking force was far inferior in numbers to the large Italian defending force. Mayne's limited deployment was due to the demands on the British for internal security and for protecting their lines of communication. The supply route to Amba Alagi extended nearly 250 miles south of Asmara and some 400 miles from the main rail head at Kassala.

On 3 May 1941, Mayne sent in a feint attack from the east while, in the early hours of 4 May, the main attack was made from the northwest over the hills.

The hills were fiercely defended by the Italians. On 11 May, Pienaar's force arrived from the south and was put under Mayne's command. By 14 May Amba Alagi was surrounded.

A final assault was planned for 15 May, but a fortuitous artillery shell hit an Italian fuel dump and ruptured a vessel containing oil. This caused oil to flow into the remaining drinking water of the Italian defenders. The lack of drinkable water then forced the Italians to surrender. On 18 May, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, surrendered his embattled forces at Amba Alagi and the campaign in East Africa was all but over.

Last stand at Gondar

In spite of the Duke of Aosta's surrender at Amba Alagi, some Italian forces continued to hold out. A force under General Guglielmo Nasi, the acting Governor of Amhara, continued to resist at Gondar in northwest Ethiopia. Gondar was the capital of Begemder Province and is located about 120 miles west of Ambi Alagi.

Another Italian force under General Pietro Gazzera, the Governor of Galla-Sidama and the new acting Governor General of Italian East Africa, continued to resist at Gimma in southwest Ethiopia. Gazzera replaced Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, as Governor-General of Italian East Africa.

After capturing Amba Alagi on 18 May, 1941, the commanders of the two major fronts were called on once again by Wavell. The commander of the northern front, William Platt, was tasked with neutralizing the forces under General Nasi in Gondar. The commander of the southern front, Alan Cunningham, was to do the same to General Gazzera's force in Gimma.

General Gazzera surrendered his force first. Even before Cunningham moved against him, Gazzera was faced with a growing irregular force of Ethiopian patriots (or Arbegnoch). Starting with about 40,000 men, Gazzera attempted a mobile defense. Attempting to move such a large force in hostile territory caused him to quickly lose large numbers of his men all along his route. In late May, General Gazzera and his last 7,000 men surrendered when they were cut off by Belgian Major-General Auguste-Éduard Gilliaert, the commander of the Free Belgian Forces in East Africa.

After the fall of Amba Alagi, General Nasi held out in Gondar for almost seven months. He became the new acting Governor General of Italian East Africa after Gazzera surrendered. But, like Gazzera, Nasi faced not just the conventional forces of Platt. He faced an ever increasing force of Ethiopian patriots (who often murdered their prisoners). On 27 November 1941, General Nasi surrendered Gondar to a combined force of British and Commonwealth troops and a force of Ethiopians.

Scattered Italian units, totaling at most an estimated 7,000 men, fought a guerrilla war from the deserts of Eritrea and the forests of Ethiopia. They supposedly did so in the hope of holding out until the Germans or Japanese intervened. Amedeo Guillett is said to have been one such Italian guerilla.

However, with or without guerilla activity, hostilities in East Africa definitely ceased in September 1943 when the government in Italy surrendered to the Allies.

Political settlement

In January 1942, with the final surrender of the Italians, the British, under pressure from the American administration, signed an agreement with Emperor Haile Selassie I acknowledging Ethiopian sovereignty.

Victoria Cross recipients

The following is a list of recipients of the Victoria Cross (VC) during this campaign:

• Eric Charles Twelves Wilson - Received during Italian invasion of British Somaliland
• Premindra Singh Bhagat - Received during fighting on the Northern Front
• Richhpal Ram - Received during fighting on the Northern Front
• Nigel Gray Leakey - Received during fighting on the Southern Front

Brigade commanders

The following are the brigade cammanders for selected divisions during this campaign:

• Indian 4th Infantry Division
  • Indian 5th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd
  • Indian 7th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Harold Rawdon Briggs - Brigadier, Indian 7th Infantry Brigade
  • Indian 11th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Reginald Arthur Savory
• Indian 5th Infantry Division
  • Indian 9th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Mosley Mayne (to 11 April)
  • Indian 9th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Frank Messervy (from 11 April)
  • Indian 10th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier William "Bill" Slim (to 21 January)
  • Indian 10th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Thomas "Pete" Rees (from 21 January)
  • Indian 29th Infantry Brigade, Brigadier John Charles Oakes Marriott

Sources

• Barker, A.J. (1971). Rape of Ethiopia, 1936. Ballantine Books. pp. 160 pages. ISBN 978-0345024626.
• Barton, Lt.-Col. JEB. "Chapter 5, Section M". The Italian Invasion of British Somaliland 1st - 18th August 1940.
• MacKenzie, Compton (1951). Eastern Epic. Chatto & Windus, London. ISBN?.
• Mockler, Anthony (1984). Haile Selassie's War: The Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1935-1941. Random House, New York. ISBN 0-394-54222-3.
• Mollo, Andrew (1981). The armed forces of World War II : uniforms, insignia, and organization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54478-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Porch, Douglas (2004). The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux. ISBN 978-0374205188.
• Playfair, Major-General I.S.O. (1954). History of the Second World War: The Mediterranean and the Middle East Volume 1. HMSO, London. ISBN?. This is the official history.
• Rooney, David (1994). Wingate and the Chindits. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35452-X.
• Italian invasion of British Somaliland, UK Public Records Office Ref WO106/2336.
• War Diary HQ Somaliforce Jul–Aug 1940, UK Public Records Office file WO169/2870. This file contains many reports, photographs of defensive positions and maps.
• Revised Notes on the Italian Army (with amendments 1–3 incorporated), The War Office.

See also

• Military history of Italy during World War II
• North African campaign
• Western Desert Campaign
• Syria-Lebanon campaign
• West Africa Campaign (World War II)
• Battle of Madagascar
• László Almásy
• German Motorized Company
• South African Irish Regiment
• 81st (West Africa) Division
• 82nd (West Africa) Division
• Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles

External links

• Somalihome Online — The Invasion of British Somaliland
• BBC — WW2 People's War: East African Campaign
• Stone & Stone: The Invasion of British Somaliland
• Battlefront
• Comando Supremo Italy at War — The Italian War Effort 1940-1945
• The Best of Enemies - 1962 film about the East African Campaign