Italian East Africa

Hi everyone. I'm new to this so please bear with me.
I have the following photo which my Dad picked up in either Eritrea or Vienna. My best guess is that the men appearing in the photo are Italian paramilitary Blackshirts at some point between 1937 and 1941. I cannot track down their shirt insignia. I believe the cableway (just visible in the background) is the Asmara-Massawa cableway (completed 1937) - at the time the longest cableway in the world (72 km). It was later taken down by the British. I would welcome any thoughts you may have. Thanks

 

'The First Victory' by Andrew Stewart refers to:

The gardener here id'd the plants in front of the table as pineapples; they do not grow in Vienna and I would disregard any Italian Blackshirts visited Vienna or Austria.

Eritrea had been occupied by the Italians in various forms as indicated:

From: Eritrea - Coastlands, Conflict, Colonization | Britannica

Italians settled in the towns, very few took up farming. A good number of Eritreans served in the colonial Italian army and were well regarded as fighters - some even were encountered in the North African campaign.

Never heard of the cable way, so will have a peek.

 

Ethiopia: The Massawa-Asmara Tramway

Nice little website featuring the tramway.

 

Hi Davidbfpo and Orwell1984.

Thanks so much for your replies That's really helpful. And thank you to the anonymous gardener who spotted the pineapple plants!

I'm just amazed that the Italians built such a massive structure - part of their huge investment in their colony of Italian East Africa - before Mussolini began his aggressive attack on Abyssinia/Ethiopia..