Hi, I am doing some research on the East African Campaign of WW2 from 19 January to 27 November 1941. I am trying to find out the main German Divisions involved and the Generals in charge. Does anyone have a clue? I have serached the web for help and all that comes up is the East African conflict in WW1. Any extra info about this area would also be helpful Thanks, Robert
I'm confused... Which campaign are you talking about? The only German campaign in Africa in WWII was Rommel's in Lybia, Tunisisa and Egypt. Is that the one you mean? If so, Rommel's divisions during the campaign were: 5th light division —later 21st Panzer division 15th Panzer division 90th light division Airborne brigade 'Ramcke'. And I'll come latter with the units of V Panzer Army sent to Tunisia in 1943 —which included 10th Panzer division— and Italian units. If that's the campaign you're referring too...
Oops, i got mixed up It was the colonials and the indians against the Italians i think. there were no German divisions involvded. Sorry. :ph34r:
On July 4th 1949, Lt. Gen Guglielmo Nasi struck westward from Ethiopia into Sudan. His troops captured several border towns and arrived within 300 miles of Khartoum. Within 6 weeks, Nasi conquered British Somaliland, causing the British to evacuate from the Sea at Berbera. Italy had 280.000 troops available with almost 400 aircraft. Of these troops, approximately 200.000 were native Africans and approximately 80.000 were Italian. The British, on the other hand, had only 19.000 troops in British Somaliand, Kenya and Sudan. Although some of the British troops were made of colonials, the general Italian military force in Africa was made up of 70% African troops. These troops fought well in hand to hand combat, but was noted by many Italian officers that they "panicked" when under fire. On August 6th 1940, British Somalialand surrendered to the Italians. On November 6th 1940 the British mount their counteroffensive in the Sudan town of Gallabat. 7,000 troops under the command of general Sir William Slim storm Gallabat with tank and infantry. Without air cover, he was unable to achieve his goals. The Italian Air Force shot down 5 gladiators and bombed his troops, killing 42 and wounding 125. The attack on Italian forces ended with a British withdrawal. On January next year the Duke of Aosta —Italian C-in-C in East Africa— orders the abandonment of Gallabat and Kassala and moves his 50,000 man army to more rugged ground in Agordat and Barentu east of Kassala and sends on the 12th élite Savoia Grenadiers to defend Keren. The Duke of Aosta. On January 27th 1941 2 Indian Divisions under Major General Platt attack Agordat and 2 Indian Infantry Brigades attack Barentu. After 3 days of heavy fighting, the Italian Army withdraws to the Keren Plateau. At this point, the Duke of Aosta, in command at Addis Ababa, has only 67 aircraft available for combat in all East Africa. Fuel and supplies are at an all time low, and infantry could only be moved on foot. The British attack Keren on February 3rd with a force of 30.000 against 23.000 Italians made up of 3 Brigades of Colonial Levies and 3 Brigades of Savoia Grenadiers. After attacks and counterattacks, the Italians were able to push the Indian Infantry Brigade back. Then the Scottish attacked and were also repelled by the Italians. Finally, on March 27th, the British were able to push the Italian forces back from Keren after 7 weeks of fighting. In this battle, 3.000 Italians die and 500 British die with 3.000 wounded. At Ethiopia on February 19th South African troops capture Jumbo after heavy fighting with Italian forces. In 3 hours, Italian Artillery fire over 3.000 shells and on March 6th General Nasi smashes through a Ethiopian battalion near Burye with only 12,000 remaining troops. On March 16th the Royal Navy begins pounding installations in Berbera , the city was already abandoned by Italian soldiers. Berbera is regained by the British later that day. On April 1941 Italian civil authorities in Asmara surrender to the British. In total, the British forces were able to take 40.000 prisoners of war and destroy 6 Italian divisions in 3 months. Italian destroyer Leone runs aground off Eritrea and is scuttled by its crew to prevent it from being captured by the British. On early April Italian destroyers Daniel Manin and Nazario Sauro are sunk off Eritrea by British bombers. The destroyers Pantera, Tigre and Cesare Battisti are scuttled near Massaua. Italian torpedo boat Giovanni Acerbi is sunk near Massaua by British bombers. The last Italian warship in East African waters, the torpedo boat Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, is scuttled by its crew prior to the British entering the harbor. On May 5th, after 5 years in exhile Emperor Haile Selassie triumphantly returns to Addis Ababa in an Italian Alfa Romeo limousine. Generals Platt and Slim. And the Ethiophian Emperor:
And here's the Order of Battle —which of course shows that there was not a single German soldier there— for the invasion of British Somalialand, July 4th 1940: EAST SCACCHIERE Command: General Nasi LEFT COLUMN General Bertoldi 70th Colonial Brigade 17th Colonial Brigade RIGHT COLUMN General Bertello 1 Colonial Battalion 2 Dubat Battalions 1 camel pack artillery battery CENTRAL COLUMN General De Simone 'Harar' Division 13th Colonial Brigade 14th Colonial Brigade 15th Colonial Brigade 1 Medium tank platoon (12 M11/39) 1 Light tank platoon (12 L3/35) 1 armored car squadron (Fiat 611) 1 149/13mm heavy field artillery battery 1 105/28mm heavy field artillery battalion COASTAL COLUMN General Passerone 1 Blackshirt Battalion 1 Colonial Battalion 1 mixed unit RESERVE Colonel Lorenzini 2nd Colonial Brigade
The Battle of Keren February 1st - February 6th 1941 ·11th Grenadier Regiment —including Bersaglieri Battalion 'Africa'— 11th Colonial Brigade -3rd Colonial Cavalry Battalion -15th Colonial Cavalry Battalion -104th National Artillery Battalion -106th National Artillery Battalion -2nd Colonial Artillery Battalion -5th Colonial Artillery Battalion February 7th - February 13th 1941 -Alpini Battalion 'Uork Amba' 2nd Colonial Brigade 5th Colonial Brigade 44th Colonial Brigade -2nd Colonial Cavalry Battalion -1st Battalion/60th Field Artillery Regiment -36th National Artillery Battalion -102nd National Artillery Battalion —1 AT battery— -6th Colonial Artillery Battalion -11th Colonial Artillery Battalion -12th Colonial Artillery Battalion February 14th - March 14th 1941 11th Blackshirt Legion -44th Blackshirt Battalion -MG Battalion 6th Colonial Brigade 12th Colonial Brigade -4th National Artillery Battalion -103rd National Artllery Battalion -22nd National AA Artillery Battalion March 15th - March 27th 1941 -150th Blackshirt Battalion -170th Blackshirt Battalion 41st Colonial Brigade 61st Colonial Brigade 16th Colonial Brigade
Good summary Freddy. Can’t really let Abyssinia pass without a credit to the exceptional Orde Wingate (of Burma Chindit fame) and his Gideon Force. No.9
Nope, the Germans missed East Africa in World War II. They did fight there in German East Africa (Tanganyika) in World War I, under Lt. Col. Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, whose mastery of guerrilla warfare kept his armies in the field and victorious for four years. They were brought to heel not by British forces but by the 1918 Armistice, which ordered their surrender. He had to give the exhausted British chasing him supplies after the ceremony. Lettow-Vorbeck's tiny force came home to a huge welcome and Germany's only victory parade. Wrong war. The Gurkhas who fought in Ethiopia said the Italians there were the toughest troops they faced, including Germans and Japanese.
Friedrich H Do you happen to have any information about the South African 1st Natal Mounted Rifles and South African Irish Regiment in these campaigns? Cheers Richard
New here and scanned to see if this campaign was covered. There are a number of threads, but this seems to be the best one to add this. In 2016 I spotted on a blogsite that a new book was due to appear 'First Victory' by Andrew Stewart. A short intro: The First Victory… My own review on Amazon: See when published the reviews: https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Victory-Second-Africa-Campaign/dp/0300208553/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1477170663&sr=1-1&keywords=The+First+Victory:+The+Second+World+War+and+the+East+Africa+Campaign Afterwards I spotted the Imperial War Museum had an item: 'The last Italian troops in East Africa were defeated at the Battle of Gondar in November 1941. But several thousand escaped to wage a guerrilla war until September 1943, when Italy surrendered to the Allies.' See: How Italy Was Defeated In East Africa In 1941 An account of a South African tank unit at Gallabat: South African Military History Society - Journal- The 1st South African Light Tank Company
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1x5l The Battle of Gondar Witness History "In 1941, Italian colonial rule in East Africa ended when Mussolini’s soldiers made a dramatic final stand in the northern Ethiopian town of Gondar. After a bloody battle, General Guglielmo Nasi surrendered to troops from the British empire and Ethiopian fighters loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie. Simon Watts listens to an account in the BBC archive from Rene Cutforth, who was then a British army officer and later became a distinguished BBC war correspondent."
Post 6 (and Wiki) refer to Looking for something else (which happens often when on here ), I found a section in a 1968 South African history of the campaign by Neil Orpen: Link: HyperWar: East African and Abyssinian Campaigns [Chapter 2]
A short article 'Forgotten defeat of 1940 paved way for Slim’s Burma victories' which is based on Andrew Stewart's work (already cited a book here, although the author refers to an article, which is not cited): Forgotten defeat of 1940 paved way for Slim's Burma victories - History First There are a few threads here on the battle at Gallabat, only one appears to help - on the travails of the 1st Essex. See: 1st Essex - a battalion in disgrace ?
Does anyone have info on the organisation and training of the Ethiopian Battalions and how and when they fitted into the command structure? Chas
chas69, I will have look in Stewart's book during the day. Meantime have you checked the books on Wingate, who commanded Gideon Force and some of the formed Ethiopian groups? From memory there were other British / Commonwealth officers involved. I searched for thread titles with Wingate in, just a few refer to Abbysinia and with Ethiopia many threads. Which is how I found a possibly relevant photo: RAOC - North Africa, India, Burma I expect the role of such formed units was to supplement the militia / gangs who "mopped up" Italian forces after the Commonwealth forces moved on. My recollection is that there was a high degree - for the Italians - of fear of being captured by them. For some context, especially as it covers the Italians, see Post 13 in: What about the Italians? Context only, the last post in: American unit serving with the 8th Army in North Africa Post-liberation banditry was rife, invariably labelled shifta, across Ethiopia and Eritrea. Not clear whether to me whether the formed Ethiopian forces were disciplined and small British missions remained in both places after the Italian surrender, Eritrea may have had a garrison. A very brief mention in the last post of: 8986 Brigadier Cyrus GREENSLADE, CBE, MiD, North Staffordshire Regiment Overall I doubt there is much help here - for once! Someone has written about them, there will be records in the TNA. See Post 5 in: 8986 Brigadier Cyrus GREENSLADE, CBE, MiD, North Staffordshire Regiment Has anyone ever written a book or article on the Ethiopian military of the period?
Thanks very much for the tip on IWM papers of Brigadier Greenslade, I will follow this up. WED Allen refers to 2nd and 3rd Battalions of Ethiopian Army and another office of the South Staffordshire Regiment, A. S Railton who commanded C Coy of the 3rd Battalion. I know from my father's record, he was an Instructor at the Ethiopian Training Centre from December 1940 so I am wondering if these were formed units accompanying the Emperor on his return and how they operated in relation to Wingate and any other Patriots. Secondly, if the Training Centre was directly under command of Sudan Defence Force. As you wrote, a book on the Ethiopian Military of the period would be another angle. I know there are some private Diaries by Ethiopians.
Andrew Stewart's book does not refer to 'the Ethiopian Battalions' and there is a mention of Gideon Force plus Wingate. Might help if you can locate a copy in a library, if only for the operational context. Might be worth viewing the YouTube newsreel footage of Addis Ababa being liberated. Just looked at one no Ethiopians shown and this one does!
