The East African Campaign refers to the battles fought between British Empire and Commonwealth forces and Italy 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 India, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.
Political situation
Italy conquered and occupied Abyssinia in 1936 and eventually created Italian East Africa (in modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia). Italian troops in Abyssinia numbered about 250,000, most of them Abyssinian askaris recruited by the Italian Army.
When Benito Mussolini joined the war against the Allies in 1940, Italian forces became a potential threat to Allied supply routes in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Commonwealth troops in Egypt and Sudan were outnumbered in relative to the Italian forces in Abyssinia and Libya. Therefore, the British government recognised Haile Selassie in July 1940 and promised to help him.
Invasion of British Somaliland
On August 3, approximately 175,000 Italian troops — about 70% of them African — under the Duke of Aosta (a Field Marshal) and General Guglielmo Nasi invaded British Somaliland. The defending force was a small contingent of only four battalions. The Italians advanced in three lines, with the northern line towards Zeila , the central towards Hargeisa, and to Odweina in the south.
Within two days both Zeila and Hargeisa were taken. The occupation of Zeila effectively sealed British Somaliland off from French Somaliland and Hargeisa is on the main road towards the capital of Berbera. Odweina fell the following day and the Italians soon launched an attack against the main Commonwealth positions at Tug Argan .
The Commonwealth forces received minor reinforcements and a new commander, General Alfred Godwin-Austen , but it was not enough. Within a few days the Allies were forced to withdraw from Tug Argan to Berbera, from where they were evacuated to Aden, leaving the Italians in full control of British Somaliland.
Commonwealth losses in the short campaign are estimated at 260: 38 killed in action (KIA), 102 wounded and 120 missing. The Italians lost about 2,050: 465 KIA, 1,530 wounded and 34 missing. Winston Churchill criticized the rapid defeat of the Commonwealth forces, but they were defended by General Archibald Wavell, whose Middle East Command they belonged to, due to the enormous disparity between the size of the two forces.
After this victory, the Italians soon began a series of minor raids in to Sudan and Kenya, including the capture of Buna and small territorial advances.
Allied counter-offensive
After their offensives petered out, the Italians adopted a passive attitude, waiting for the inevitable counterattack. Attention then shifted to the naval sphere. The Italians had a small squadron based at Asmara in Eritrea, which consisted of a small number of destroyers and submarines.
While the Italian naval squadron was not used aggressively, it was viewed as a threat to Allied convoys heading from the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. As the Italian's supply of fuel decreased, so did their opportunity for action. The squadron made one major attempt to attack a convoy, but was roundly defeated. Following that attack, most of the squadron's surface ships were sunk, with the escaping submarines making an epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to return to Italy.
An important aspect of the Allied campaign to retake Ethiopia was irregular forces. Major Orde Wingate, later to gain fame in Burma with the Chindits was a major mover behind the Ethiopian "patriots" as they were known by the British. The irregulars, formed into the Gideon Force, disrupted Italian supply lines and provided vital intelligence to Commonwealth forces.
Northern front
The Allied push to take Ethiopia began once reinforcements arrived from Egypt. The arrival of an Australian division in Egypt had released the Indian 4th Infantry Division — under Lieutenant General William Platt — from Operation Compass in the Western Desert and it was sent to attack the Italian forces from Sudan. On January 19, the 4th Division and the Indian 5th Infantry Division advanced into Ethiopia. Within nine days, Platt's forces had advanced 160 kilometres and captured the heavily fortified town of Agordat .
Southern front
On January 24, the Commonwealth's Southern Force, comprised of the South African 1st Division and the 11th and 12th African Divisions (Nigerian and Ghanaian troops under British officers), commanded by Lieutenant General Alan Cunningham invaded Italian Somaliland, capturing most of it by February 25. The Allies' southern campaign received air support from the South African Air Force.
Seaborne assaults
In March, a combined Indian-Free French force was sent by sea from Sudan to northern Eritrea. Following this, in April, an amphibious assault was also made on British Somalialand, staged from Aden.
The capture of Addis Ababa
The three thrusts converged on the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, which fell early in 1941. The Italians made a final stand around the town of Golkar , until the Duke of Aosta surrendered on May 16. Some Italian forces fought on until November.
Political settlement
With the surrender of the Italians, the British, under pressure from the US administration, signed an agreement with Haile Selassie acknowledging Ethiopian sovereignty in January 1942.
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