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A couple of days earlier, Free French forces had landed in Eritrea.
Cunningham had cabled General Wavell just before he had sent the Nigerians off to ask Wavell for a force from Aden to take the port of Berbera and shorten his lines of communication.
Into Ethiopia
Wavell agreed and troops from Aden landed at Berbera on 16 March. Meanwhile, Cunningham had sent the 1lth African Division after the retreating Italians who were fleeing across the flat Somaliland lava and bush plain north of Mogadishu at such a pace that the 1lth African Division was having difficulty keeping up and when they arrived at Jijiga on 17 March, they found it abandoned. The troops who had landed at Berbera had moved through Tug Argan to Hargeisa by 20th March, and joined the l lth African at Jijiga as they drove on west, first through two easily defensible passes, Marda Pass and Babile Pass, which held them up for less than 12 hours. They were met by Italian officials 12 miles before Harar who gave them the news that Harar had been declared an Open Town in which they would be welcome, and 50 miles on, they were met by an agitated official of Dire Dawa begging them to hurry as the Italian garrison had withdrawn leaving the civilians unprotected and at the mercy of gangs of armed Ethiopian deserters on a rampage of looting, rape and murder. The road to Dire Dawa had been effectively demolished and the South Africans were forced to walk to the town.
Eritrea
In the north, Italian demolitions in the Dogolaas Gorge leading to Keren and the approaches to Amara, along with their road blocks and resistance wove a different picture to that in the south, The 4th Indian Division had arrived at the bottom of the gorge by 4 February, but it was not until late March, after the 5th Indian Division had joined them and the RAF in the area had been built-up, that the they managed to break out of the Gorge, having been joined by Free-French troops, Foreign Legionnaires and a battalion from the Chad regiment who had approached from the north. Having broken out of the gorge and into Keren, the British moved onto Asmara by l April. The British had lost 536 killed in the battles for Keren. The Italians had lost over 3,000.
Moyale and Ethiopia
A thousand miles south, a third separate campaign opened at the end of February. Two South African Brigades were sent north from Kenya across the border, aiming first for Yaballo and detached a small force to retake Moyale. This had the unforeseen effect of drawing a whole Italian division from the main front towards Neghelli, north-east of Moyale. Once this was observed, West African troops moved up from Bardera and they and the South Africans were in Neghelli by 22 March.
The South Africans were in Dire Dawa and the next Italian resistance was expected at the Awash river, the only obstacle between Dire Dawa and the Ethiopian capital, Adis Ababa. Two Brigades, a South African and an East African took up the pursuit of the Dire Dawa garrison, and moved so fast that they reached the river first. The East Africans took a day to cross the river, their engineers quickly throwing a bridge across the widest river in the country, and were only 150 miles from Addis Ababa.
The Duke of Aosta decided not to defend Addis Ababa and he left the city with the bulk of the garrison and moved to Amba Alagi in the mountains to the north where he intended to set up a fortress. As a result, on 5 April a frantic police messenger reached advanced South African positions with an urgent appeal that they move into Addis Ababa as quickly as possible. They took control of the capital the following morning. The Allied troops had by now advanced 1 ,700 miles in 8 weeks over some of the worst terrain in the world.
Gideon Force
ln the meantime, the forces under Major Wingate and Colonel Sandford, who had brought the Ethiopian Emperor back into the country in January, were operating in the bend of the Blue Nile south of Lake Tana with Gideon Force, a mixture of Ethiopian and Sudanese troops. In Late March, the Italian commander in the area ordered a converging attack by his own forces in Debra Markos, two more Italian Brigades in Bahrdar Giorgis and several thousand fierce Ethiopian warriors under a rebellious chief on the Gideon Force. Wingate’s wisest course would have been to withdraw under this attack, but instead he split his force into two and attacked the Italian columns. By 4 April, the Italians were in disarray. The rebellious warriors had returned to their villages and Gideon Force took Debra Markos. A month later, the Emperor reentered his capital almost five years after he had left it.
The last stages of the Ethiopian campaign were now in progress. The Duke of Aosta’s last stronghold was at Amba Alagi among mountain peaks up to twelve thousand feet high, in bitter cold, rain and spectacular scenery. Two thrusts of Allied troops were converging on his stronghold. In Eritrea, the vital post of Massawa had been occupied on 8 April and the 5th Indian Division had then driven south from Asmara. The lst South African Brigade had moved north through an 11,000 ft pass, down into the Great Rift Valley and then up towards Dessie, which they took after a brisk fight on 26 April. The country between both advances now began to slow the advance.
To the south, a similar pair of thrusts from Addis Ababa and Yaballao and Neghelli converged on Shashamannsae, curing the British and South African control of the main supply routes, although it would take some months to pacify the large areas of this immense and mountainous country.
The Duke of Aosta surrendered in May at Amba Alagi, there were still Italian formations supported by colonial units dispersed around Ethiopia, chiefly in the south-western Galla/Sidamo area near Gondar to the north and at Assab on the Eritrean coast. None of them exhibited much aggressive tendency, and needing troops in the desert, Middle East Headquarters were inclined to leave them to their own devices. The newly reinstated Ethiopian Emperor wanted his newly won authority strengthened and the presence of Axis troops in the area, however unenthusiastic, posed a threat, at least on paper.
Sellassie's return to Ethiopia on a Vickers Valentia. Image: Imperial War museum
Late in May, two African Brigades moved from Adds Ababa and crossed the Omo river on 4-5 June and entered Jimma on 20 June. Other units began the journey through difficult country towards the mountains of Gondar, although it would take months to reach.
The Red Sea coast saw the French authorities under pressure from the British to allow the Allies use of the port of Djibuti, and to encourage young Frenchmen to join the Free French. The response was not encouraging from the Governor of French Somaliland, so the British tightened their blockade. On 12 J une, a combined operation was mounted from Aden, which took the Italian garrison at Assab prisoner and occupied the port
3 July saw Debra Tabor surrender. The Italian garrison in Wolchefit surrendered on 26 September.
Article courtesy: James Paul of British-Forces.
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