9781422279052

The Allied Powers Fight Back

Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham’s force in Kenya comprised the 11th and 12th African Divisions, plus the South African 1st Division. The Duke of Aosta appreciated that his forces faced a triple British and commonwealth attack, disposing his forces accordingly: Lieutenant-General Luigi Frusci defended Eritrea with three colonial divisions and three brigades; Lieutenant- General Guglielmo Nasi was to stop Wingate with four colonial brigades; and Major-General Carlo de Simone had the task of defending southern Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland with ten colonial brigades. In addition, each general had a variable number of irregular native forces, and two Italian formations, the Savoia and Africa Divisions, which were held in general reserve. On January 18 the Italians abandoned their forward positions at Kassala and Gallabat, and fell back to Agordat and Barentu in Eritrea, and to Chilga in Abyssinia. Platt committed his offensive from Sudan on January 19 1941. The German defeat at Sidi Barrani had demoralized the Italians, and the Indian forces were able to make some headway. The Italians retreated from the Sudanese-Abyssinian frontier, where they considered the ground too flat to resist a British mechanized attack. Platt advanced quickly, reaching the Italian positions on January 25. After five days of hard fighting, the Italians withdrew yet again, this time to the formidable Keren escarpment, where they re-formed OPPOSITE LEFT: Italian soldiers bid farewell to their families before embarking for the sea voyage to East Africa before Italy entered the war in June 1940 and, as it turned out, a wholly uncertain future. OPPOSITE RIGHT: Italian and native troops welcome a party of German volunteers in East Africa during 1940.

on February 1. Here, the Italians made a vigorous stand, and the 1st Battle of Keren was an Italian victory. Platt then mounted a full-scale offensive, backed by bomber and ground-attack aircraft in the 2nd Battle of Keren. Although the Italians employed their reserve divisions, Keren fell on March 27 and the British

were able to reach Asmara, in Eritrea, on April 1, before pushing on to Massawa on the southern coast of the Red Sea by April 8. Cunningham, meanwhile, launched Operation Canvas, which achieved its objective, the port of Kismayu in Italian Somaliland, on February 14. The next

ABOVE: Bersaglieri (fast-marching light infantry) of the Italian army in North Africa.

RIGHT: Italian and native troops in East Africa.

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