Slitherine

Battle of the Mediterranean - Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... iterranean

The naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945. "This was a very-busy hotly-contested region."

Each side had three overall objectives in this battle. The first was to attack the supply lines of the other side. The second was to keep open the supply lines to their own armies in North Africa. The third was to destroy the ability of the opposing navy to wage war at sea. Outside of the Pacific theatre, the Mediterranean saw the largest conventional naval warfare actions during the conflict. In particular, Allied forces struggled to supply and retain the key naval and air base of Malta.

By the time of the September 1943 armistice between Italy and the Allies, Italian ships and aircraft had sunk Allied surface warships totalling 145,800 tons, while the Germans had sunk 169,700 tons, for a total of 315,500 tons.

In total the Allies lost 76 warships and 46 submarines. The Allies sank 83 Italian warships totalling 195,100 tons (161,200 by the Commonwealth and 33,900 by the Americans) and 83 submarines.[5] German losses in the Mediterranean from the start of the campaign to the end were 17 warships and 68 submarines.[6]

List of Allied ships lost to Italian surface vessels in the Mediterranean (1940–43):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A ... 2%80%9343)

The following is a list of Allied ships sunk, wrecked or captured at sea by surface vessels of the Regia Marina during the battle of the Mediterranean. The list includes vessels lost to the combined action of surface warships and airpower.

"This article... goes into some quite lengthy detail here"...

Mediterranean U-boat Campaign (World War II)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterra ... War_II)The

The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945.

The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign lasted from about 21 September 1941 to 19 September 1944 during the Second World War. Malta was an active British base strategically located near supply routes from Europe to North Africa. Axis supply convoys across the Mediterranean Sea suffered severe losses, which in turn threatened the fighting ability of the Axis armies in North Africa. The Allies were able to keep their North African armies supplied. The Kriegsmarine tried to isolate Malta but later it concentrated its U-boat operations on disrupting Allied landing operations in southern Europe.

Some 60 German U-boats made the hazardous passage into the Mediterranean Sea from 1941.

Afrika Korps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterra ... rika_Korps

The 23rd U-boat Flotilla was established in September 1941 to intercept coastal shipping supplying Allied forces in the Siege of Tobruk.[9] U-boats patrolled the eastern Mediterranean from the 23rd flotilla base on Salamis Island in Greece.

Salamis


Location of Salamina _ Salamis


Additional bases were established in Pula in Croatia and La Spezia in northern Italy as more U-boats were ordered to the Mediterranean, until focus shifted to the western Atlantic through the Second Happy Time.

location of Pula in a Map of Croatia


La Spezia


Location of La Spezia in Italy


Second Happy Time
La Spezia became headquarters when the Mediterranean U-boats were reorganized as the 29th U-boat Flotilla in May 1942.[29] No more U-boats were assigned to the Mediterranean from mid-January to early October 1942 as opportunities along the east coast of North America seemed more productive while the Afrika Korps was successfully advancing on Egypt.

The 29th flotilla focused on convoys supplying Malta and British forces on the Egyptian coast. For sustained operations, U-boats spent approximately one-third of the time on patrol stations, one-third in transit to and from base for routine provisioning and refueling, and one-third undergoing major overhaul or battle repair. 29th flotilla target strength of twenty U-boats enabled a routine patrol strength of three U-boats from Salamis in the eastern Mediterranean, and three from La Spezia in the western Mediterranean.

Briefing: This next informative-session is mostly for something "to just keep-in-mind", its not meant for even practical use in PzC2... 'even though'... this mentionable item... might just have a place somewhere in some situational circumstance?... but!, that is for some-one else to decide.

Fritz X
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_X


German MCLOS radio control system was used for the... Fritz X guided bomb.

Fritz X was the most common name for a German guided anti-ship glide bomb used during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_X

Also there is the... Henschel Hs 293
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_293


Hs 293 on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin

The Hs 293 was intended to destroy unarmoured ships,[2] unlike the unpowered, armour-piercing Fritz X, which used the same Kehl-Straßburg system.

The capture of an intact Hs 293 at Anzio and recovery of important components of the Kehl transmitter from a crashed Heinkel He 177 on Corsica, the Allies were able to develop far more effective countermeasures, in time for the invasion of Normandy and Operation Dragoon.

Operational history:
On 27 August1943, the sinking of the British sloop HMS Egret by a squadron of 18 Dornier Do 217 carrying Hs 293s led to anti-U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay being temporarily suspended.[9] On November 26, an Hs 293 sank the troop transport HMT Rohna killing over 1,000 personnel.

Other ships sunk or damaged by the Hs 293 include: listing detailed at web-site below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_293

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-his ... ades-egypt

September 13
Italy invades Egypt

On September 13, 1940, Mussolini’s forces finally cross the Libyan border into Egypt, achieving what the Duce calls the “glory” Italy had sought for three centuries.

But sitting in Egypt were British troops, which, under a 1936 treaty, were garrisoned there to protect the Suez Canal and Royal Navy bases at Alexandria and Port Said. Hitler had offered to aid Mussolini in his invasion, to send German troops to help fend off a British counterattack. But! Mussolini had been rebuffed when he had offered Italian assistance during the Battle of Britain, so he now insisted that as a matter of national pride, Italy would have to create a Mediterranean sphere of influence on its own—or risk becoming a “junior” partner of Germany’s.
[Ret:] "Great-Pride!"... leads to "a Great-Fall !". What? if "Mussolini"... had instead have taken "Hitler" up... on his offer?.

As the Blitz commenced, and the land invasion of Britain by Germany was “imminent” (or so the Duce thought), Mussolini believed the British troops in Egypt were particularly vulnerable, and so announced to his generals his plans to make his move into Egypt.

Gen. Rodolfo Graziani, the brutal governor of Ethiopia, another Italian colony, disagreed, believing that Italy’s Libya forces were not strong enough to wage an offensive across the desert.
Graziani also reminded Mussolini that Italian claims of air superiority in the Mediterranean were nothing more than propaganda.

But! Mussolini, a true dictator! , ignored these protestations and ordered Graziani into Egypt—a decision that would disprove the adage that war is too important to leave to the generals.

Important Note:
Libya has the ninth largest known oil reserves in the world and the largest in Africa.
Oil produced there is especially coveted because of its particularly high quality.

“Without Malta the Axis will end by losing control of North Africa…” – Field Marshal Erwin Rommel quoted
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/category ... n-tactics/

The strategic position of the Island of Malta. Source: Vivarelli


Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 pictured over the capital city of Malta, Valletta, during a raid on the city and Grand Harbour. Source: Public domain

Esigenza C3/Operation Herkules
The plan called for up to 100,000 men, hundreds of aircraft for ground attack, air cover, and transportation, as well as the bulk of the available Axis surface ships and submarines in the Mediterranean. Phase V was the invasion, with a date for Esigenza C3 set for 1st August 1942.

Operation C3 – Herkules – The Axis planned invasion of Malta (1942)
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/category ... n-tactics/

Phase I & Phase II


Axis Air forces deployed for Esigenza C3
https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/ ... lta- 1942 NAVAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

It is seldom known that the Italians had already blooded their nose in an attempt to attack Malta: It took place on 26th July 1941 under Fort Elmo, which guarded the entrance to Grand Harbor, Valletta. It was led by the famous Italian X Flottiglia MAS, but they were soon spotted by radar and repulse by AA batteries and other guns with great losses. It showed that only a cooridnated assault at a large scale with the help of the Germans was necessary.
Axis Air component

A DFS 230 glider


Generals Bernhard Ramcke (left) and Kurt Student (right) – German airborne operations masterminds for the Operation Herkules part of Esigenza C3.

Overall Command of the airborne component was Generalmajor Kurt Student’s at the head of Fliegerkorps XI. Mastermind of the Battle of Crete, he had months to prepare, gaining Knowledge of Malta’s terrain and defenses in great detail. Thanks to a meticulous aerial mapping by the Italians he was able to devise a carefully planned systematic attack of all defenses. Ten Junkers Ju 52 assault groups were setup for the operation, about 500 of them committed to air landings along with 300 DFS 230 gliders plus 200 large Go 242 gliders and 24 Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant gliders towed by the He 111Z Zwilling. In total, in one swoop, this combined force was able to carry 21,200 paratroopers.


On the Italian side, 180 to 220 three-engined SM.75s, SM.81s and SM.82s were mobilized, able in total to carry in one assault some 6000 men on average, but the short distance from Sicily meant four round-trips per day were possible.

The main assault would take place on the southern side of the island, securing the high ground behind the invasion beaches, capturing an airfield for further reinforcements. Participating were the German Fliegerdivision 7 and Italian 185th Airborne Division Folgore, plus 80th Infantry Division La Spezia airlanding division so in total roughly 29,000. Three glider strips of about 25 mi (40 km) were created south of Mount Etna in preparation.



Detailed map of Operation Herkules/ Esigenza C3.

The axis naval assault force was strong of 70,000 Italian troops. Amphibious landings were planned on the south-eastern coast of Malta, Marsaxlokk bay, in particular on a beaches of Famagosta and Larnaca. For support, the small islands of Gozo and Comino were also to be taken and held. Fake or bait assaults would take place at St. Paul’s Bay, Mellieha Bay, NW of Valletta. This was close to the obvious Victoria Lines, and more obvious as a choice for the British.

Composition of the Italian Infantry
The main assault of Esigenza C3 was to start before midnight after the airborne forces has been dropped in the afternoon to secure the heights above the planned landing beaches. The first-wave were from the Friuli (10,000 men) and Livorno Infantry Divisions (9,850 men), part of the XXX Corps. They were complemented by the 1st Assault and Loreto Battalions (Regia Aeronautica, 1200) two battalions of San Marco Marines (2,000) and three battalions of Blackshirts (1,900). Perhaps the most “salty” of these were the elite 300 Nuotatori, an Italian San Marco marines commando unit trained in ocean swimming and beach assault.
The next wave consisted of the Italian XVI Corps, essentially 9000 men of the Assieta, and Napoli (8,900) Infantry Divisions plus 3,200 men of supporting artillery units plus the second half of the 10th Armoured Regiment. Gozo idland was left to the Superga Infantry Division (9,200) and Blackshirts plus San Marco Marines, the second day.

Armored component
Armoured support consisted only of nineteen Semovente 47/32 and eight Semovente 75/18 and thirty L3 tankettes.
The German part of these landing was to provide the heavy armored component: For Operation Herkules the 2.Kompanie/Panzerabteilung z.b.V.66 (special use) partly equipped with captured Russian tanks was mobilized. It was given ten assorted KV-1 and KV-2s heavy tanks. They were carried by ten modified Italian motozattere (landing craft) with reinforced flooring and internal ramps.

Also modified Beutepanzer T-34(r) medium tanks and light tanks of the VK 1601s/VK 1801s types (6 each), twelve Panzer IVGs. In addition twenty more Panzer III were planned to be used, but with no prevision of origin. This part of the landings were to take place withing two days after the start of the landing operations, after Marsaxlokk Bay as totally secured and used as the main bridgehead. For the armored part of the operation see the excellent article on tanks encyclopedia

Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine landing crafts

The Regia Marina landing crafts until then has been few in numbers, and the Motozaterra were basically copies of the Kriegsmrine’s Marinefährprahm Type A (MFP), of which sixty-five were completed by July 1942, fifty made available for Esigenza C3. They were reinforced by twenty German MFPs which arrived via the river Rhone as a backup. Only 9 Motolance were also part of the operation, the only one ever produced (see later).
Also were sent from Germany by rail twelve Siebel catamaran ferries, six Type 39 and six Type 40 Pionierlandungsboote (see below), eighty-one Sturmboote (basically small plywood boats carrying six, with a 30 hp outboard motor) and large inflatable rafts (capacity: 25 each), partly rowed.

The Forza Navale Speciale (Admiral Vittorio Tur)


The Italians component also comprised larger ships for the later phase of the assault, two Messina railway ferries converted to carry 4-8 tanks) and ten passenger ships (carrying 800–1,400 men), plus six passenger ferries (400), six freighters (3,000 tons) and 30 ex-trawlers which could carry an additional 300 men each. Also the Regia Marina mobilized five minelayers converted to carry 500 men each and 74 motorboats with various capacity, about 30–75 men each, whih of course required quiet weather. 200 additional German Sturmboote were also to be operated by mixed crews to ferry en from ships to shore.
The German Navy also provided for Operation Herkules the Seeschlange (or “Sea Snake”), basically a floating ship-to-shore bridge designed for Operation Sea Lion, formed from a series of joined modules acting as a temporary jetty. The idea was ressucitated by the British for D-Day and the famous “Mulberry“, but with the differences of scale and material. The German “roadway” Seeschlange was loaded with cranes and already tested by the Army Training Unit at Le Havre in 1941. It could be deployed by rail.


Blueprint of the Pionierlandungsboot 39 and rail carriage src:http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/

Axis Naval forces deployed
The involvement of Axis Naval Forces consisted in:
-9 Motolance ML
-50 Motozaterra ML
-27 Marinenfahrprahm
-10 Siebel Catamaran Barges
-6 Type 39 and 6 Type 40 Pionerlandunsboote (engineers landing crafts)
-281 Sturmboote (81 crewed by germans, the remainder by Italians)
-300 inflatable boats
The J+2 reinforcement wave was to comprise a wide array of assorted ships of the Forza Navale Speciale.

German Marinefahrprahm
Src: weaponsandwarfare

The Marinefährprahm or MFP for “naval ferry barge", was the largest landing craft used during ww2 by the Kriegsmarine, developed from a pontoon and half rivering barge, and able to use seaways across Europe. Planned at first for Operation Sealion (July 1940) the first prototype was operational on 16 April 1941 and production led to the variants A-D, MZ, AF, AT, KF. Some were used as minelayers, command, support or FLAK ships. Riveted steel, three truck Deutz engines (10.5 knots max empty, 1340nm.

The MFP could carry up to 140t, but the A Type “modified” with a much reinforced hull was built for Operation C3/Herkules, with a reinforced bottom. This feature was specifically tailored to carry captured and modified support tanks such as KV-1 or KV-2 heavy tanks. This required to strengthen and make wider the well decks and internal ramps. The bow ramp was repositioned further forward to counterbalance weights in order to accommodate these vehicles.


Captured Soviet KV-2 and T-34 tanks belonging to Panzer-Abteilung zbV66. Source: beutepanzer.ru

Italian Motolance ML

Motolance ML in Livorno. Credits: Barrageminiatures.com

Italian Motozaterra MZ

Motozaterra ML launch in 1942 credits: www.naviearmatori.net


Italian Motozattera motor barge. Source: Vivarelli via German Federal Archives
This ship’s only puspose was the invasion of Malta, Esigenza C3.

The Italians could supply a lot of their own sea capability but, nonetheless, they required German help in the form of 27 Marinefahrprahm.

The Regia Marina was given blueprints of the the Type A in late 1941. The first order was forr 65 barges (701-765). They were called “Motozattere” (Bette MZ) in Italian shipyards of Palermo and were the first dedicated amphibious ships of that type in service with the Italian Navy. They could easily handle troops, armored vehicles and supplies, carrying for example three M13/40 medium tanks and 100 infantrymen

Work started in March 1942 and by July all 65 MZs had been completed, ready for the Malta invasion, which was postponed on 27 July. Therefore MZs were ferrying supplies to Libya instead as well as along the Libyan coast, providing a precious shallow water support to the Afrika Korps.

German Siebelfähre (Siebel Catamaran barge)

Thanks to these, the Axis was able to be resupplied anywhere on the coast rather than in the few ports available, a crucial advantage.

The ML class was a group of 9 landing crafts built for the Regia Marina in the Moncalvi Shipyards and O.M.S.A. in Pavia.
They were specifically tailor-built and designed for Esigenza C3, the landing at Malta. In the autumn of 1941, the construction of 100 wooden landing crafts was ordered. The first units were launched in the spring of 1942, all built by the Moncalvi and O.M.S.A. shipyards of Pavia and immatriculated ML 654 to ML 662.

Each Motolance could carry a crew of 9, 30 equipped infantry in a central uncovered “tub” ending with a forward ramp, quite similar to allied models. It was roomy enough to carry a small vehicle, moto or side-car.

After Ticino, they were ferried on the Po down to the Adriatic and then sailed for the Strait of Messina, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, ending in the port of Gaeta. They remained moored there, idle, until the end of the summer 1942 and the sent to port of Livorno waiting for the operation to materialize.

British presence on Malta
https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/ ... malta-1942


Knowing the presence of Fascist Italy in the region, the British already had moved the Royal Navy HQ (Mediterranean Fleet) in Valletta (Malta) to Alexandria in October 1939. Worst still for Malta, the Mediterranean Fleet was also transferred to Egypt at the same time. Given the turn of the battle of north Africa after the arrival of Rommel, and the axis advance, Malta became more and more isolated. Malta was anything but a small rock, 27 km × 14 km (17 mi × 9 mi) and about 250 km2 (97 sq mi) with a population of around 250,000 in June 1940.

Malta’s fortifications dating back from the crusades: Fort St. Angelo as seen from the Upper Barrakka Gardens, naval HQ, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, from 1939 to March 1942.

There were an armored component as well, limited to Vickers tankettes of the Bren Carrier type, light tanks Mark VIc, and a few Matilda II Tanks.

Axis Air forces deployed for Esigenza C3
https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/ ... malta-1942
East African and Abyssinian Campaigns
The Regia Aeronautica in East Africa had a total of 325 aircraft available when war broke out. 39 At Massawa the Italian Navy had eight old submarines and ten fleet destroyers and torpedo-boats which could wreak havoc in the Red Sea, now Britain's main supply route to the Middle East. They were quickly and effectively neutralized by the Royal Navy.

East Africa
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunio ... iddle_East

As in Egypt, the Italian forces with ~70,000 Italian soldiers and ~180,000 native troops outnumbered their British opponents. But Italian East Africa was isolated and far away from the Italian mainland. The Italian forces in East Africa were thus cut off from re-supply. This severely limited the operations that they could seriously undertake.

You cater to my obsessions !

Malta should have been Axis priority number one !

I've been wondering about Italian and German amphibious craft for years. It doesn't seem to be a popular topic ..... or my Google searches leave something to be desired !

Thanks for the info !

Northern front, East Africa, 1940
the Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI, Italian East Africa)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_ ... rica,_1940

Northern front, East Africa, 1940
Part of East African Campaign (World War II) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Afri ... ld_War_II) Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana) 1940 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_East_Africa
Late 10 June 1940 – 17 January 1941 Location
Sudanese border with Italian East Africa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Egyptian_Sudan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_East_Africa

Hostilities began soon after the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On the Sudan–Eritrea and Sudan–Ethiopia borders, the Italian army captured Kassala, on 4 July, then Gallabat; Karora was occupied unopposed and Kurmuk taken on 7 July.

In August the Italians invaded British Somaliland and the British made a slow retreat to the coast then embarked for Aden.

Africa Orientale Italiana
Main article: Order of Battle, East African Campaign - A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_ ... rld_War_II

On 9 May 1936, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, proclaimed Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI Italian East Africa), formed from the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia, which had been occupied after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936). Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, was appointed the Viceroy and Governor-General of the AOI in November 1937, with headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. On 1 June 1940, as the commander in chief of Comando Forze Armate dell'Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East African Armed Forces Command) and Generale d'Armata Aerea (General of the Air Force).

Although Mussolini’s aggression was viewed with dis-favour by the British, who had a stake in East Africa, the other major powers had no real interest in opposing him.


Amadeo Aosta


On 31 March 1940, Mussolini had laid down a defensive strategy against Kenya, a policy of limited offensives against Kassala and Gedaref (now Al Qadarif) in Sudan and a bigger offensive against French Somaliland to protect Eritrea. Naval forces based at Massawa were to take the offensive and the Regia Aeronautica would provide air support for the ground and naval operations. On 10 June, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France, which made Egypt vulnerable to the forces in Italian Libya (Libia Italiana, part of Africa Settentrionale Italiana (ASI) and those in the AOI a menace to the British and French colonies in East Africa. Italian belligerence led to the closure of the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Mediterranean and Middle East
See also: Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterra ... rld_War_II

Sudan Map

Geography of Djibouti (French Somaliland)

Kassala
The Italian forces in the AOI remained passive in June but during July prepared to attack Karora, Kassala, Gallabat and Kurmuk.

Italian preparations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_ ... rica,_1940

Map of the Governorates of Italian East Africa in May 1940, before the conquest of British Somaliland

Before the Italian declaration of war, Mussolini intended a defensive strategy in the AOI, with tactical offensives to protect Eritrea by attacking French Somaliland (Djibouti) and conducting limited attacks on Sudan.

The Regia Aeronautica had 325 aircraft in the AOI, 142 of which were in reserve (not all operational) with little prospect of more supplies of fuel, ammunition and spare parts.[2] A force was concentrated near the Sudan border for an attack on Kassala, comprising two colonial brigades, four squadrons of cavalry, approximately 24 light tanks, medium tanks and armoured cars and ten batteries of artillery.

Operations - Capture of Kassala
Kassala in 1940

6,500 men in three columns with trucks with support from the Regia Aeronautica and some cavalry squadrons acting as vanguards. At 3:00 a.m. on 4 July 1940, the three columns, about 19–22 mi (31–36 km) apart, started their attack on Kassala.

Italian soldiers being transported by truck during the Italo-Ethiopian War in Ethiopia.

Italian artillery firing on Kassala.

Kassala was defended by fewer than 500 men of the SDF and local police. The defenders knocked out six Italian tanks and inflicted considerable casualties on the attackers. At 1:00 p.m., Italian cavalry entered Kassala and the defenders withdrew to Butana Bridge.

Gazzera occupied the fort of Gallabat the same day and Kurmuk in Sudan. Gallabat was placed under the command of Colonel Castagnola and fortified.

The Italian attacks had gained a valuable entry point to Sudan at Kassala.

British Somaliland, 1940
Italian conquest of British Somaliland
Main article: Italian conquest of British Somaliland - A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_c ... Somaliland

Italian conquest of British Somaliland


Part of the East African Campaign of the Second World War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Afri ... ld_War_II)

In 1940, British Somaliland was garrisoned by 631 members of the Somaliland Camel Corps (SCC) and a small party of police at Berbera armed only with small-arms and anti-tank rifles with 29 motor vehicles, 122 horses and 244 camels but by mid-July, reinforcements of two infantry battalions had arrived. The British hoped that the effort of invading British Somaliland would act as a deterrent and that the French in Djibouti would be a more tempting target. The defeat in France in 1940 and the French armistices with Germany and Italy left the British in Somaliland isolated. On 3 August 1940, the Italians invaded with two colonial brigades, four cavalry squadrons, 24 M11/39 medium tanks and L3/35 tankettes, several armoured cars, 21 howitzer batteries, pack artillery and air support.

The SCC skirmished with the advancing Italians as the main British force slowly retired. On 11 August, Major-General Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen took command as reinforcements increased the British garrison to five battalions with about 4,500 British and Commonwealth troops, 75 percent being African infantry and Somali irregulars. The main British defensive position was at the Tug Argan Gap, which commanded the road to Berbera and on 11 August, the Battle of Tug Argan began. By 14 August, the British were close to being cut off and with only one battalion left in reserve and next day, Godwin-Austen received permission to withdraw from the colony. By on 18 August, most of the British and local troops had been evacuated to Aden and the Italians entered Berbera on the evening of 19 August.

Subsequent operations
Main article: Battle of Agordat (1941)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agordat_(1941)
Gondar sector, during the East African Campaign

NOVEMBER 1941
East Africa - The last Italian forces surrendered at Gondar in the north of Ethiopia on the 27th. The Italian East African empire ceased to exist.


After the British reverse at Gallabat in November, Wavell held a review of the situation in Cairo from 1 to 2 December. With Operation Compass imminent in Egypt, the British forces in east Africa were to provide help to the Patriots in Ethiopia and continue to pressure the Italians at Gallabat. Kassala was to be recaptured early in January 1941, to prevent an Italian invasion and the 4th Indian Division was to be transferred from Egypt to Sudan from the end of December. With the success of Compass, east Africa was made second priority after Egypt and it was intended to have defeated the Italian forces in Ethiopia by April. The Italian retirement from Kassala on 18 January 1941, suggested that the British victory in Egypt was affecting the situation in East Africa and that a bolder British strategy was justified. The British offensive from Sudan due on 9 February was brought forward to 19 January.

Platt was ordered to mount a vigorous pursuit and fought the Battle of Agordat from 26 to 31 January 1941, leading to the capture of Agordat on 1 February and Barentu the next day. Haile Selassie the deposed Emperor of Ethiopia crossed into Ethiopia on 20 January and in February, the Frontier Battalion SDF, the 2nd Ethiopian Battalion and Nos 1 and 2 Operational Centres, were renamed Gideon Force. Lieutenant-Colonel Orde Wingate was ordered to capture Dangila and Bure, which had garrisons of a colonial brigade each and gain control of the road between Bure and Bahrdar Giorgis, to provide a base for Selassie. The Arbegnoch were to attack the main roads from Gondar and Addis Ababa and keep as many Italian troops back defending Addis Ababa as possible.

East Africa and Middle East in World War 2
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsNearEast.htm
1940
JUNE 1940
Strategic Situation - The Mediterranean region included two other theatres of war - the oil production regions of the Near East, and the Red Sea and Italian East Africa area:



Italy Declared War - Italy declared war on Britain and France on the 10th. Two weeks later France was out of the war. Still on the 10th, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa declared war on Italy.

Near East - Iraq, Persia (Iran) and the Persian Gulf area were within the British sphere of influence and surrounded by Allied or neutral countries.

Red Sea Area – To the east Saudi Arabia had close ties with Britain, and at the southern end of the Red Sea, Aden was a British colony. On the west shore were Egypt and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and further south French and British Somaliland. In between the Sudan and Somaliland were the linked Italian colonies of Eritrea, Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and Italian Somaliland. Bordering them to the south was British Kenya.

Military and Maritime Circumstances - From bases in Italian East Africa the Italian Air Force and Navy were capable of cutting Allied supply routes to Suez through the Red Sea. The Italian army was also powerful enough to conquer British and French Somaliland and posed a threat to the Sudan and Kenya. The Italians' one major problem was the impossibility of supplying these forces other than by air from Libya.

Naval Strengths - The major Allied and Italian strengths were in the Mediterranean. However the Italian Navy maintained a small but useful force in the Red Sea. Based at Massawa were 7 destroyers, 8 submarines and 2 torpedo boats. Against these could be deployed ships of the East lndies Command based at Trincomalee in Ceylon, although these could be reinforced through the British-controlled Suez Canal.

Map of the Italian naval base at Massawa

Map of Eritrea showing the ports of Massawa and Assab

A year by year "event compilation" is displayed and described here for greater details on the events in this region... at this Web-Page:
https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsNearEast.htm

Campaigns and Battles in East Africa – The North, British and French Somaliland:
[Ret: There is a great deal of information at the Web-Site listing below... everything is there... I'm posting only the bare minimum here!.]
https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/campaign ... omaliland/


British Evacuation To Aden


Indications of the Italian assault August 1940

Introduction and background to AOI
Following the Italian declaration of war against Great Britain and France on the 10th June 1940, the British perceptions of the Italians in Africa changed. The British had misunderstood the unique position Italy held and, although it had previously been unhappy with the Italian invasion and occupation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), they had not carried out any action to stop them. Following the declaration of war, however, the gloves were off and the British and French possessions in the region, as well as access through the vital Suez canal, were potentially threatened. The Italian high command had expected a short war which would give them territorial gains while Italian East Africa (AOI: Africa Orientale Italiana), surrounded and cut off, merely had to hold out until Great Britain sued for peace.

First Strike
Unlike the large sedentary Italian force languishing in North Africa, the force in AOI under the command of The Duke of Aosta (Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta) took the initiative. Rather than sit and wait to be attacked by the British and to try and get some breathing space to ensure the survival of the colony, the Duke quickly launched attacks on British border posts in Kenya and Sudan.


Italian forces in AOI by region, 1st June 1940. Source: Orpen


Renault FT’s in French Somaliland, 1938. Source: Public Domain

The first target of the Italian assault was the French colony and port of Djibouti. French forces defending the territory were commanded by Major General Paul Legentilhomme.


Italian troops march in columns during the invasion of British Somaliland.

The assault on British Somaliland
With French Somaliland neutralized, the threat from the British had to be eliminated as well and, although the French had not surrendered their tanks and guns, the Italians had sufficient men to do the job.


A column of Italian M.11/39 Medium tanks advancing into British Somaliland, August 1940.

Defences
The defence of British Somaliland was commanded by Brigadier Arthur Chater



Troops of the Somaliland Camel Corps

Much-More at Web-Site: By-Passing a great deal of information.

Italian troops carried in trucks during the invasion of British Somaliland. Source: waridaad.blogspot.com


Deployment of British forces at Tug Argan, 10th/11th August 1940. Source: Moyse-Bartlett


Map of the action at Tug Argan. August 1940. Source: unknown


French colonial Renault FT-31 in 1940.


M11/39 in Eastern Africa, British Somaliland invasion, September 1940.


Italian Carro Veloce CV-35 serie II, Ariete division, serving in Africa, but on the Lybian front. The same vehicle formed the stapple of Italian armored forces in East Africa.


Universal Carrier in British used in North Africa. This trustworthy vehicle was present on all fronts the British Army operated, including East Africa.


Two triumphant Italian soldiers are holding an upside Union Flag taken as a trophy in British Somaliland.