Battle of Ganale Doria

In early 1935 Italian forces were preparing to invade Ethiopia from Eritrea. Only one Italian division, the 29th Infantry Division "Peloritana", had been allotted to the southern front, while the northern front had ten. General Rodolfo Graziani was in charge of the southern front; his role was expected to be entirely defensive. His orders from General Emilio De Bono were to dig in and wait for the Ethiopians to attack. Graziani set out to convince De Bono's commander, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, that the plans for the campaign needed to be changed to allow him and his army on the southern front to play a more active role. Mussolini wanted action and was willing to listen. In the end, Graziani's plan for an offensive on the "southern front" had the tacit approval of Rome if not De Bono. Between April and December, Graziani opened up new roads, developed the port facilities at Mogadishu, solved a difficult water supply problem, stocked up provisions and munitions, and purchased hundreds of motor vehicles. He successfully acquired American-made trucks from British dealers in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. ==Institution of the Milan plan==

When De Bono's forces crossed the Mareb River in the north, Graziani instituted what he called the Milan Plan in the south. The initial objectives of this plan were to eliminate Ethiopian frontier posts and to test the Ethiopian reaction to a series of probes. Despite the incessant rains, within three weeks the Italians had captured the villages of Kelafo, Dagnerai, Gerlogubi, and Gorahai. A meeting encounter ensued and casualties were high among the Ethiopians and the Italians. After several hours, both sides withdrew and both claimed victory. While better equipped in all ways, the Italians were never able to get the upper hand. The small two-man, turretless L3/35 tankettes sent against the Ethiopians quickly bogged down in the rough terrain and were put out of action by Ethiopians who crept up on them and fired through the weapon slits in the armor. But the forces available to Graziani remained limited and by November the initiative on the southern front passed to the Ethiopians, as it did in the north. ==Battle==

On 13 November Graziani moved his headquarters to Baidoa. The 29th Infantry Division "Peloritana" was still the only full division available to him. By mid-November limited elements of the Libyan Colonial Division and the 6th CC.NN. Division "Tevere" were in Somalia. As additional forces arrived later in November, Graziani formed them up at Dolo near the border. By early December, Graziani's forces were in a state of readiness to launch a counterattack against Ras Desta's offensive and Graziani's new commander, Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio, noted this preparedness. Badoglio sent Graziani a telegram reminding him of his "strictly defensive" role. Graziani feigned compliance with Badoglio but communicated privately with Rome and urged that he be given authorization for an offensive. Mussolini gave Graziani permission for "a limited attack in the case of absolute necessity" and Graziani took this as the authorization he needed. Ras Desta descended from the Bale Plateau, assembling the Army of the Sidamo at Negele Boran. This army was considered to be well armed by Ethiopia standards and numbered approximately 20,000 men. His goal was to advance down the Ganale Dorya River and to then continue his advance down the Juba River. From Negele Boran, Ras Desta planned to march approximately 200 miles south and capture the border town of Dolo, then invade Italian Somaliland itself. This plan was ill-conceived and overly ambitious. It also lost the element of surprise as it became common knowledge and was the subject of marketplace gossip. In addition to the Army of the Sidamo, the 4,000 strong Army of the Bale, under Dejazmach Beine Merid, was to advance down the Shebelle River and invade the center of Somalia. The Army of the Bale was able to move forward more quickly due to the better terrain in its area. In November, advancing elements of this force clashed with about 1,000 dubats of the pro-Italian Sultan Olol Dinle. Both sides eventually withdrew from the battlefield, with Beine Merid seriously wounded. Its commander stricken, the army of the Bale retreated, leaving the army of the Sidamo was on its own. Olol Dinle managed to complete the main objective of his mission which was to immobilise Beine Merid. Meanwhile, Italian General Graziani was preparing an offensive aimed at dislodging Abyssinian forces from their positions on the Dawa Parma. Dinle then led irregular bands along the upper course of the Webi Shebeli River, advancing into the Imi region. This movement allowed for reconnaissance of the area and diverted hostile forces away from reinforcing Ras Desta's troops. On his return, Dinle’s column occupied Danano in the Bawa Valley, where they joined forces with Hassan Ali, Chief of the Ogaden Rar Dalal tribe, who had pledged allegiance to the Italians. Even as the Ethiopians advanced, Graziani continued his preparations. He organized his forces into three columns. On the Italian right was the first column which was to advance up the valley of the Genale Doria River. In the center was the second column which was to advance towards Filtu. On the left was the third column which was to advance up the valley of the Dawa River. All three columns had access to motor transport and were equipped with a few tanks. They could be thought of as "mechanized" by the standards of 1936. In addition to the three columns on the ground, Graziani had at his disposal the 7th Bomber Wing of the Royal Air Force. ==Aftermath==

On 20 January, within five days of their start, all three of Graziani's columns had reached their objectives. As a testament to the thoroughness of the job that the Royal Air Force had done, no shots were fired when the Italians converged on and entered their ultimate objective, Negele Boran. One detail did detract from Graziani's triumph. About halfway through the battle, over nine hundred of his Eritrean troops deserted. Graziani's response was to order the corpses of the Eritrean dead left to rot on the field where they fell. Over 1,000 Eritrean deserters were said to have fought on the Ethiopian side at the Battle of Maychew. The southern front was the subordinate front and the war on the northern front was not yet going well for the Italians. The Christmas Offensive was pressing the Italians hard, and they had priority for supplies and reinforcements. == See also ==