Gura, Eritrea

Early Gura developed as a market at the present site from the 17th century AD. It stood across a caravan route linking northern Ethiopia with the port of Massawa on the Red Sea via the Alighede and Mareb rivers.  Yohannes IV, victor at Gura. 19th century During the 19th century Ethiopian-Egyptian War, Gura (and nearby Khaya Khor) was the site of two major Egyptian forts and, subsequently, a major Ethiopian victory over their inhabitants in 1876. The Egyptian commander Ratib Pasha intended to remain within the safety of the Gura fortress, but his American chief of staff Loring Pashathe former Confederate Brig. Gen. William Loringshamed him into direct confrontation with the main Ethiopian force by crying "No! March out of them! You are afraid!" (Discharged and returned to America, Loring would subsequently point his finger at the Egyptians for the loss in A Confederate Soldier in Egypt, simultaneously complaining of commander Osman Pasha's refusal to leave the second fort and explaining Ratib Pasha's having left the safety of his own because "what little judgment [he] possessed was entirely crushed by abject fear".) The subsequent rout from March 7 to 9 ended Egyptian hegemony over Eritrea ==Late developments==

Since early 1943, the airport was used mainly for maintenance and repairing of American aircraft, shipped directly from the American continent in order to support the Allies in Europe. Furthermore, it was established a huge airbase maintained by 2,000 American employees of Johnson, Drake & Piper, along with an equal number of hired or conscripted Italians and Eritreans. The facility—operated by employees of Douglas Aircraft—received damaged RAF aircraft which were sailed down the Red Sea to Massawa and transported overland, and repaired them for return to the North African front under their own power. The American facility boasted a nine-hole golf course with the following rules: ::Balls may be lifted from bomb craters and trenches without penalty. ::Do not touch bombs or craters, notify authorities. ::In case of air raid the trenches are located in back of 5th and 7th greens. ::Out of bounds to right of 1st, 5th and 9th holes. ::If baboon steals ball drop another ball no nearer hole—no penalty. ::If ball hits an animal play ball as it lies. At war's end, Eritrea was incorporated into Haile Selassie's restored Ethiopia. British administrators had already dismantled Gura's air base, leaving only the tarmac. The end of the conflict and recognition from Addis Ababa was secured by the EPLF's victory in a major tank battle in the valley around Gura on May 20, 1991. ==References==