On 31 July 18° arrived at the Scelene airstrip near
Dire Dawa with six
Ca 133 bomber/transport aircraft. On 1 August (CTSAO, Western Sector Tactical Command) was created for the invasion of British Somaliland. At first the CTSAO ( Collalti) had 27 bombers, 23 fighters and seven reconnaissance aircraft. During the afternoon, flights of three
SM 81 bombers, attacked shipping off Zeila as two waves of six Blenheim Mk Is from 8 and 39 squadrons, escorted by two 203 Squadron Blenheim IVFs, bombed the Italian airfield at Chinele, which had been discovered that morning. The Blenheims dived to through anti-aircraft fire as
CR 42 fighters of 410° scrambled from Dire Dawa ( away) and attacked the Blenheim IVFs. As the second wave of six Blenheims arrived, Corrado Ricci, the commander of 410° , took off in his
CR 32 and shot one down. As the Blenheims flew home over Zeila, the crews spotted a flight of the SM 81 bombers attacking the port. Three Blenheims broke formation and shot down one of the Italian bombers. On the morning of 2 August, 39 Squadron raided Chinele aerodrome again and were intercepted by CR 42s of 413° ; the CR 42 of the CO Corrado Santoro, was hit in the engine and force landed. On 3 August 1940, British air reconnaissance discovered that about 400 Italians had crossed the frontier at Biyad. Nasi communicated with de Simone by wireless and liaison aircraft; the central column crossed the frontier and made for Hargeisa and Tug Argan in the Assa Hills as the western column advanced on Zeila and the eastern column struck east for
Odweina, to deceive the defenders and exploit opportunities. Early on 4 August the central column advanced towards Hargeisa, observed by the SCC which skirmished with the column to impose delays. In the afternoon, three SM 81s attacked Berbera and a 94 Squadron Gladiator attacked one from the 15° which reached
Jijiga with one dead crewman and two wounded. On 4 August, two SM 79 bombers of 44° arrived at Dire Dawa and two of the 94 Squadron Gloster Gladiators at Berbera transferred to
Laferug further south closer to Tug Argan, both strips having only small-arms for defence. There were two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns at Berbera but these were reserved for the defence of the port. During the night 216 Squadron at Aden sent a Bristol Bombay to bomb Dire Dawa but a lightning storm forced the crew to divert to Zula. On 5 August as the Italian invasion force occupied Hargeisa, covered by
Ro 37bis reconnaissance aircraft of 110° Squadriglia and attacks by SM 79s on Zeila, Berbera and Aden, two more SM 79s arriving from Addis Ababa and three Ca 133s from Doghabur to participate. Flights of three Blenheims of 8 Squadron made three attacks on Italian motor columns west of Hargeisa, one Blenheim being shot down by a CR 32 of 410° . The eastern column, comprising mainly , reached Odweina on 6 August and then headed north-west toward
Adadle, a village on the Tug Argan, instead of towards Burao (, Somali for a dry sandy riverbed). The SCC and small patrols of , a small force of local levies normally employed on police duties, conducted a delaying action as the other British and Commonwealth forces retreated towards Tug Argan. At 01:00 twelve light tanks advanced in line; three were hit and knocked out by
Boys anti-tank rifle fire from the SCC and the company of the NRR defending the
hill station. On 6 August Blenheims of 8 and 39 squadrons continued to fly reconnaissance sorties and to attack the Italian columns. An 8 Squadron Blenheim was damaged by twelve attacks by CR 42s; the Italian pilots claimed one bomber shot down and a probable. With Hargeisa captured, two CR 32s and two CR 42s arrived from Dire Dawa on 7 August and began patrols; to the south, Ca 133s flew sorties over the front. The Italians paused at Hargeisa for two days to reorganise and then resumed the advance through the Karim Pass toward the Tug Argan, in the Assa Hills. Aosta urged haste but Nasi refused to rush because the road was deteriorating under the heavy traffic and rain. The Italian advance resumed on 8 August and for two days closed up to the British defences as the Italians made preparations to attack. The defenders reported the presence of Italian medium tanks and the captain of donated the ship's
QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss saluting gun, a three-man crew and 30 rounds of ammunition. The two Gladiators at Berbera were caught on the ground at 06:00 by three Italian fighters; one Gladiator was burnt out and the other damaged; when the news reached Laferug the other two Gladiators were ordered back to Aden. Blenheim IVFs of 203 Squadron from Aden patrolled Berbera as a substitute but two SM 79s bombed the port. Around noon a Blenheim attacked three more SM 79s as they bombed Berbera, damaged one and killed a member of the crew. Three SM 81s had attacked the Godojere Pass in the morning and three Ca 133s bombed the Kerim Pass. The Ro 37bis continued to fly reconnaissance sorties and the fighter patrols were maintained; a CR 32 and a CR 42 were damaged in landing accidents at Hargeisa. In the north, the Bertoldi column entered in
French Somalia and conquered the French fort of
Loyada near the border and then moved south and captured Zeila, about north-west of Berbera, cutting communications with French Somaliland. Bertoldi began a slow advance south-east along the coast road, under intermittent air attack from Aden and bombardment from the sea, pushing back the SCC rearguards as far as the village of
Bulhar by 17 August. Just before Wavell left
Cairo to visit London for talks, reports of the size of the invasion force led him to order most of a field artillery regiment and two anti-tank guns of the
4th Indian Infantry Division to be sent from Egypt to Somaliland by special convoy. The Indian Army was asked to organise the first echelon of the
5th Indian Infantry Division for an infantry battalion, a field battery and a field company to be disembarked at Berbera. Anti-aircraft guns at Port Said were ordered to the colony but this decision was quietly countermanded two days later. Major-General
Reade Godwin-Austen was appointed to command the enlarged force, with orders to defend the Tug Argan, defeat the Italian invasion and plan secretly to evacuate the defenders if it became necessary. Godwin-Austen reached Berbera on 11 July and took over command that evening; the reinforcements were too late and were diverted to Sudan.
Tug Argan position From 7 to 8 August, the defenders had received reinforcements of the 1/2nd Punjab Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Black Watch; by 10 August, de Simone had closed up on the British positions behind the Tug Argan and prepared the Italian attack. The road from Hargeisa turns north through the Kerim Pass to Tug Argan and then east between the Assa hills to the south, hills and dry riverbeds (tugs) to the north. The pass is a flat stone expanse with occasional thorn bushes, tugs and a few rocky hills about apart, named Black, Knobbly, Mill and
Observation hills by the defenders, with Castle Hill east of Mill Hill. The positions had been fortified with machine-gun posts and a modest amount of barbed wire. The defences were impossible to by-pass and had good observation but with so little artillery, the advantage was dubious. The defenders were too few in number to cover the gap and the hills were far enough apart for an attacker to pass between them; only Castle Hill was behind the other fortified hill tops, providing little scope for defence in depth. There were several camel tracks through the Mirgo Pass from Black Hill and the Jerato Pass in the Assa Hills, which gave further opportunities for the Italians to exploit their numerical superiority. During the morning of 9 August, three Italian fighters strafed the airfield at Berbera but found only a damaged Blenheim. The aircraft were fired on by personnel at the base and the Australian cruiser
Hobart in the harbour joined in with its
machine-guns. The Gladiator damaged the day before was dismantled and taken to Aden. On 10 August the Italian northern column reached Zeila despite naval bombardments and bombing from aircraft flying from Aden; the column was eventually stopped by its vehicle tyres being damaged by the rough ground.
Battle of Tug Argan The Australians from
Hobart, with their Hotchkiss gun, arrived at dawn on 10 August but the gun had to be dismantled to load, which reduced its rate of fire to once every five minutes, while its 32 HE rounds and 32 solid shot lasted. The battle for Tug Argan began and another two CR 32 and a CR 42 were sent from Dire Dawa to Hargeisa along with a Ca 133 of 53° ; five SM 79s from Addis Ababa were transferred to Dire Dawa. Early in the morning 8 Squadron sent three Blenheims to dive bomb Italian troops at Tug Argan, one being damaged by a CR 42. In the afternoon another three Blenheims bombed the village of Dubato; two of the Blenheims collided on the return journey and crashed in flames. On 11 August a morning attack was made by Six Ca 133s and three SM 81s on the Godojere Pass, a SM 81 being shot down by ground fire. Three CR 42s strafed Laferug and a SM 79 bombed the airstrip afterwards. A Blenheim was claimed shot down by Italian troops but no loss appeared in British records. On 11 August, the Italians bombarded then attacked the west end of the Assa Hills at Punjab Ridge with a brigade of infantry, pushed back the defending company of the 3rd Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, then repulsed a counter-attack; attacks on Mill and Knobbly hills failed. At dawn a couple of Blenheims from 11 and 39 squadrons from Aden bombed Italian artillery around Darboruk against anti-aircraft fire then the 11 Squadron Blenheim was bounced by a CR 42 and damaged while the crew were trying to drop a message for British troops. The 39 Squadron machine was also attacked and made an emergency landing at Berbera. About two hours later three 39 Squadron Blenheims arrived to repeat the attack and the formation leader was attacked by a 410° CR 32. The pilot of the third Blenheim saw the attack, jettisoned bombs and attacked the Italian fighter, which made a head-on attack, wounding the Blenheim pilot and killed the observer. The pilot managed to reach Berbera and crash-land; the Italian pilot was also wounded. During the attack, a Blenheim IVF of 203 Squadron patrolled Berbera and tried to intercept three SM 79s but broke off the pursuit when a hit in the cockpit, wounded the pilot and navigator. Italian aircraft provided ground support all day, six Ca 133s bombing Mandera and Laferug. On 12 August, all of the British positions were attacked simultaneously and by the evening Mill Hill, the least fortified position, had been captured after a determined resistance by troops of the Northern Rhodesian Regiment. Two of the East African Light Battery
howitzers were lost and the Italians had established themselves in the Assa Hills, dominating the southern side of the gap. On 13 August, the defenders of Knobbly Hill defeated another attack but the Italians infiltrated down Mirgo Pass past the defended localities and ambushed a convoy carrying water and ammunition, which managed to fight its way through to Castle Hill. On 13 August the aircraft of CTSAO concentrated on the area to the east of Adadleh; the Jerato Pass was bombed by Ca 233s and the crashed Blenheims at Berbera were strafed twice by CR 32s, one on the second attack being hit by small-arms fire and landing inside British-held territory. Another three SM 81s were transferred from
Shashamane (south of Addis Ababa) to Dire Dawa. Italian outflanking moves at Tug Argan led the British to begin a withdrawal to Berbera. Eleven 223 Squadron Wellesleys were sent to reinforce the RAF at Aden. On 14 August, Castle Hill and Observation Hill were bombed and bombarded by artillery but an attack on Observation Hill failed. Mussolini signalled to Aosta, Italian troops of the western column reported air attacks at Zeila and on a column advancing down the coast road towards Berbera, one bomber being claimed shot down but no losses appearing in RAF records. SM 79s attacked shipping off Bulhar, three SM 81s and three Ca 133s bombed a fort near the Godojere Pass and retreating troops on the road to Berbera, nearby. Three CR 32s attacked road transport at Laferug, Mandera and tracks to Berbera. At Tug Argan a counter-attack towards Mirgo Pass by two companies of the 2nd KAR, had some success before it was forced back by Italian attacks. The Italians were close to positions from which they could cut off the defenders from their sole line of supply. The Italian advantage in artillery meant that the defended localities could be picked off piecemeal. After four days, the defenders were tiring and there was no better position to retreat to; an attempt to hold Berbara alone would be pointless. Godwin-Austen informed
Henry Wilson, the GOC-in-C
British Troops in Egypt, of the situation, concluding that further resistance at Tug Argan would be futile and likely to result in the loss of the force. Wavell had been called to London and arrived on 7 August but Wilson kept him informed of events, signalling his decision to order the evacuation of the colony to London with a few minutes. Wavell told Churchill who said that it could not be helped, then Wavell left to return to Cairo. Withdrawal would result in an estimated 70 per cent of the force being saved but if necessary the defenders would fight on. When it was clear that the attack towards Mirgo Pass had failed, sufficient troops were left, either to retrieve the situation or cover a withdrawal. Early on 15 August, Godwin-Austen signalled his conclusions to Wilson, who ordered him to withdraw from the colony. Godwin-Austin planned a slow retirement to Barkasan, about from Berbera, then to Nasiyeh, from the port. Over three nights, civilians then troops would be embarked, the time taken being determined by the monsoon, which usually made it difficult to reach ships by boat at night and before noon.
Retreat to Berbera On 15 August, CTSAO bombers continued to fly sorties in support of the army. Three Ca 133s bombed around Laferug and three SM 79s bombed troops around Berbera. Six Blenheim I bombers flew from Iraq to reinforce the RAF at Aden and on passing
Kamaran Island an SM 81 flew underneath the formation. The Blenheims dived on the bomber and three achieved firing positions, shooting it down. On landing the crews handed over their aircraft and returned to Iraq in Bombay transports the next day. After a long bombardment, the Italians overran Observation Hill and during the night the NRR retreated from Black, Knobbly and Castle hills. The Black Watch, two companies of the 2nd KAR and elements of 1/2nd Punjab Regiment formed a rearguard at Barkasan on the Berbera road, about behind Tug Argan and other troops moved back to Nasiyeh. The CTSAO concentrated its operations against the port and in a dawn attack two SM 81 bombers attacked ships in the harbour and were damaged by anti-aircraft fire. Two SM 79s bombed at noon and one was also damaged by anti-aircraft fire. The third Italian raid, by three SM 79s met two Martin Marylands from the Free French flight in 8 Squadron, which were patrolling Berbera and one Maryland pilot claimed a SM 79 shot down; it was not confirmed but crashed in flames soon after. The CTSAO at Dire Dawa was reinforced by two SM 79s of 44° and three CR 32s from 411° at Addis Ababa and three SM 81s from Shashamanna. The retirement was followed up cautiously by the Italians, who attacked the defenders at Barkasan on 17 August. The Black Watch made several counter-attacks and repulsed the Italians but it was only a matter of time before the defences were outflanked. The evacuation at Berbera went more smoothly than expected and Godwin-Austen was able to withdraw the rearguard at Nasiyeh and once night fell, bring back the rearguard from Barkasan. Five Blenheims bombed the captured landing ground at Hargeisa and five Ca 133s with two CR 32 fighter escorts bombed the British residency at Sheikh. A 39 Squadron Blenheim on a reconnaissance sortie, was hit by ground fire and came down in the sea, the crew being rescued by the cruiser . As the Italian invasion neared completion, three SM 81s of the 4° went back to Shashamanna, two of the SM 79s of 44° went back to Addis Ababa and three more SM 79s of 10° 28° arrived from Gura in Eritrea after the 10° had exchanged it SM 81s from reinforcements of SM 79s being flown from Libya. In Aden 39 Squadron gave up two Blenheims to 11 Squadron so that each had five operational bombers.
Evacuation The
Royal Navy had built an all-tide jetty and had commenced evacuating civilian and administrative officials; on 16 August, the British started to embark troops. Attacks by the on the British vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Berbera had begun on 8 August to little effect;
Hobart was slightly damaged in two attacks and the auxiliary vessel
Chakdina suffered splinter damage. On 17 August, the Italian western column at Bulhar, about west of Berbera, was engaged by the light cruiser
Ceres and halted by gunfire. After dark, the rearguard was withdrawn to Berbera with minimal losses and loading was complete by the early hours of 18 August. At 05:35 on 18 August three 11 Squadron Blenheims bombed Italian vehicles near Laferug and were intercepted by two CR 32s of 410° , which shot down a Blenheim in flames. the crew parachuted but two of the men died in hospital of burns. Soon after the Blenheims took off, five Wellesleys from 223 Squadron flew from Perim Island and bombed Addis Ababa airfield in bad weather. A CR 42 managed to damage four of the Wellesleys whose crews claimed two hangars destroyed, two damaged, four SM 79s destroyed, two damaged and Aosta's runabout destroyed. Italian records show a SM 79, a
S 75 and three Ca 133s destroyed, one SM 79 and a SM 81 damaged. Two attacks on Berbera were made by SM 79s during the morning and three SM 79s escorted by two CR 42s attacked soon after noon, the fighters driving a Blenheim F away. Italian troops overcame the second British defensive position before Berbera. Before sailing for Aden early on 19 August,
Hobart, with the force headquarters aboard, stayed behind to collect stragglers and complete the destruction of buildings, vehicles, fuel and stores. The tug
Queen was the only British ship lost in the operation, scuttled by her crew on 18 August. Italian forces refloated the tug and renamed her , the only Italian naval ship south of
Bab El Mandeb. The Royal Navy embarked them front-line troops with and . Most of the Somalis of the SCC were sent home to wait for the British to return, earlier plans for them to fight a guerrilla war being scrapped. SCC members who were embarked, became an armoured car unit under the same title. There was little Italian interference with the evacuation, perhaps because on 15 August Aosta had ordered Nasi to allow the British to evacuate without too much fighting, in the hope of a peace agreement being mediated through the
Vatican. The last CTSAO raid was flown against Berbera by three SM 79s; soon afterwards, British aircraft from Aden attacked Italian troops as they occupied the town that evening. Much of Berbera was on fire and the wreckage of four British aircraft were found on the airfield. Mussolini annexed the colony to the AOI, as part of the
Italian Empire. ==Aftermath==