At stake was control of the Suez Canal, a vital lifeline for Britain’s colonial empire, and of the valuable oil reserves of the Middle East. The squadrons operated on all fronts in Somaliland and Abyssinia, and made a considerable contribution towards the victory that was achieved in that campaign. It is worth mentioning at the onset that neither the British Governor of Kenya, Henry Conway Belfield, nor the German Governor of Tanganyika, Heinrich Schnee, advocated war.
Fighting in Africa and the Middle East lasted from June 1940 until May 1945. The North Africa campaigns were a series of World War II battles for control of the Suez Canal, a vital lifeline for Britain’s colonial empire, and the oil resources of the Middle East. Ignoring protests from the League of Nations, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed a new Italian empire in East Africa, comprising Ethiopia and the … The East Africa Campaign of WWI was a very different war to the both the South West Africa Campaign, and in fact to any other campaign being fought in any other theater of the Great War at the time. As a member of the British Commonwealth, South Africa was part of Britain’s war effort since September 1939. The First World War was fought out in Africa as well as on the battlefields of Europe. From left to right: Lt. Pieter Fritz, Lt. Adrian “Coley” Colenbrander, Lt. During the First Italo-Abyssinian War from 1895 to 1896, Italy was thwarted in its colonial ambitions when the forces of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia soundly defeated the Italian Royal Army (Regi… North Africa campaigns, (1940–43), in World War II, series of battles for control of North Africa.
Department of Geography, University of South Africa . Guest will survive the war. Elri Liebenberg . Here are No. One Detached Flight, operating Mohawks during the final part of the campaign, was renumbered as B-Flight of 3 Squadron and joined the primary unit for the last major operations in East Africa. 2 Squadron pilots in East Africa 1940-’41 (Gladiator aircraft in the background). The Order of battle of the East African campaign shows the ground forces of both sides in East Africa on the date that the Italians declared war on Britain and France, 10 June 1940 and for the British and Commonwealth forces involved in the 1941 offensive. Only Lt. The empire was formed from the newly occupied Ethiopia and the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. The Springboks in East Africa: The role of 1 SA Survey Company (SAEC) in the East African Campaign of World War II, 1940-1941 . The lack of sufficient railroads in East Africa, or roads that could be used by motorcars, meant that the moving armies relied on the most basic form of transport: human carriers. W. hen Italy entered the Abstract. Wonderful colourised image by Tinus Le Roux of South African Air Force pilots during the East Africa campaign in WW2.