Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
, following the Italian defeat during the East African Campaign
East African Campaign (World War II)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
History
When General Guglielmo NasiGuglielmo Nasi
Guglielmo Ciro Nasi was an Italian General who fought in Italian East Africa during World War II.-Biography:Nasi was born in Civitavecchia, Latium...
surrendered with military honors the last troops of the Italian colonial army in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
at Gondar
Battle of Gondar
The Battle of Gondar was the last stand of the Italian forces in Italian East Africa during the Second World War. The battle took place in November 1941, during the East African Campaign...
in November 1941, many Italians decided to start a guerrilla war in the mountains and deserts of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. Nearly 7,000 Italian soldiers (according to the historian Alberto Rosselli ) participated in this fight against the British army, in the hope that the German-Italian army of Rommel
Rommel
Erwin Rommel was a German World War II field marshal.Rommel may also refer to:*Rommel *Rommel Adducul , Filipino basketball player*Rommel Fernández , first Panamanian footballer to play in Europe...
would win in Egypt (making the Mediterranean an Italian Mare Nostrum) and retake the recently-occupied territories.
There were originally two main Italian guerrilla organizations: the Fronte di Resistenza (Front of Resistance) and the Figli d'Italia (Sons of Italy).
The Fronte di Resistenza was a military organization led by Colonel Lucchetti and centered in the main cities of the former Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
. Its main activities were military sabotage and collection of information about British troops to be sent to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in multiple ways.
The Figli d'Italia organization was formed in September 1941 by Blackshirts of the "Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale" (a fascist organization of volunteer soldiers). They engaged in a guerrilla war against the British troops and harassed those Italian civilians and colonial soldiers that had been dubbed "traitors" (for being favorable to cooperation with the British and Ethiopian forces).
Other groups were the "Amhara" fighters of Lieutenant Amedeo Guillet
Amedeo Guillet
Amedeo Guillet was an officer of the Italian Army. He was born in Piacenza. Descended from a noble family from Piedmont and Capua, he graduated from the Academy of Infantry and Cavalry of Modena in 1930 and began his career in the Italian Army. Dying at the age of 101, he was one of the last men...
in Eritrea and the guerrilla group of Major Gobbi based at Dessie
Dessie
Dessie is a city and a woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located on the Addis Ababa - Asmara highway in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, this city has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 2,470 and 2,550 meters above sea level.Dessie has postal service , and telephone...
. From the beginning of 1942 there was a resistance group in Eritrea, under the orders of Captain Aloisi, dedicated to help soldiers and civilians to escape from the British POW cities of Asmara and Decameré. In the first months of 1942 (because of the August 1940 Italian conquest of British Somaliland
Italian conquest of British Somaliland
The Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in the Horn of Africa, which took place in August 1940 between forces of Italy and those of Great Britain and its Commonwealth...
), there were also Italian guerrillas in British Somaliland
British Somaliland
British Somaliland was a British protectorate in the northern part of present-day Somalia. For much of its existence, British Somaliland was bordered by French Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa...
.
There were many Eritreans and Somalians (and even a few Ethiopians) who helped the Italian guerrillas. But their numbers dwindled after the Axis defeat at the battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
in 1942.
These guerrilla units (called "Bande" in Italian) were able to operate in a very extended area, from northern Eritrea to southern Somalia. Their armament was made up mainly of old rifles "91", pistols "Beretta", machine guns "Fiat" and "Schwarzlose", hand grenades, dynamite and even some small 65 mm cannons. But they always lacked large amounts of ammunition.
From January 1942, many of these "Bande" started to operate under the coordinated orders of General Muratori (commander of the fascist "Milizia"). He was able to encourage a revolt against the British troops by the Azebo Oromo tribe in northern Ethiopia, who had a history of rebellion. The revolt was put down by the British and Ethiopian forces only at the beginning of 1943.
In spring 1942, even the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie started to open diplomatic "channels of communication" with the Italian insurgents because he was impressed by the victory of Rommel
Rommel
Erwin Rommel was a German World War II field marshal.Rommel may also refer to:*Rommel *Rommel Adducul , Filipino basketball player*Rommel Fernández , first Panamanian footballer to play in Europe...
in Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
(Libya). Major Lucchetti declared (after the war) that the Emperor, if the Axis had reached Ethiopia, was ready to accept an Italian Protectorate with these conditions:
- a total amnesty for all the Ethiopians sentenced by Italy;
- presence of Ethiopians in all levels of the administration;
- participation of Emperor Haile Selassie to the future government of the Protectorate.
In the summer of 1942, the most successful units were those led by Colonel Calderari in Somalia, Colonel Di Marco in the Ogaden
Ogaden
Ogaden is the name of a territory comprising the southeastern portion of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The title "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by Somali irredentists.The region, which is...
, Colonel Ruglio amongst the Danakil
Danakil
Danakil may refer to the following:*Danakil, an old ethnonym referring to:**Afar people**Afar language*Afar Depression *Danakil Desert...
and "Blackshirt centurion" De Varda in Ethiopia. Their successful ambushes forced the British to dispatch troops, with airplanes and tanks, from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
to the guerrilla-ridden territories of the former Italian East Africa.
That summer, the British decided to put most of the Italian population of coastal Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
into concentration camps, in order to avoid their possible contact with Japanese submarines.
In October 1942, the Italian guerrillas started to lose steam because of Rommel
Rommel
Erwin Rommel was a German World War II field marshal.Rommel may also refer to:*Rommel *Rommel Adducul , Filipino basketball player*Rommel Fernández , first Panamanian footballer to play in Europe...
's defeat at the Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
and the capture of Major Lucchetti (the head of the Fronte di Resistenza organization).
The guerrilla war continued until summer 1943, when the remaining Italian soldiers started to destroy their armaments and, in some cases, escaped successfully to Italy, like Lieutenant Amedeo Guillet
Amedeo Guillet
Amedeo Guillet was an officer of the Italian Army. He was born in Piacenza. Descended from a noble family from Piedmont and Capua, he graduated from the Academy of Infantry and Cavalry of Modena in 1930 and began his career in the Italian Army. Dying at the age of 101, he was one of the last men...
(nicknamed "the Devil Commander" by the British) reached Taranto on September 3, 1943. He requested from the Italian War Ministry an "aircraft loaded with equipment to be used for guerrilla attacks in Eritrea", but the Italian armistice a few days later ended his plan.
One of the last Italian soldiers to surrender to the British forces was Corrado Turchetti, who wrote in his memoirs that some soldiers continued to ambush Allied troops until October 1943. The very last Italian officer who fought the guerrilla war was Colonel Nino Tramonti in Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
.
Two noteworthy guerrilla actions
Of the many Italians who performed guerrilla actions between December 1941 and September 1943, two are worthy of note:- Francesco De MartiniFrancesco De MartiniFrancesco De Martini was an Italian captain of the Military Information Service in Eritrea, when the Allies invaded the Italian East Africa during World War II.-Historical background:...
, captain of the Military Information ServiceServizio Informazioni MilitariThe Italian Military Intelligence Service was the military intelligence organization for the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Italy from 1900 until 1946, and of the Republic of Italy until 1949...
(Servizio Informazioni MilitariServizio Informazioni MilitariThe Italian Military Intelligence Service was the military intelligence organization for the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Italy from 1900 until 1946, and of the Republic of Italy until 1949...
, or SIM) who in January 1942 blew up an ammunition depot in Massaua, Eritrea and later organized a group of Eritrean sailors (with small boats called "sambuco") in order to identify, and notify RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with his radio, of the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
movements throughout the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. De Martini received the Italian gold medal of honor.
- Rosa DainelliRosa DainelliRosa Dainelli was an Italian doctor who was working in Ethiopia during World War II, when the British conquered the Italian Empire in the Horn of Africa...
, a doctor who in August 1942 succeeded in entering the main ammunition depot of the British army in Addis Abeba, and blowing it up, miraculously surviving the huge explosion. Her sabotage destroyed the ammunition for the new British "Sten" sub machine gun, delaying the use of this "state of the art" armament for many months. Doctor Dainelli was proposed for the Italian iron medal of honor ("croce di ferro").
List of the main Italian guerrilla officers
- Lieutenant Amedeo GuilletAmedeo GuilletAmedeo Guillet was an officer of the Italian Army. He was born in Piacenza. Descended from a noble family from Piedmont and Capua, he graduated from the Academy of Infantry and Cavalry of Modena in 1930 and began his career in the Italian Army. Dying at the age of 101, he was one of the last men...
in Eritrea - Captain Francesco De MartiniFrancesco De MartiniFrancesco De Martini was an Italian captain of the Military Information Service in Eritrea, when the Allies invaded the Italian East Africa during World War II.-Historical background:...
in Eritrea - Captain Paolo Aloisi in Ethiopia
- Captain Leopoldo Rizzo in Ethiopia
- Colonel Di Marco in Ogaden
- Colonel Ruglio in Dankalia
- Blackshirt General Muratori in Ethiopia/Eritrea
- Blackshirt officer De Varda in Ethiopia
- Blackshirt officer Luigi Cristiani in Eritrea
- Major Lucchetti in Ethiopia
- Major Gobbi in Dessie
- Colonel Nino Tramonti in Eritrea
- Colonel Calderari in Somalia
See also
- East African Campaign (World War II)East African Campaign (World War II)The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....
- Military history of Italy during World War IIMilitary history of Italy during World War IIDuring World War II , the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. Defeated in Greece, France, East Africa and North Africa, the Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the only successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support.In...
- Italian Mare Nostrum
- Italian EmpireItalian EmpireThe Italian Empire was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved...
- Italian conquest of British SomalilandItalian conquest of British SomalilandThe Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in the Horn of Africa, which took place in August 1940 between forces of Italy and those of Great Britain and its Commonwealth...
- Amedeo GuilletAmedeo GuilletAmedeo Guillet was an officer of the Italian Army. He was born in Piacenza. Descended from a noble family from Piedmont and Capua, he graduated from the Academy of Infantry and Cavalry of Modena in 1930 and began his career in the Italian Army. Dying at the age of 101, he was one of the last men...
- Greater Italia