Battle of Gondar
| Battle of Gondar | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the East African Campaign of World War II | |||||||||
.jpeg) Ethiopian painting of the battle |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 ItalyRegio Corpo Truppe Coloniali |
 United Kingdom Commonwealth troops Ethiopian irregulars |
||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Guglielmo Nasi
|
William Platt Charles Fowkes
|
||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 41,000 70 guns 1 aircraft |
2 East African Infantry brigades Camforce (Ethiopian Patriots) Kenya Armoured Car Regiment South African Light Armoured Detachment |
||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| June–November: 300 Italian, 3,700 Ascari killed 8,400 wounded or sick 22,000 prisoners 1 aircraft |
final assault: 32 killed 182 wounded 6 missing 15 aircraft |
||||||||
 Gondar
Gondar, city and district (woreda), in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, north of Tana Lake
|
|||||||||
The Battle of Gondar or Capture 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. Gondar was the main town of Amhara in the mountains north of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at an elevation of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) and had an Italian garrison of 40,000, commanded by Generale Guglielmo Nasi.
After the defeat of the Italians at the Battle of Keren (1 April 1941), many of the remaining Italians withdrew to the strongholds of Amba Alagi, Jimma and Gondar. Amba Alagi fell in May and Jimma fell in July. Gondar is the capital of Amhara on the high ground north of Lake Tana at 7,000 ft (2,100 m). In 1941 it was a road junction but only the Amhara road had an all-weather surface. At Wolchefit, guarded by a garrison of Italian troops, 70 mi (110 km) towards Amhara, the road chicaned up a 4,000 ft (1,200 m) escarpment, some parts having been cut into a vertical cliff. From Wolchefit to Gondar the road traced the edge of the escarpment and at Dabat, 30 mi (48 km) short of Gondar and at Amba Giorgis were small garrisons. Only a minor road from Um Hagar to the north had a junction with the main road. West from the town, a fair-weather road in poor repair, led to Gallabat and had a garrison at Chilga. There were rough tracks to the west of Lake Tana which met at Gorgora and a better road ran east to Debra Tabor, also garrisoned and Dessie. At Kulkaber, 30 mi (48 km) from Gondar, the road passed between Lake Tana and the hills; from Debra Tabor to Dessie, it was a soil road and impassable in rain.
The possession of the Wolchefit and Kulkaber mountain passes was instrumental for attacking Gondar. Wolchefit was defended by a garrison of about 4,000 men under Colonel Mario Gonella. The stronghold was besieged by irregular Ethiopian forces, led by British Major Ringrose, since May 1941; the besieging force was later augmented by the arrival of units from the British Indian Army and part of the 12th Afrian Division. Several attacks and counterattacks were launched between May and August 1941. On 28 September 1941, after losing in combat 950 men and running out of food, Gonella surrendered with 1,629 Italians and 1,450 colonial soldiers.
...
Wikipedia