The Fall of Addis Abeba
Back in Rome, Mussolini's Foreign Minister Gianni Ciano came to him with an interesting proposal. He wanted to reinstate the terms of ths secret Hoare-Laval Pact and diplomatically embarrass both the French and British governments.
Although the proposal was sound, Mussolini had his heart set on claiming all of Ethiopia for the Kingdom of Italy. The plan was not implemented.
After Graziani's disastrous attack on Addis Adeba and with the Regina Aeronautica out of the picture, the final mopping up took longer than expected. The Ethiopian forces caught up in the battle of Gedo were now fleeing west. After the Italian victory and conquest of Gedo province, the Emperor and the bulk of the Ethiopian army were cut off from the capital.
The Ethiopians counterattacked from the west but were unable to dislodge the 24th Infantry (of the II Corps) and the Celere Division under the command Maj General Bitossi. This was partly due to the support of Italian divisions attacking from Debre Markos to the north. After repelling the previous Ethiopian counterattacks along the Blue Nile these divisions, elements of the Eritrean Corps along with the 5th Alpine Division, had turned the tables and attempted to push southwest over the Nile (into Nek'emte province). These forces were lead by the Eritrean Corps commander himself, Lt General Zingales who had now come forward from the rear.
Likewise Nasi's Libyan and 6th Blackshirts Division also had to dig in and repel an Ethiopian counterattack in the hills of Arba Minch.
Battle of Nek'emte and the Ethiopian counterattacks in Gedo
In early May the Italians were able to launch a renewed assault on the capital, this time the attack initially came from the north where fresh divisions had just reached the front. The assault was lead the 19th Infantry 'Venezia' (of the II Corps) under the command of Maj General do Feroleto and the 26th Infantry 'Assietta' (of the I Corps).
Supporting the attack were the battered front line divisions from the northern front, the 4th Celere (of the Eritrean Corps) and the 3rd Blackshirts (of the I Corps). From the southern front were the victorious 2nd Arab-Somali and 2nd Dubat Divisions of the Ogaden Corps. Even the previously beaten 29th joined the combined assault, although its contribution was negligible.
The already weakened forces under Lt General Katama were no match, their surrender followed within a few days.
Victory for the Italians, battle of Adis Abeda
It was around the end of April and the beginning of May that a series of reports began to reach Marshal Badoglio at his headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. These reports indicated a significant buildup of British troops all along the Ethiopian northwestern border. The information was quickly relayed to Marshal Balbo in Tobruk and then onto Mussolini in Rome.
British troop buildup along the Ethiopian-Sudanse border
After six days of fighting, Nasi's besieged Libyan and 6th Blackshirts Divisions in Arba Minch finally beat back the Ethiopian attacks from Jima. The Ethiopian force was poorly lead and the attack was repelled with few losses.
Failed Ethiopian counterattacks in Arba Minch
The Battle of Nek'emte where elements of the Eritrean Corps along with the 5th Alpine Division were pushing south over the Blue Nile against the bulk of the remaining enemy forces was won on the 4th May. When the 24th Infantry, Bitossi's Celere and the 1st Arab-Somali Divisions joined in the attack from Gedo in the east, the Ethiopian defense collapsed and the beaten army fled south to Jima.
After the defeat and surrender of the Ethiopian forces defending the lands around the Addis Abeba, the race to take the capital was on (Messe's Celere Division was in the lead).
Messe's Celere division on the move (foreground shows a CV-33 towing Italian artillery)
The Victory at Nek'emte and the race for the capital
Jima in the furtherest western reaches of the country was now the only enemy lands which harboured Ethiopian forces. Here the Ethiopians were protected by the Dinder River, a tributary of the Blue Nile. The initial Italian assault on these positions was lead by Nasi's forces in the south (Arba Minch) and then joined by the 5th Alpine Division to the north of Jima (having just advanced into Nek'emte). At this time, several companies of the 5th Alpine Division reported that they made contact with and were fired upon by British troops from across the Dinder River. The British denied their involvement in the battle.
Meanwhile Messe had won the race to Addis Abeba.
With the capture of Addis Abeba, the Emperors support dissolved and the remnants of his army surrendered or fled over the border into Anglo-Egyption Sudan. The Emperor himself also discreetly slipped across the border under the protection of British troops. He headed for Juba on the White Nile. After a short stay it is rumored that he traveled up the Nile to Cairo and into Exile.
Final battle of the war (were the British involved?)
Ethiopian surrender
Emperor Haile Selassie going into exile
Celebrating Italian troops in Ethiopia
The celebrations were shortlived, in the Governors Palace in Asmara, Badolgio received more news of the British buildup on the Sudanese border. It was estimated that nine British divisions now faced the Italians across the border, a mixture of colonial and national troops.
Downtown Asmara
British troops across the border
When this inormation was relayed from Asmara via Tobruk to Rome, Marshal Italo Balbo the Governor of Lybia was able to intercept the information and use it is push his own agenda.
Marshal Italo Balbo
Back in 1935, as the "Abyssinian Crisis" worsened, Balbo the Governor of Lybia began preparing plans to attack Egypt and the Sudan. Mussolini made his intentions to invade Ethiopia clear and relations between Italy and the United Kingdom became more tense. Fearing a "Mad Dog" act by Mussolini against British forces and possessions in the Mediterranean, Britain reinforced its fleet in the Mediterranean and also reinforced its military forces in Egypt. Should Britain choose to close the Suez Canal, Balbo reasoned, Italian troop transports would be prevented from reaching Eritrea and Somalia. Thinking that the planned attack on Abyssinia would be crippled, Balbo asked for reinforcements in Libya. He calculated that such a gesture would make him a national hero and restore him to the center of the political stage. Three divisions and aircraft were immediately sent from Italy to Libya. Balbo also secretly received intelligence concerning the feasibility of advancing into Egypt and the Sudan from famed Hungarian desert researcher Lszlo Almasy.
By 1 September 1935, Balbo secretly deployed Italian forces along the border with Egypt without the British knowing anything about it. At the time, British intelligence concerning what was going on in Libya was woefully inadequate. In the end, Mussolini rejected Balbo's overly ambitious plan to attack Egypt and the Sudan and London learned about his deployments in Libya from Rome. Lost of the Italian border troops were re-deployed to support the war in Eritrea.
Balbo flying to Rome takes a postcard with him showing Toburk harbour with Italian submarines
Still out of favour in Rome and now further in the shadows after Marshal Badoglio's Ethiopian victory, Balbo dusted the Saharan sands off his previous plans and flew to Rome to state his case for an immediate attack on Egypt and Sudan.
Back in Rome, Mussolini's Foreign Minister Gianni Ciano came to him with an interesting proposal. He wanted to reinstate the terms of ths secret Hoare-Laval Pact and diplomatically embarrass both the French and British governments.
Although the proposal was sound, Mussolini had his heart set on claiming all of Ethiopia for the Kingdom of Italy. The plan was not implemented.
After Graziani's disastrous attack on Addis Adeba and with the Regina Aeronautica out of the picture, the final mopping up took longer than expected. The Ethiopian forces caught up in the battle of Gedo were now fleeing west. After the Italian victory and conquest of Gedo province, the Emperor and the bulk of the Ethiopian army were cut off from the capital.
The Ethiopians counterattacked from the west but were unable to dislodge the 24th Infantry (of the II Corps) and the Celere Division under the command Maj General Bitossi. This was partly due to the support of Italian divisions attacking from Debre Markos to the north. After repelling the previous Ethiopian counterattacks along the Blue Nile these divisions, elements of the Eritrean Corps along with the 5th Alpine Division, had turned the tables and attempted to push southwest over the Nile (into Nek'emte province). These forces were lead by the Eritrean Corps commander himself, Lt General Zingales who had now come forward from the rear.
Likewise Nasi's Libyan and 6th Blackshirts Division also had to dig in and repel an Ethiopian counterattack in the hills of Arba Minch.
Battle of Nek'emte and the Ethiopian counterattacks in Gedo
In early May the Italians were able to launch a renewed assault on the capital, this time the attack initially came from the north where fresh divisions had just reached the front. The assault was lead the 19th Infantry 'Venezia' (of the II Corps) under the command of Maj General do Feroleto and the 26th Infantry 'Assietta' (of the I Corps).
Supporting the attack were the battered front line divisions from the northern front, the 4th Celere (of the Eritrean Corps) and the 3rd Blackshirts (of the I Corps). From the southern front were the victorious 2nd Arab-Somali and 2nd Dubat Divisions of the Ogaden Corps. Even the previously beaten 29th joined the combined assault, although its contribution was negligible.
The already weakened forces under Lt General Katama were no match, their surrender followed within a few days.
Victory for the Italians, battle of Adis Abeda
It was around the end of April and the beginning of May that a series of reports began to reach Marshal Badoglio at his headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. These reports indicated a significant buildup of British troops all along the Ethiopian northwestern border. The information was quickly relayed to Marshal Balbo in Tobruk and then onto Mussolini in Rome.
British troop buildup along the Ethiopian-Sudanse border
After six days of fighting, Nasi's besieged Libyan and 6th Blackshirts Divisions in Arba Minch finally beat back the Ethiopian attacks from Jima. The Ethiopian force was poorly lead and the attack was repelled with few losses.
Failed Ethiopian counterattacks in Arba Minch
The Battle of Nek'emte where elements of the Eritrean Corps along with the 5th Alpine Division were pushing south over the Blue Nile against the bulk of the remaining enemy forces was won on the 4th May. When the 24th Infantry, Bitossi's Celere and the 1st Arab-Somali Divisions joined in the attack from Gedo in the east, the Ethiopian defense collapsed and the beaten army fled south to Jima.
After the defeat and surrender of the Ethiopian forces defending the lands around the Addis Abeba, the race to take the capital was on (Messe's Celere Division was in the lead).
Messe's Celere division on the move (foreground shows a CV-33 towing Italian artillery)
The Victory at Nek'emte and the race for the capital
Jima in the furtherest western reaches of the country was now the only enemy lands which harboured Ethiopian forces. Here the Ethiopians were protected by the Dinder River, a tributary of the Blue Nile. The initial Italian assault on these positions was lead by Nasi's forces in the south (Arba Minch) and then joined by the 5th Alpine Division to the north of Jima (having just advanced into Nek'emte). At this time, several companies of the 5th Alpine Division reported that they made contact with and were fired upon by British troops from across the Dinder River. The British denied their involvement in the battle.
Meanwhile Messe had won the race to Addis Abeba.
With the capture of Addis Abeba, the Emperors support dissolved and the remnants of his army surrendered or fled over the border into Anglo-Egyption Sudan. The Emperor himself also discreetly slipped across the border under the protection of British troops. He headed for Juba on the White Nile. After a short stay it is rumored that he traveled up the Nile to Cairo and into Exile.
Final battle of the war (were the British involved?)
Ethiopian surrender
Emperor Haile Selassie going into exile
Celebrating Italian troops in Ethiopia
The celebrations were shortlived, in the Governors Palace in Asmara, Badolgio received more news of the British buildup on the Sudanese border. It was estimated that nine British divisions now faced the Italians across the border, a mixture of colonial and national troops.
Downtown Asmara
British troops across the border
When this inormation was relayed from Asmara via Tobruk to Rome, Marshal Italo Balbo the Governor of Lybia was able to intercept the information and use it is push his own agenda.
Marshal Italo Balbo
Back in 1935, as the "Abyssinian Crisis" worsened, Balbo the Governor of Lybia began preparing plans to attack Egypt and the Sudan. Mussolini made his intentions to invade Ethiopia clear and relations between Italy and the United Kingdom became more tense. Fearing a "Mad Dog" act by Mussolini against British forces and possessions in the Mediterranean, Britain reinforced its fleet in the Mediterranean and also reinforced its military forces in Egypt. Should Britain choose to close the Suez Canal, Balbo reasoned, Italian troop transports would be prevented from reaching Eritrea and Somalia. Thinking that the planned attack on Abyssinia would be crippled, Balbo asked for reinforcements in Libya. He calculated that such a gesture would make him a national hero and restore him to the center of the political stage. Three divisions and aircraft were immediately sent from Italy to Libya. Balbo also secretly received intelligence concerning the feasibility of advancing into Egypt and the Sudan from famed Hungarian desert researcher Lszlo Almasy.
By 1 September 1935, Balbo secretly deployed Italian forces along the border with Egypt without the British knowing anything about it. At the time, British intelligence concerning what was going on in Libya was woefully inadequate. In the end, Mussolini rejected Balbo's overly ambitious plan to attack Egypt and the Sudan and London learned about his deployments in Libya from Rome. Lost of the Italian border troops were re-deployed to support the war in Eritrea.
Balbo flying to Rome takes a postcard with him showing Toburk harbour with Italian submarines
Still out of favour in Rome and now further in the shadows after Marshal Badoglio's Ethiopian victory, Balbo dusted the Saharan sands off his previous plans and flew to Rome to state his case for an immediate attack on Egypt and Sudan.