Battle of Agordat (1941)
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The Battle of Agordat was fought near Agordat, Eritrea, from 26 to 31 January 1941, between Italian and Royal Corps of Colonial Troops forces and British Commonwealth forces, during the East African Campaign. It was the first big victory in the Allied offensive against Italian East Africa and was followed by the Battle of Keren, which marked the fall of Italian Eritrea.
Background
In January 1941, after a period of Italian initiative (with the capture of some towns, forts and villages in Kenya and Sudan and later the Italian conquest of British Somaliland) followed by a long stalemate, the Commonwealth forces in East Africa launched their counter-offensive against the Italian forces stationed in Italian East Africa, and at the same time Ethiopian patriots started an insurrection all over the country. The situation rendered the Sudanese towns of Kassala and Gallabat, captured by the Italian forces during the previous summer, untenable, leading to the decision by Italian commands to abandon them and withdraw the troops to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
While the garrison of Gallabat was ordered to reach Gondar, the troops in Kassala (the 12th Colonial Brigade), under General Orlando Lorenzini, made an orderly retreat towards the Agordat–Barentu line, crossing western Eritrea while opposing some resistance to the pursuing Commonwealth forces, the Gazelle Force (a motorised unit under Colonel Frank Walter Messervy, part of the Sudan Defence Force), the 4th Indian Infantry Division and the 5th Indian Infantry Division.[1]
Several rearguard actions were fought during the retreat. As the Gazelle Force threatened to outflank and encircle the retreating Italian forces, the Amhara Cavalry, under Lieutenant Amedeo Guillet, was ordered to slow down the Allied advance of at least 24 hours, temporarily stopping the Commonwealth forces in the plain between Aicota and Barentu, Eritrea. Guillet's cavalry covertly circumvented the Anglo-Indian forces, then launched a surprise cavalry charge from their rear, at dawn on 21 January. The initial charge created much disarray between the Commonwealth lines, but as Guillet readied for another charged, the Allied force re-organized and opened fire on the Amhara cavalry, while some armoured units tried to encircle them. Lieutenant Renato Togni, Guillet’s second-in-command, charged a column of Matilda tanks with his platoon of 30 colonial soldiers; Togni and his men were all killed, but this allowed the remainder of Guillet's force to disengage. The charge had costed the Amhara cavalry some 800 killed or wounded, but succeeded in slowing the Allied advance enough to allow the main Italian force to reach the fortifications in Agordat.[2]
Lorenzini assumed command of Agordat, whose defences he tried to strengthen. His forces were ten Askari battalions, one Blackshirt battalion and the survivors of Guillet's cavalry squadron, as well as some units of Italian African Police; the Italian defenders were also joined by the German Motorized Company. Overall, Lorenzini had about 6,000 to 7,000 men, tasked with defending a 22-km perimeter; many were exhausted after the 200-km retreat from Kassala.[3] 76 guns and some companies of light and medium tanks were also available.
The 4th Indian Division (Major-General Noel Beresford-Peirse), together with the Gazelle Force, followed the northern road and reached Agordat via Waichau and Keru, whereas the 5th Indian Division (Major-General Lewis Heath) followed the southern road and reached Barentu, via Teseney and Aicota. Both roads had been mined and sown with spikes by the retreating Italians. On 21 January, Brigadier-General Bill Slim, commander of the 10th Indian Brigade, was wounded by an Italian strafing action.
Aicota was captured on 21 January by the 5th Indian Division without opposition. Keru was instead held by the 41st Colonial Brigade (General Ugo Fongoli), but General Heath sent the 2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry and the 2nd Motor Machine Gun Battalion from 10th Indian Brigade north-east, along a track from Aicota, to the rear of the Italian position, thus cutting its communication and supply line; on 22 January the 4th Indian Division assaulted the position and it became untenable. Some escaped during the night, but Fongoli was captured along with his staff, guns, and 1,200 men.
Battle
By 25 January, the Commonwealth forces cut the line of communication between Agordat and Barentu. On the following day, the 4th Indian Division (5th Indian Infantry Brigade and 11th Indian Infantry Brigade) heavily bombarded the Italian lines, while the South African Air Force destroyed most of the Italian aircraft in the Asmara and Gura, thus achieving air superiority for the rest of the campaign.
Between 26 and 29 January the 4th Indian Division staged a fake attack (to divert Lorenzini’s attention) against Mount Itaberrè and Mount Caianac, north of Agordat, and also attacked Mount Laquatat, failing to capture it.[3] On 28 January, Beresford-Pierse sent the 3rd Battalion of the 14th Punjab Regiment to attack Mount Cochen, and on the following day he sent the 1st Battalion of the 6th Rajputana Rifles Regiment to join it. Mount Cochen was captured, but on 30 January a counterattack by five Italian colonial battalions, supported by mountain artillery, forced the Indian units to give way; in the morning of 31 January, however, the Indian soldiers launched another attack, and captured Mount Cochen.
On 31 January, Beresford-Pierse launched the final assault: attacks on Mount Laquatat were renewed, and more attacks were aimed at the road pass between Mount Laquatat and Mount Cochen (where the defenders were commanded by Colonel Luziani), to break the Italian lines there, the last obstacle before the Agordat plain.[3] At first the defenders held their line, but after some hours they started to lose ground. In addition to numerical superiority, artillery support and air supremacy, the Matilda tanks proved particularly effective; as it had happened in North Africa during Operation Compass, Italian artillery and tanks were virtually unable to cause them any serious damage.[4] The final assault took place between 11:00 and 14:00, with Anglo-Indian infantry preceded by Matilda tanks; the latter crushed the Italian defences within a few minutes, overwhelmed the Italian artillery and destroyed eleven M11/39 tanks and Fiat L3 tankettes. Several counter-attacks with Askaris and Guillet’s cavalry on open field failed, and the surviving Italian troops started a disorderly retreat towards Keren, while the Commonwealth troops overflowed towards Agordat, that was captured on 1 February. A thousand Italian and colonial soldiers were captured, along with fourteen half-destroyed tanks, 43 guns and all the heavy equipment.[5]
Aftermath
Meanwhile, Barentu had also been attacked by the 5th Indian Division. The 2nd Colonial Division, 8,000 men and 32 guns under General Angelo Bergonzi, resisted there for six days, sometimes launching successful counterattacks, but upon hearing of the fall of Argordat, it disengaged (without the Allied forces noticing) and started retreating towards Keren between 1 and 2 February.[6] Their retreat was orderly, but few kilometres from Arresa the road ended and was replaced by a mule track; the retreating units were thus forced to abandon there all their trucks, guns and tanks.
The pursuing Commonwealth forces had to stop on the Barka River, where Lorenzini’s men had blown up the only bridge and laid mines in the riverbed. This allowed the Italian forces to complete their retreat and entrench themselves in Keren, where the last and decisive battle for Eritrea would take place. During the entire retreat from the Sudanese border to Keren, Italian and colonial forces suffered the overall loss of 179 officers, 130 non-commissioned officers and 15,916 soldiers (1,230 Italians and 14,686 askaris) killed, wounded or captured, 96 guns, 231 machine guns, 329 automatic rifles, 4,331 quadrupeds, 387 vehicles and 36 M11/39 tanks and L3 tankettes.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ Petacco 2003, p. 217.
- ↑ Petacco 2003, p. 218.
- 1 2 3 Del Boca 1986, p. 406.
- ↑ Quirico 2002, p. 344.
- ↑ Del Boca 1986, pp. 406–407.
- 1 2 Del Boca 1986, p. 408.
References
- Books
- Del Boca, Angelo (1986). Italiani in Africa Orientale: La caduta dell'Impero [Italians in East Africa: The Fall of the Empire] (in Italian). III. Roma-Bari: Laterza. ISBN 88-420-2810-X.
- Mackenzie, Compton (1951). Eastern Epic: September 1939 – March 1943 Defence. I. London: Chatto & Windus. OCLC 59637091.
- Petacco, Arrigo (2003). Faccetta nera: storia della conquista dell'impero [Black Facets: History of the Conquest of the Empire]. Le scie. Milano: Edizioni Mondadori. ISBN 978-8-80451-803-7.
- Playfair, Major-General I. S. O.; et al. (1954). Butler, J. R. M., ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. I. HMSO. OCLC 494123451. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- Qureshi, N. A.; et al. (1963). Prasad, Bisheshwar, ed. East African Campaign, 1940–41. Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War (1939–1945) (online ed.). Delhi: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan). OCLC 480344871. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- Quirico, Domenico (2002). Squadrone bianco: storia delle truppe coloniali italiane [White Squadron: History of Italian Colonial Troops]. Le scie. Milano: Mondadori. ISBN 978-8-80450-691-1.
- Raugh, H. E. (1993). Wavell in the Middle East, 1939–1941: A Study in Generalship. London: Brassey's UK. ISBN 0-08-040983-0.
- Theses
- Marino, F. (2009). Military Operations in the Italian East Africa, 1935–1941: Conquest and Defeat (MMS). Quantico, VA: USMC Command and Staff College. OCLC 832080928. Retrieved 22 February 2016.