The Gideon Force was a British-led African guerrilla force fighting the Italian occupation forces in Abyssiania (modern-day Ethiopia) during the World War II. Leader and creator of the force was British major Charles Orde Wingate. Distinguish from the type of ape called a gorilla. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ... Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (February 26, 1903 – March 24, 1944), was a British major general and creator of two special military units during the World War II. // Beginnings Orde Wingate was born February 23, 1903 in India to a military family. ...

Political situation

Italy conquered and occupied Ethiopia in 1936, and eventually created Italian East Africa (covering modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia). Italian troops in Abyssinia numbered about 250,000, most of them native Abyssinians recruited to Italian army. Jump to: navigation, search 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana) was an Italian colony in Africa. ...

When Benito Mussolini joined the war against France and Britain in 1940, Italian forces became a potential threat to British supply routes in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. British troops in Egypt and Sudan were outnumbered related to the Italian forces in Abyssinia and Libya. Therefore, British government recognized Haile Selassie in July 1940 and promised to help him. Jump to: navigation, search Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Predappio near Forlì, July 29, 1883 – Giulino di Mezzegra near Como, April 28, 1945) led Italy from 1922 to 1943. ... Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1881 drawing of the Suez Canal The Suez Canal (Arabic, Qanā al-Suways), west of the Sinai Peninsula, is a 163-km maritime canal in Egypt between Port Said (BÅ«r SaÄ«d) on the Mediterranean Sea and Suez (al-Suways) on the Red Sea. ... Haile Selassie Haile Selassie (Power of Trinity) (July 23, 1892 – August 27, 1975) was the last Emperor (1930–1936; 1941–1974) of Ethiopia, and is a religious symbol in the Rastafarian movement. ...

Abyssinian resistance fighters called Arbenyotch ("Patriots") had been harassing the Italians ever since the beginning of the occupation. They would raid Italian forts and communication lines. However, they hardly cooperated at all and Italians were mostly able to play one tribe against another. The British sent Mission 101, a small expedition led by Colonel Daniel Sandford, to contact the Arbenyotch, arranged bases in Gojjam and made gifts of money to tribal leaders who agreed to fight the Italians. Gojjam, or Gojam, was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debra Markos. ...

General Archibald Wavell invited emperor Selassie in Sudan so his supporters could rally around him. British recruited a bodyguard for him from among the Abyssinian refugees in Khartoum. However, British had no manpower to launch a direct offensive against Italians. Wavell, who had met Wingate during their service in Palestine, sent for him. November 6, 1940 Wingate arrived in Khartoum. Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (May 5, 1883 _ May 24, 1950) was a British General and the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during World War II. He led British forces to victory over the Italians, only to be defeated by the German army. ... Map of Sudan with Khartoum Map of Khartoum with Ohmdurman and Bahri Khartoum (Arabic الخرطوم al-Ḫarṭūm elephant trunk) is the capital of Sudan, as well as the capital of the state of Khartoum. ... Jump to: navigation, search Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Map of Sudan with Khartoum Map of Khartoum with Ohmdurman and Bahri Khartoum (Arabic الخرطوم al-Ḫarṭūm elephant trunk) is the capital of Sudan, as well as the capital of the state of Khartoum. ...

Beginnings

Wingate wanted to create a special force with good training and equipment. Against the protests of the British command in Khartoum, he demanded supplies and met with emperor Selassie.

Wingate created his troops from one battalion of Sudanese of the British-led Sudan Defense Force and one battalion of Abyssinian soldiers of the 2nd Ethiopian Battalion, mostly composed of soldiers that had served in the Ethiopian army. In total they numbered only 2000 men and 18,000 camels meant for transport. The camels were under the care of Laurens van der Post who would go on to become a famous author. Wingate named these soldiers as the Gideon Force, after the biblical figure of Gideon. Jump to: navigation, search Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius A camel is either of the two species of large even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus, the Dromedary (Single hump) and the Bactrian Camel (Double hump). ... Sir Laurens Jan van der Post by Frances Baruch Sir Laurens Jan van der Post (aka Laurens van der Post) December 13, 1906 - December 16, 1996. ... Gideon (גִּדְעוֹן, Standard Hebrew Gidʿon, Tiberian Hebrew Giḏʿôn) is a character who appears in the Bibles Book of Judges. ...

Battle begins

Troops of the Gideon Force departed on December 1940 in small columns towards the Mount Belaiyam region in Abyssinia. In January 19, 1941 British launched on offensive against Italians. In January 20 the emperor, accompanied by Wingate, met Abyssinian soldiers in the border town of Um Idla. Jump to: navigation, search January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Horse-mounted Sudanese troops made it to Mount Belaiyam in five days, while Abyssinians with their camel caravan took 2 weeks. Wingate and the emperor arrived in February 6 and Selassie established his headquarters there. On February 8 Wingate was assigned to command all the British and Abyssinian forces with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel.

On February 18-19, the Gideon Force crossed over an escarpment to Gojjam region. Aided by Arbenyotch, they attacked Italian forts, garrisons and patrols. Also due to the British advance in Somaliland, Italians withdrew eastward from their positions. Jump to: navigation, search Motto: none Anthem: Samo ku waar Samo ku waar Saamo ku waar Capital Hargeisa Largest city Hargeisa Official languages Somali Government President republic Dahir Riyale Kahin Independence  - Declared  - Recognition From Somalia  - 1991  - none Area  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Water (%)   137,600 km² (-) n/a Population  â€¢ 2005 est. ...

On February 24, Wingate lead the Gideon Force to surround the Italian fort in Burye. Some of the Abyssinian force got lost and a grass fire hindered them but they met with no Italian resistance. Wingate tried to give an impression of a larger force to intimidate Italians; he spread the men wide and, again accompanied by the Arbenyotch, begun to ambush Italians. Wingate led some groups himself. Fire in San Bernardino, California Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, or bushfire (in Australasia), is an uncontrolled fire in wildland often caused by lightning; other common causes are human carelessness and arson. ...

At the same time, Selassie approached the area. Formerly neutral or pro-Italian chiefs turned to support him. Abyssinian irregulars in Italian units begun to desert to Emperor's side.

Numerically superior Italians retreated to southeast on March 4. British command in Khartoum, who had cracked Italian codes, informed Wingate who ordered a Sudanese unit to block and ambush them but the commander of the unit failed to do so. Disappointed Wingate ordered pursuit and his men made small harassing attacks against the Italians. Italians pushed through a small Abyssinian force near Dambacha on the Chakara River with 325 casualties (Abyssinian casualties were only 48). Italian commander of Dambacha also retreated to east against orders; the Gideon Force occupied it March 8. Cryptography has had a long and colourful history. ...

Debra Markos

The next target was a fort near Debra Markos. This time Italians counterattacked and fierce fighting ensued. The Gideon Force retreated and began hit-and-run attacks and raids to drain Italian strength. Italian losses amounted to 200 over the next weeks. Their intention to evacuate was stopped by a blockade by the Arbenyotch. Jump to: navigation, search Debre Marqos (also called Mankorar) is a city in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. ... Hit and run is the act of hitting an object with a vehicle and leaving the location of the incident. ...

In late April, Italian forces in Dessie surrendered to advancing British troops. Couple of days after the Italians had left Debra Markos, Haile Selassie entered it April 6. At the same time, British regular forces entered Addis Ababa. Dessie or Dese is a city in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, with a population as of 1994 of 97,314 people. ... Jump to: navigation, search April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search Addis Ababa as seen from space. ...

Other Italian forces retreating to the east and over the Nile were continuously harassed by the Arbenyotch and the Gideon Force. However, some Arbenyotch begun to loot in the retaken areas and Gideon Force had to restore the order. Jump to: navigation, search The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nīl), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ...

When most of the Gideon Force proceeded towards Addis Abeba, smaller force pursued retreating Italians to north towards the Debra Sina. When this was going on, on May 5 the Gideon Force and Emperor Selassie began a victory march on Addis Ababa.

Last battles

When Wingate received an order to stop the pursuit of retreating Italians and help other forces elsewhere, he pretended that he could not decipher the message and continued in his course. Other part of the Gideon Force, lead by explorer Thesinger, crossed to the north of the Debra Sinai plateau and attacked from the north. On May 18, Italians found themselves blocked from the north and south. Thinking he faced superior numbers, Italian commander agreed to surrender on May 24. Jump to: navigation, search May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ...

The Gideon Force was officially disbanded June 1, 1941. Wingate returned to Egypt. The last Italian troops surrendered in Begemder province in the north to British and Arbenyotch forces. Begemder was a province in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Gondar. ...

Aftermath

With the surrender of the Italians, the British, under pressure from the US administration, signed an agreement acknowledging Ethiopian sovereignty in January 1942.

Wingate went down with malaria and was sent back to Britain by troop ship, much to the relief of the general staff in Cairo who had feared that he would get involved in the post war politics of Ethiopia. They also ignored Wingate's request for decorations for his men and obstructed his attempts to get back-pay for his force. Jump to: navigation, search Red blood cell infected with Malaria (Italian: bad air; formerly called ague or marsh fever in English) is an infectious disease which in humans causes about 350-500 million infections and approximately 1. ...

While still in Cairo, out of frustration, Wingate had written a report for Wavell the C-in-C Middle East, in which he outlined the successes of the campaign and his views on future actions of a similar type. He wrote, in part:

To sum up it is proposed to assemble and employ a force of the highest fighting qualities capable of employment in widely separated columns...that it should be allocated an objective behind the enemy's lines, the gaining of which will decisively affect the campaign; and that to enable it to carry out its task it must be given a political doctrine consonant with our war aims.

His report impressed the Secretary of State for India, Leopold Amery, who persuaded Wingate to remove the recriminations in the paper, and then passed it to the War Cabinet and Winston Churchill. He also notified Wavell who was now Commander-in-Chief, India that Wingate had been declared medically fit. In February 1942 Wingate left London for Burma at the request of India Command. It was there that Wingate further developed his ideas and put them into practice when he formed the Chindits. The office of Secretary of State for India or India Secretary was created in 1858 when India was brought under direct British rule (British Raj). ... Leopold Charles Maurice (or Moritz) Stennett Amery (22 November 1873 - 16 September 1955), was a British statesman and Conservative politician. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... The list was taken from only one source [1]. Some checking had been done but the dates and the links to names need further work. ... February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year. ... The British India Command the name given to the general staff of the India. ... The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British jungle Special Forces unit that served in Burma from 1943 until 1945 as part of the Fourteenth Army during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long...

External links

• Wingate in Ethiopia