Gideon Force
Gideon Force was a British-led irregular military formation established in 1941 during the East African Campaign of the Second World War to assist Ethiopian patriot fighters in liberating the Gojjam province from Italian occupation.[1] Commanded by Major Orde Wingate, the force consisted of approximately 40 British officers and non-commissioned officers who directed several thousand Ethiopian and Sudanese irregular troops drawn from local tribes and patriot bands.[2] Employing guerrilla tactics emphasizing mobility, surprise, and long-range penetration behind enemy lines, Gideon Force conducted raids that severed Italian communications, captured key garrisons, and demoralized colonial forces.[3] In a six-week campaign, it seized 1,100 Italian troops, 14,500 Ethiopian askaris, 12 artillery pieces, numerous machine guns, and substantial ammunition supplies, significantly weakening Italian defenses and facilitating the advance on Addis Ababa.[2] Named after the biblical figure Gideon for its reliance on a small core directing larger native contingents to achieve outsized results, the unit exemplified innovative special operations that prefigured later Allied irregular warfare doctrines.[4]
The force's operations highlighted Wingate's unorthodox leadership, which prioritized psychological impact and local alliances over conventional firepower, though it strained relations with regular British commanders due to its decentralized structure and high operational tempo.[3] By May 1941, Gideon Force's disruptions had isolated Italian garrisons, enabling patriot forces to overrun them and hastening Ethiopia's restoration to Emperor Haile Selassie, marking a pivotal Allied success in Africa early in the war.[1][2]
Historical Context
Italian Conquest and Occupation of Ethiopia
Italian forces invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935, advancing from bases in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland under Benito Mussolini's directive to establish a new Roman Empire in Africa.[5] The Ethiopian army, commanded by Emperor Haile Selassie I, numbered approximately 500,000 troops but was equipped primarily with rifles and spears, lacking mechanized units or air support.[6] Italian expeditionary forces totaled over 500,000 men, supported by 400 aircraft, 825 guns, and 150 tanks, enabling rapid territorial gains despite challenging terrain and supply lines.[6] Throughout the campaign, Italy employed chemical weapons, including mustard gas and phosgene, in aerial bombings and artillery shells, with documented use beginning in December 1935 and intensifying during the Battle of Shire from February 29 to March 2, 1936.[7] These agents caused thousands of Ethiopian casualties, violating the 1925 Geneva Protocol, though Italy justified them as retaliatory against Ethiopian guerrilla tactics.[7] A decisive victory at the Battle of Maychew on March 31, 1936, shattered remaining organized Ethiopian resistance on the northern front.[6] Italian troops captured Addis Ababa on May 5, 1936, prompting Haile Selassie to flee into exile; Mussolini proclaimed victory on May 9, annexing Ethiopia and merging it with Eritrea and Somaliland to form Italian East Africa on June 1, 1936, with King Victor Emmanuel III titled Emperor of Ethiopia.[6] During the occupation from 1936 to 1940, Italian authorities divided the territory into six governorates, implementing infrastructure projects like 25,000 kilometers of roads and encouraging civilian settlement, though only about 10,000 Italian colonists arrived by 1940 due to logistical constraints.[8] Administrative policies emphasized racial segregation, culminating in the 1937 application of fascist racial laws prohibiting interracial marriages and imposing curfews on Ethiopians in urban areas.[9] Suppression of dissent involved mass executions and collective punishments following assassination attempts on Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani in February 1937, which triggered reprisals killing up to 30,000 Ethiopians in Addis Ababa.[10] Persistent guerrilla warfare by Arbegnoch ("Patriots") fighters, operating in highland regions, controlled nearly a quarter of Ethiopia's territory through late 1939, ambushing convoys and disrupting supply lines with an estimated 50,000-100,000 irregular combatants.[11] Italian garrisons, initially bolstered to over 250,000 troops in East Africa, faced attrition from ongoing pacification campaigns and redeployments to Europe following Italy's entry into World War II on June 10, 1940, leaving defenses vulnerable to external threats.[8] Chemical agents continued in anti-guerrilla operations until at least 1939, contributing to the regime's brutal consolidation but failing to eradicate resistance entirely.[7]British Imperial Interests and East African Campaign
Italy's declaration of war on Britain and France on 10 June 1940 immediately endangered British imperial interests in East Africa, as Italian East Africa—comprising Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland—bordered British Sudan to the west and Kenya to the south.[12][13] These territories threatened vital Red Sea shipping lanes, which were essential for securing the Suez Canal, maintaining supply routes to India, and accessing Middle Eastern oil fields.[13][14] Italian naval bases at Massawa and Assab further risked disrupting British maritime dominance in the region, while over 415,000 Italian and colonial troops outnumbered the limited British garrisons of approximately 9,000 in Sudan and 8,500 in Kenya.[13] The British response initiated the East African Campaign, with early Allied offensives launched from Sudanese and Kenyan bases to counter Italian advances and reclaim border areas.[12] Following Italian seizure of Kassala in Sudan on 4 July 1940, the Sudanese Defence Force, augmented by local and imperial units, swiftly recaptured the strategic railhead on 21 July, marking one of the first Allied successes.[15] Operations from Kenya involved probing attacks against Italian positions in Somaliland, aimed at relieving pressure on defended frontiers and disrupting enemy supply lines.[12] These actions sought to dislodge Italian forces from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, preventing further incursions into British-held territories.[14] Coordination fell under Middle East Command, headed by General Archibald Wavell, which grappled with severe resource shortages amid broader commitments in North Africa and the Mediterranean.[12][16] With conventional forces stretched thin, the command prioritized economical strategies, including mobile warfare and the integration of auxiliary forces, to maximize limited manpower and achieve strategic objectives with minimal reinforcement from Britain.[13] This approach underscored the necessity for innovative tactics to neutralize the Italian threat without diverting substantial assets from primary theaters.[17]