General Cunningham's Counteroffensive In A.O.I
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Bryan
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General Cunningham's Counteroffensive In A.O.I
In Anthony Mockler's book Haile Selassie's War,he lists 135 officers and men killed,310 wounded,and 52 missing,a rather high proportion.Can anyone comment on this stat?Bry.
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Giulio_Gobbi
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Italian losses in AOI
I can only report the official R.A. Stats ad September 1940.
143 officers and men killed, 71 wounded, only in the first three month of war!
143 officers and men killed, 71 wounded, only in the first three month of war!
Giulio Gobbi
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Bryan
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Now this was likely 6 or 7 years ago I saw this,on one of those websites that give brief accounts of various battles,I was not too acquainted with the weird names,but I believe it was Eritrea,40,41?.Maybe near Keren.An Allied formation(battalion?)unexpectedly ran into what was described as a "crack unit",battalion strength,and were "annihlated"."White flags littered the ground".The missing men were never recovered..."Their fate remains a mystery to this day".
Response from Alessandro Gazzi
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 3:45:24 PM
Subject: Re: Lost/Unknown Battle
Dear Vince
Instances of British units completely destroyed in combat are to be found not in Eritrea 1941, but in Somaliland, summer 1940, and at Gallabat, Ethiopia, October 1940.
In Somaliland, during the Italian assault on the Tug Argan fortified line, a Black Watch company was ambushed and wiped out; the commander reportedly "broke under fire" and fled, like most of his men probably did. If I recall correctly this episode is touched upon by Anthony Mockler in his excellent book on the East African campaign.
At Gallabat, the attack launched by Slim on the Italian fort went well at first, then foundered when an entire Essex battalion broke and ran under low level air attacks and the defenders' fire. It seems the Essex utterly disintegrated and Slim could not even stop the flight, a very rare case in modern British military history.
Perhaps either fact is the correct answer to the question.
Thank you and best regards!
Alessandro
Subject: Re: Lost/Unknown Battle
Dear Vince
Instances of British units completely destroyed in combat are to be found not in Eritrea 1941, but in Somaliland, summer 1940, and at Gallabat, Ethiopia, October 1940.
In Somaliland, during the Italian assault on the Tug Argan fortified line, a Black Watch company was ambushed and wiped out; the commander reportedly "broke under fire" and fled, like most of his men probably did. If I recall correctly this episode is touched upon by Anthony Mockler in his excellent book on the East African campaign.
At Gallabat, the attack launched by Slim on the Italian fort went well at first, then foundered when an entire Essex battalion broke and ran under low level air attacks and the defenders' fire. It seems the Essex utterly disintegrated and Slim could not even stop the flight, a very rare case in modern British military history.
Perhaps either fact is the correct answer to the question.
Thank you and best regards!
Alessandro
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Bryan
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- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:53 pm
- Location: Calgary Alberta Canada
Those instances are touched upon in Mockler's book.But in the battle I am seeking,the opposing units "ran into" each other by suprise.There were no Allied survivors on the battlefield.And more than 50 missing from the battlefield,according to the British tally.The white flags indicated that a surrender had taken place.This troubled the British.I don't believe this will be found in any common works.Bry.