Soldiers of the 4th Kings African Rifles in Abyssinia, 1941

Photograph, World War Two, East Africa, 1941.

The East Africa campaign was fought between the British with their allies, including the exiled Emperor of Abyssinia Hailie Selassie, and the Italians, between June 1940 and November 1941. Although the Italians enjoyed numerical superiority and some initial successes, the geographical isolation of the region, which made supply and re-enforcement difficult, coupled with poor equipment, leadership and moral led to their total defeat in the face of a determined and well co-ordinated British invasion.

The King's African Rifles played prominent role in this campaign, several battalions formed parts of 11th and 12th African Divisions and together with 1st South African Division they advanced into Italian Somaliland on 24 January 1941. The invasion force swept rapidly through Italian territory and by 3 April 1941 they had captured the Abyssinian capital Addis Ababa. In just 53 days a remarkable advance of 1725 miles had been achieved. Co-ordinating their efforts with another invasion force from the north the last Italian pockets of resistance capitulated between April and November. An Italian Army of more than a quarter of a million men had been destroyed, the Emperor Haile Selassie was reunited with his throne and the Italian colonisation of the region was brought to an end.