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SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette Of TUESDAY, the i6th of JULY, 1946 by Registered as a newspaper WEDNESDAY, 17 JULY, 1946 The War Office,' July, 1946 OPERATIONS OF , I2TH JULY, 1941 TO 8xH JANUARY, 1943 The following Despatch was submitted on area where General Nasi's forces were still March, 1943, to the Secretary of State for holding out, organised resistance in War by LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM had ceased prior to my predecessor's last PLATT, G.B.E., K.C.B., D.S.O., General despatch which dealt with operations up to the Officer Commanding in Chief, East Africa nth of July, 1941. Command. Although military opposition by .Italian On I5th September, 1941, East Africa Force forces had been almost eliminated, the main- as part of. Middle East Forces was abolished tenance of law and order over more than half and replaced by East Africa Command directly a million square miles of conquered territory under the War Office, covering the territories presented no small problem. The country was from in the North to the Zambesi in armed from North to South and from East to the South. My predecessor Lieut.-General Sir West, with rifles, ammunition, grenades and Alan Cunningham, K.C.B., D.S.O., M.C., many automatics. More than 20,000 rifles, left East Africa on 29th August, 1941, to with over 20 million rounds of ammunition had assume command of the Eighth Army in been pumped into Ethiopia from the Middle East. Until my arrival on 5th Decem- alone to aid the Patriots in their revolt against ber, 1941, Major-General H. E. de R. the Italian oppressor. The Italians issued Wetherall, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., M.C., acted arms in the unfulfilled hope that they would in command and was responsible for the opera- be used against British forces. Many tions against Gondar. thousands more were gleaned from deserted The Command was divided into four areas. battlefields, and looted from hidden reserve Eritrea as an administrative area in the North: dumps. None of these have yet been returned I2th (African) Division under Major-General to us. None will be. Few have even been C. C. Fowkes, C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., covered collected for use by the Regular Ethiopian Ethiopia and : nth Army. They are in the hands of Territorials, (African) Division, transformed into Central Irregulars, and ordinary brigands. Theft of Area, covered Italian Somaliland, Uganda, rifles still continues in a manner worthy of the Kenya, Zanzibar and Tanganyika: Southern North-West frontier of India. Area comprising Nyasaland and Northern Many of these arms were in the hands of Rhodesia under Major-General G. R. Patriot bands owing some form of allegiance Smallwood, D.S.O., M.C., with Headquarters and obedience to numerous Chiefs, who, in at Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia, had also an their turn, owed little allegiance or obedience to advisory brief in the last named. anyone. After action, on the elementary West African formations which had taken principle of living on the country, brigandage part in the operations against Italian East against local inhabitants was frequent. Despite Africa from the South, were due to return to this, the general desire of the Ethiopian to rid their own countries. The 23rd (Nigerian) his country of the Italian, ensured a reasonable Infantry Brigade left in August, 1941, and was degree of security to the roads used by our followed in October by the 24th (Gold Coast) troops as lines of communication. In attain- Infantry Brigade. Owing to shortage of ing-this our Occupied Territories Administra- artillery and engineer units in East Africa, 5ist tion and the edicts of His Imperial Majesty Battery and 53rd Field Company, both of the The Emperor contributed their full share. ^ Gold Coast, were retained temporarily to take The number and variety of responsible part in the reduction of the last remaining administrators, civil and military, with'whom Italian stronghold at Gondar. Except in that Command Headquarters had to deal, often