Battle of the Ogaden

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Battle of the Ogaden
partof= the Second Italo-Abyssinian War


caption=
date= 14 April to 25 April 1936
place= Ogaden, Ethiopia
result= Decisive Italian victory, defeat of Ras Nasibu's southern army
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=Approximately 38,000
strength2=Approximately 30,000
casualties1=Approx. 2,000 casualties
casualties2=Approx. 5,000 casualties

The Battle of the Ogaden was a 1936 battle on the southern front fought during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The battle consisted of attacks by the the Italian forces of General Rudolfo Graziani against Ethiopian defensive positions commanded by Ras Nasibu, the Commander-in-Chief of the southern forces. The strong defensive positions were designed by Wehib Pasha and known as the "Hindenburg Wall." The battle was primarily fought to the south of Harar and Jijiga.

Background

On 3 October 1935, General Rudolfo Graziani advanced into Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland. His initial gains were modest. By November, after additional modest gains and a brief period of Italian inactivity, the initiative on the southern front went over to the Ethiopians. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 70]

Late in the year, Ras Desta Damtew started preparations to launch an offensive with his army of approximately 40,000 men. His goal was to advance from Negele Boran, take Dolo near the border, and to then invade Italian Somaliland. This plan was not only ill-conceived and overly ambitious, it was the subject of talk at every market place. What followed was a lop-sided slaughter known as the Battle of Genale Doria. Between 12 January and 20 January, Ras Desta's army was completely decimated by the Italian Royal Air Force ("Regia Aeronautica"). [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 71]

On 31 March, the last Ethiopian army on the northern front was destroyed during the Battle of Maychew. In just one day, Marshal Pietro Badoglio routed an army personally commanded by the Emperor Haile Selassie I. Believing that his superior officer would not share the laurels of victory with him, Graziani decided to launch an offensive in the south against Ras Nasibu's army. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 110]

Facing Graziani, Ras Nasibu had an army of 28,000 men along with the garrisons of Jijiga and Harar. He was dug in behind defensive positions that ran through Degehabur. The line was a series of entrenched positions known as the "Hindenburg Wall" in deference to the famous German defensive line of World War I, the "Hindenburg Line." The architect of the Ethiopian version was Wehib Pasha, who had been a general in the army of the Ottoman Empire, and was serving as Nasibu's Chief-of-Staff for the southern front. According to Barker, he had made brilliant use of the ground and exploited to the fullest the military engineering techniques of the day.Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 113] Mockler does not express the same opinion of the defenses, which he describes as "half-prepared trenches and gun-sites", manned by two battalions of the Imperial Bodyguard who had fled before the Italians six months before. [Anthony Mockler, "Haile Selassie's War" (New York: Olive Branch Press, 2003), p. 129] According to Time Magazine, the "Turkish General (retired)" fancied himself as "the Hero of Gallipoli." [Time Magazine, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755121,00.html Water Will Win] ]

Graziani deployed an army of 38,000 men, which included 15,600 Italians. The Italian ground forces were almost entirely mechanized and made use of an air component that was empowered to inflict the maximum losses on the enemy. As was often his practice, Graziani arranged his forces in three columns.

Battle

On 14 April, Graziani ordered his entire army to advance towards the Ethiopian defensive lines in a three-pronged attack. The first column, commanded by General Guglielmo Nasi, on the Italian left was to break through the defenses at Janogoto and Dagahamodo threaten the Ethiopian left. The second column, commanded by General Luigi Frusci, was to move forward to the pivotal point of the "Hindenburg Wall." The third column, commanded by General Agostini, was on the Italian left and was to immediately engage the Ethiopian right flank. The first day passed uneventfully. The biggest obstacle to the Italian advance was heavy rain, swollen rivers, and thick mud. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 118]

The Libyan troops of the first column encountered stiff resistance that next day, and made only limited progress in the next two days. To move the advance along, tanks, flamethrowers, and artillery were brought up to within a few yards of the entrances of the caves where the harassing Ethiopians were sheltered. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 120]

By 23 April, all three columns were in place in front of the "Hindenburg Wall." At the first light of dawn on the following day, fighting broke out all along the line. This was the same day that Marshal Pietro Badoglio started his "March of the Iron Will" on the northern front. But it was the Ethiopians on the southern front, hoping to relieve the pressure on their fortified line of defense, who attacked the Italians along the whole front. However, against the weight of the Italian firepower, the Ethiopians could make little progress. Even so, the fighting was fierce and surged back and forth. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 121]

It was not until 25 April that the Italians were able to overcome the Ethiopian resistance. When additional pressure was applied, the "Hindenburg Wall" gave way and the remaining Ethiopian defenders began a withdrawal. However, Italian success came at the cost of heavy casualties. In roughly ten days of fighting, the Italians suffered over 2,000 casualties. While the Ethiopians themselves had over 5,000 casualties, the disparity was much less than was typical. On the northern front, the usual ratio between Ethiopian and Italian casualties was ten to one. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 121]

Aftermath

While the army of Ras Nasibu disintegrated, it was not destroyed. Unlike some of the other Ethiopian armies bombed or sprayed out of existence, Nasibu's army slipped out of the country or melted into the mountains to become the seeds for later resistance. But it may have been the overcast skies more than a change of heart on Graziani's part that saved the withdrawing Ethiopians from the Italian Royal Air Force. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 123]

Graziani's only resistance on his march to Jijiga and Harar was the never ending rain. His one aim -- to reach Harar before Badoglio reached Addis Ababa -- was the victim of a sea of mud that slowed all progress to a crawl. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 123]

In the end, when Graziani finally reached Harar on 8 May [Anthony Mockler, "Haile Selassie's War" (New York: Olive Branch Press, 2003), p. 12] , there was no triumphal welcome. Instead, he ingloriously tripped and injured himself visiting a Coptic church. [Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936", p. 123]

ee also

* Ethiopian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War
* Army of the Ethiopian Empire
* Italian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War
* Royal Italian Army

ources

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References

External links

* [http://www.africawithin.com/garvey/ras_nasibu.htm Ras Nasibu of the Ogaden]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755121,00.html Water Will Win]