Battle of Gondar

Battle of Gondar
Part of the East African Campaign of the Second World War

British and Ethiopian movements against the Italians at Gondar
Date13–27 November 1941
(2 weeks)
Location12°36′00″N 37°28′00″E / 12.60000°N 37.46667°E / 12.60000; 37.46667
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes
Occupation of Italian East Africa
Belligerents

 Italy

 British Empire

 Ethiopia
Commanders and leaders
Fascist Italy Guglielmo Nasi Surrendered United Kingdom William Platt
United Kingdom Charles Fowkes
Strength
41,000
70 guns
1 aircraft
2 East African Infantry brigades
Ethiopian Patriots
Kenya Armoured Car Regiment
South African Light Armoured Detachment[1]
Casualties and losses
Italian: 407 killed (November 1941), 1,289 killed since June 1940
Ascari: 3,700 killed June–November 1941[2][page needed]
Sick and wounded: 8,400 (Italian and Askari)[3]
22,000 prisoners (Italian and Askari)
1 aircraft[4]
Final assault: 32 killed
182 wounded
6 missing
15 aircraft[4]
Gondar is located in Ethiopia
Gondar
Gondar
Gondar, city and district (woreda), in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, north of Tana Lake

The Battle of Gondar or Capture of Gondar was the last stand of the Italian forces in Italian East Africa during the Second World War. The battle took place in November 1941, during the East African Campaign. Gondar was the main town of Amhara in the mountains north of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at an elevation of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) and had an Italian garrison of 40,000 men, commanded by Generale Guglielmo Nasi.

  1. ^ Playfair 2004, p. 320.
  2. ^ Angelo Del Boca, Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - 3. La caduta dell'Impero. 1,289 Italian officers and soldiers were killed in the Gondar sector from June 1940 to the end of the campaign, 407 of whom in November 1941.
  3. ^ Maravigna 1949, p. 191.
  4. ^ a b Playfair 2004, p. 321.

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