Battle of Tug Argan

Battle of Tug Argan
Part of The East African Campaign of the Second World War
Map depicting the location of the Battle of Tug Agran and the British evacuation
Date 11–15 August 1940 Location British Somaliland 09°57′30″N 44°27′27″E / 9.95833°N 44.45750°E / 9.95833; 44.45750 Result Italian victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Italy
Commanders and leaders
A. R. Godwin Austin Arthur Chater	Carlo de Simone Guglielmo Nasi
Strength
5,000 regular and colonial infantry	30,000 Italian troops Somalis auxiliaries
Casualties and losses
38 killed 102 wounded 120 missing 7 aircraft destroyed 5 artillery pieces captured 5 mortars captured[1]	465 killed 1,530 wounded 34 missing[1]

The Battle of Tug Argan was fought between forces of the British Empire and Italy from 11 to 15 August 1940 in the Somaliland Protectorate (British Somaliland, Somali: Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka, now Somaliland). The battle determined the result of the Italian invasion of British Somaliland and the larger East African Campaign of the Second World War.

Italian invasion forces were advancing northwards on a north–south road toward the capital of Berbera through the Tug Argan gap (named after the dry riverbed tug running across it) in the Assa hills, when they encountered British units in fortified positions on widely distributed hills across its breadth. Italian infantry, after four days of battle, overran the undermanned British positions and were able to seize the gap, compelling the defenders to withdraw to Berbera.

The Italian victory made the position of British forces in Somaliland untenable and the British colonial authorities evacuated the garrison by sea. Italy was able quickly to secure the territory, an achievement whose propaganda value to a bellicose Fascist regime outweighed its lack of strategic importance.