Operation Appearance

Operation Appearance
Part of The East African Campaign of the Second World War
Indian soldiers at the Recapture of Berbera, March 1941.
Date 16 March – 8 April 1941 Location Somalia Governorate, Italian East Africa (Occupied British Somaliland) 09°33′N 44°04′E / 9.550°N 44.067°E / 9.550; 44.067 Result Allied victory Territorial changes Re-establishment of British Somaliland
Belligerents
United Kingdom British India  South Africa	Italy  Italian East Africa
Commanders and leaders
Archibald Wavell Ranald Reid	Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta Arturo Bertello
Units involved
1st Punjab Regiment 2nd Punjab Regiment 11th African Division 15th Punjab Regiment Somali commando detachment 1401/1402 (Aden) Companies, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps Group	70th Colonial Infantry Brigade
Strength
2 battalions attached units 2 cruisers 2 destroyers 2 auxiliary cruisers 2 trawlers 2 transports	Colonial infantry brigade
Casualties and losses
1 killed 1 wounded

Operation Appearance (16 March – 8 April 1941) was a British landing in the British Somaliland Protectorate against troops of the Italian Army. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland had taken place seven months previously, in August 1940. The British had withdrawn from the protectorate after a delaying action at the Battle of Tug Argan. This withdrawal, after the disastrous conclusion of the Battle of France and the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, had repercussions among British leaders. It led Prime Minister Winston Churchill to lose confidence in General Archibald Wavell, the British commander in the Middle East, which culminated in Wavell's sacking on 20 June 1941.

British, Empire and Commonwealth forces from the United Kingdom, British India, Australia and South Africa in Aden trained for a prospective invasion of British Somaliland. The Far Eastern Fleet provided Force D, comprising two cruisers, two destroyers and a collection of adapted troop transports. To deceive the Italians in Ethiopia about British intentions in East Africa, Operation Camilla was leaked, suggesting that troop movements to Sudan were for an invasion of British Somaliland and that a diversionary operation would come from Kenya in the south. In Operation Canvas, the real invasion plan, Kenya was the base for the main invasion.

Force D and the Aden Striking Force conducted a beach landing at Berbera on 16 March 1941, taking the port by 10:00 a.m. The Italian garrison made a precipitate retreat back to Ethiopia and local troops deserted en masse. In a few days, Berbera was developed to receive troops and supplies for the operations against Ethiopia, reducing the supply distance to the fighting front by 500 mi (805 km). A British military administration was imposed on the protectorate, the local police and the Somaliland Camel Corps were re-established, civilians were disarmed and the economy was revived.