From there, they advance southwest into southern Ethiopia . To the north, Keren falls to the attacking Indian troops and the road is opened to the Eritrean capital of Asmara and Red Sea port of Massawa. British and Indian units are entering the country through the Persian Gulf by the middle of the month. On the Red Sea coast of Italian East Africa, the capture of Eritrea is completed when Asmara is occupied on the 1st and the port of Massawa on the 8th. Two days earlier, Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia , had been taken.
Italian resistance continues mainly in the north of the Ethiopia.
3rd - Leading up to the capture of Massawa , the surviving eight Italian destroyers and torpedo boats are lost or scuttled. On the 3rd, five seaworthy destroyers sail to attack Port Sudan, Sudan further north along the Red Sea shore. Four Italian submarines do manage to escape and eventually reach Bordeaux, France after sailing right round Africa. Near East - British bases in Iraq are besieged as British and Dominion forces advance on Baghdad from Jordan and the Persian Gulf. An armistice is signed on the 31st May and Baghdad occupied the next day.