page_title: Northern front, East Africa, 1940
section_title: Capture of Kassala
hierarchical_section_title: Northern front, East Africa, 1940 / Operations / Capture of Kassala
caption_attribution_description: English: Italian artillery firing on Kassala, July 1940.
context_page_description: Operations on the Northern front, East Africa, 1940 in the Second World War, were conducted by the British in Sudan and the Armed Forces Command of Italian East Africa in Eritrea and Ethiopia. On 1 June 1940, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta the Viceroy and Governor-General of the Africa Orientale Italiana, commander in chief of the Armed Forces Command of the Royal Italian Army and General of the Air Force, had about 290,476 local and metropolitan troops and by 1 August, mobilisation had increased the number to 371,053 troops. General Archibald Wavell, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Middle East Command, had about 86,000 troops at his disposal for Libya, Iraq, Syria, Iran and East Africa. About 36,000 troops were in Egypt and 27,500 men were training in Palestine.
  Hostilities began soon after the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On the Sudan–Eritrea and Sudan–Ethiopia borders, the Italian army captured Kassala, on 4 July, then Gallabat; Karora was occupied unopposed and Kurmuk taken on 7 July.
context_section_description: The attack on Kassala was led by Frusci and Major-General Vincenzo Tessitori with Italian and colonial forces comprising about 6,500 men in three columns, Gulsa east, Gulsa west, equipped with trucks and Central, with support from the Regia Aeronautica and some cavalry squadrons acting as vanguards. At 3:00 a.m. on 4 July 1940, the three columns, about 19–22 mi (31–36 km) apart, started their attack on Kassala. The cavalry, led by Lieutenant Francesco Santasilia, bypassed Mount Kasala and Mount Mocram and launched the first attack. Kassala was defended by fewer than 500 men of the SDF and local police, who remained under cover during a twelve-hour bombardment by the Regia Aeronautica and then emerged to begin the defence of the town. The defenders knocked out six Italian tanks and inflicted considerable casualties on the attackers. At 1:00 p.m., Italian cavalry entered Kassala and the defenders withdrew to Butana Bridge having lost one man killed, three wounded and 26 missing, some of whom rejoined their units. Italian casualties were 43 dead and 114 men wounded. Gazzera occupied the fort of Gallabat the same day and Kurmuk in Sudan. Gallabat was placed under the command of Colonel Castagnola and fortified.
  At Kassala, the 12th Colonial Brigade built anti-tank defences, machine-gun posts and strongpoints. The Italians were disappointed to find no strong anti-British sentiment among the Sudanese population. During the Italian attack at Kassala a battalion of Italian colonial troops and a banda (pl. irregulars) attacked Gallabat and forced No. 3 Company, Eastern Arab Corps to retire. Karora was occupied unopposed when the Sudanese police were ordered to withdraw and at Kurmuk on 7 July, another colonial battalion and a band supported by artillery and aircraft, overcame a force of 60 Sudanese police after a short engagement. The Italian attacks had gained a valuable entry point to Sudan at Kassala, made it more difficult for the British to support the indigenous resistance in Gojjam by capturing Gallabat and the loss of Kurmuk prompted some of the locals to resort to banditry. Local Sudanese opinion was impressed by the Italian successes but the population of Kassala continued to support the British and supplied valuable information during the occupation. The SDF continued to operate close to Kassala and on 5 July, a company of the 2nd Warwick arrived at Gedaref to act as a reserve for the SDF. The British discovered that rumours of the arrival of the Warwick had reached the Italians in greatly magnified form and Platt decided to bluff the Italians into believing that there were far greater forces on the Sudan border. An Italian map captured on 25 July showed around 20,000 British and Sudanese troops in Kassala province. The 5th Indian Infantry Division was ordered to Port Sudan on 2 August.
caption: Italian artillery firing on Kassala.
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