page_title: Italian invasion of British Somaliland
section_title: British Somaliland
hierarchical_section_title: Italian invasion of British Somaliland / Background / British Somaliland
caption_attribution_description: Map of the Republic of Somaliland
context_page_description: The Italian invasion of British Somaliland was part of the East African campaign in which Italian, Eritrean and Somali forces of Fascist Italy entered British Somaliland and defeated its combined garrison of British, Commonwealth and colonial forces supported by Somali irregulars. The Italian victory was based on mobility and speed but was hampered by the terrain, rainy weather and British resistance.
  At the Battle of Tug Argan Italian attacks had the advantage of artillery and the outnumbered defenders were gradually worn down and slowly outflanked, until the remaining fortified hilltops were vulnerable to being captured piecemeal. After the failure of a counter-attack towards the Mirgo Pass, the local commander, Major-General Reade Godwin-Austen had too few men to retrieve the situation and to keep open an escape route at the same time and was given permission to retreat towards Berbera.
  The British fought a rearguard action at Barkasan on 17 August and retreated after dark but the improvised evacuation went better than expected and the second blocking position at Nasiyeh was not needed.
context_section_description: The British had fought the Somaliland Campaign (1900–1920) against Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and the Dervish state, to gain control over the territory. In 1910 the British garrison had been forced to retreat to the coast until the end of the First World War and only after four campaigns did Somali resistance end in 1920, after three weeks of attacks by local troops, a King's African Rifles (KAR) battalion and the Royal Air Force (RAF). The colony had an area of about 68,000 sq mi (176,119 km²) with a plain inland from the coast up to 60 mi (97 km) deep, ending at a mountain range an average of 4,000 ft (1,219 m) high.
  There was little scope for agriculture and most of the 320,000 inhabitants lived off livestock herding. Berbera, the biggest town and port, was ringed by desert and scrubland; in the cold season it had a population of about 30,000, falling to around 15,000 in the summer months. The port was a first class anchorage and was the principal entrepôt of the colony, despite having no port installations making it unsuitable for an expeditionary force, since ships had to be unloaded by lighter, a method that took ten days to empty a 3,000 GRT ship. Loading and unloading was impossible during the period from July to August, when the Kharif, a strong and hot wind, blew.
caption: Map of Somaliland showing locations
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