page_title: Battle of Agordat (1941)
section_title: Italian capture of Kassala
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Agordat (1941) / Background / Italian capture of Kassala
caption_attribution_description: English: Italian artillery firing on Kassala, July 1940.
context_page_description: The Battle of Agordat was fought near Agordat in Eritrea from 26 to 31 January 1941, by the Italian army and Royal Corps of Colonial Troops against British, Commonwealth and Indian forces, during the East African Campaign of the Second World War. The British had the advantage of breaking Italian codes and cyphers before the offensive and received copious amounts of information from Italian sources on the order of battle and plans of the Regia Aeronautica and the Italian army.
  After the garrison of Italian and colonial troops at Kassala in Sudan was ordered to withdraw in mid-January, the British offensive into Eritrea due in February 1941 began in mid-January instead. Agordat was an excellent defensive position and the British advance was slowed by delaying actions and mined roads but the attack began on 28 January on the left flank, which was repulsed. Determined fighting took place on the hills and plain below until 31 January, when the British attacked behind four Matilda tanks and Bren Gun Carriers, which easily destroyed the Italian Fiat M11/39 tanks and forced the infantry to retreat.
context_section_description: Amedeo, Duke of Aosta the Viceroy and Governor-General of the Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI, Italian East Africa), commander in chief of Comando Forze Armate dell'Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East African Armed Forces Command) and Generale d'Armata Aerea (General of the Air Force) ordered an Italian attack on Kassala, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to begin on 4 July 1940 after Italy had declared war on Britain and France on 10 June. Three columns of Italian and colonial forces comprising about 6,500 men launched the assault, supported by the Regia Aeronautica and some cavalry squadrons acting as vanguards.
  Kassala was defended by fewer than 500 men of the Sudan Defence Force (SDF, Major-General William Platt the al-qa'id al-'amm [Leader of the Army], known as the Kaid) and local police, who remained under cover during a twelve-hour bombardment by the Regia Aeronautica, then 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 men killed and 114 wounded. At Kassala, the 12th Colonial Brigade built anti-tank defences, machine-gun posts and strongpoints.
  During the Italian attack at Kassala, General Pietro Gazzera, the Governor of Galla-Sidamo captured the Sudan fort of Gallabat with a battalion of Italian colonial troops and banda (irregulars). Gallabat was placed under the command of Colonel Castagnola and fortified. Karora was occupied unopposed and on 7 July, another colonial battalion and banda supported by artillery and aircraft, attacked Kurmuk and overcame sixty Sudanese police after a short engagement.
  The Italian attacks had gained a valuable entry point to Sudan at Kassala and by capturing Gallabat made it harder for the British to support the indigenous Ethiopian resistance fighters, the Patriots, in Gojjam. 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 Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment arrived at Gedaref; the British discovered that exaggerated rumours of the arrival had reached the Italians. Platt decided to bluff the Italians into believing that there were far greater forces on the Sudan border and an Italian map captured on 25 July showed that around 20,000 British and Sudanese troops were believed to be in Kassala province.
caption: Italian artillery firing on Kassala
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