Messervy's Men

As part of the British invasion of Eritrea, Colonel F.W. Messervy’s “Gazelle Force”, a motorized commando unit comprised of three machine gun companies, a filed gun battery and a mechanized cavalry unit, was established with the mission of creating as much havoc among Italian and Eritrean commands as possible, a …

1940-11-06

J127

As part of the British invasion of Eritrea, Colonel F.W. Messervy’s “Gazelle Force”, a motorized commando unit comprised of three machine gun companies, a filed gun battery and a mechanized cavalry unit, was established with the mission of creating as much havoc among Italian and Eritrean commands as possible, a task it took on with enthusiasm at every opportunity. One typical encounter occurred on the night of 5 November 1940 when pickets from Skinner’s Horse were overrun by an Eritrean camel column on a small rocky knoll in the Tamanau Gap. The next morning, bolstered by two Sikh platoons on loan from the 3rd Royal Frontier Force Regiment, Gazelle Force assaulted the Eritrean position, which had itself been reinforced during the night.

Tamanau Gap, Eritrea

The East African campaign (also known as the Abyssinian campaign) was fought in East Africa during the Second World War by Allies of World War II, mainly from the British Empire, against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa, between June 1940 and November 1941. The British Middle East Command with troops from the United Kingdom, South Africa, British India, Uganda Protectorate, Kenya, Somaliland, West Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Sudan and Nyasaland participated in the campaign. These were joined by the Allied Force Publique of Belgian Congo, Imperial Ethiopian Arbegnoch (resistance forces) and a small unit of Free French. Italian East Africa was defended by the Comando Forze Armate dell'Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East African Armed Forces Command), with units from the Regio Esercito (Royal Army), Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force) and Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The Italian forces included about 250,000 soldiers of the Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali (Royal Corps of Colonial Troops), led by Italian officers and NCOs. With Britain in control of the Suez Canal, the Italian forces were cut off from supplies and reinforcement once hostilities began.

British

Italian

Scenario Type = Standard