General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham,, was a senior officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign during the Second World War. He then commanded Eighth Army in the desert campaign, but was relieved of command during the Crusader battle against Erwin Rommel. Later he served as the seventh and last High Commissioner of Palestine. He was the younger brother of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope.
The East African 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 and a small unit of Free French Forces.
Imba Alaje is a mountain, or an amba, in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debubawi Zone of the Tigray Region, Imba Alaje dominates the roadway that runs past it from the city of Mek'ele south to Maychew. Because of its strategic location, Emba Alaje has been the site of several battles. As Anthony Mockler describes it,
Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. During World War II, he was the Italian Viceroy of Italian East Africa.
Baron Amedeo Guillet was an officer of the Italian Army and an Italian Diplomat. Dying at the age of 101, he was one of the last men to have commanded cavalry in war. He was nicknamed Devil Commander and was famous during the Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia in 1941, 1942 and 1943 because of his courage.
General Sir William Platt was a senior officer of the British Army during both the First and the Second World Wars.
Pietro Gazzera was an officer in the Italian Royal Army during World War II, as well as a prewar Italian politician.
The Battle of Gondar or Capture of Gondar was the last stand of the Italian forces in Italian East Africa during the Second World War. The battle took place in November 1941, during the East African Campaign. Gondar was the main town of Amhara in the mountains north of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at an elevation of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) and had an Italian garrison of 40,000 men, commanded by Generale Guglielmo Nasi.
The Royal Corps Of Eritrean Colonial Troops were indigenous soldiers from Eritrea, who were enrolled as askaris in the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops of the Royal Italian Army during the period 1889–1941.
The 40th Infantry Division "Cacciatori d’Africa" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Cacciatori d’Africa was formed on 27 July 1940 from troops and reservists stationed in Italian East Africa. The Cacciatori d’Africa, together with the 65th Infantry Division "Granatieri di Savoia" were outside the regular Royal Italian Army chain of command, and subordinated directly to Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, the Viceroy of Italian East Africa. The division dissolved on 15 May 1941 after being decimated during the East African campaign.
Galla-Sidamo Governorate was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with the capital was Jimma. In November 1938 some territory of Galla-Sidamo in the Scioa region was given to the neighboring Addis Abeba Governorate, enlarging it to the Scioa Governorate.
Italian Ethiopia, also known as the Italian Empire of Ethiopia, was the territory of the Ethiopian Empire which was occupied by Italy for approximately five years. Italian Ethiopia was not an administrative entity, but the formal name of the former territory of the Ethiopian Empire which now constituted the Governorates of Amhara, Harar, Galla-Sidamo, and Scioa after the establishment of Italian East Africa.
The Italian concession of Tianjin was a small territory (concession) in central Tianjin, China, controlled by the Kingdom of Italy between 1901 and 1943, officially ceded to China in 1947.
The Scioa Governorate, also known as the Shewa Governorate, was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with its administrative capital being Addis Abeba.
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 (GOC-in-C) 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.
Emilio Dulio was an Italian politician. He was twice colonial governor of Italian Somaliland.
Orlando Lorenzini was an Italian general during World War II. During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Lorenzini was responsible for the Zeret massacre, in which Italian colonial troops massacred hundreds of Ethiopians and their families, after luring them out of a cave with chemical weapons.
Tommaso Carletti was born in Viterbo (Italy) and was one of the Governors of Italian Somalia.
Giovan Battista Volpini was an Italian general during World War II.
On May 12, 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia delivered a speech condemning Italian military aggression against Ethiopia, which had forced him into exile. The speech took place in League of Nations assembly in Geneva. The speech also denounced the Italian army's use of chemical weapons against the Ethiopian population.
United Kingdom 
South Africa 
Ethiopian Empire 
Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (POW)
