Fifth Expedition | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Somaliland campaign | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Belligerents | |||||||||
United Kingdom | Dervish Movement | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Robert Gordon Frederick Bowhill Mohamed Bullaleh Musa Farah Egarreh | Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Haji Sudi † Ibrahim Boghol † Abdallah Shihiri Ismail Mire | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
12 aircraft local gendarmerie 1 battalion (King's African Rifles) | Unknown |
The Fifth Expedition of the Somaliland Campaign , which took place in 1920, was the final British expedition against the Dervish forces. Although the majority of the combat took place in January, British troops had begun preparations for the assault as early as November 1919. The British forces included elements of the Royal Air Force and the Somaliland Camel Corps. After three weeks of battle, Diriye Guure's [1] Dervishes were defeated, bringing an effective end to their 20-year resistance. [2]
The British had previously conducted three expeditions to British Somaliland against the dervishes from 1900 to 1904 with limited or no success. In 1913, the Dervishes had previously defeated British forces at the Battle of Dul Madoba. [2] Following the end of World War I, the British once again turned their attention to the ongoing violence in British Somaliland.
In 1919, the unrest in British Somaliland alarmed the British Government enough for Lord Milner, the Colonial Secretary, to consider sending a military expedition to the protectorate. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Henry Wilson, advised Milner that at least two divisions would be required and this was likely to cost several million pounds. Such a cost was seen as being prohibitively expensive in the conditions of post-war austerity. [2]
Lord Milner then turned to the newly formed Royal Air Force, asking the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard, if he could suggest a solution. Trenchard who at that time was most eager to ensure that the air force remained as a separate service, immediately proposed that the RAF should take responsibility for the whole operation. [2] Milner argued that some ground troops would be needed and Trenchard replied that the local colonial forces which were already in Somaliland would be sufficient. [3]
A meeting was arranged to discuss the coming campaign. In attendance were: Winston Churchill who was Secretary of State for War and Air, Leo Amery the Colonial Under-Secretary who deputized for Milner, Sir Henry Wilson and Sir Hugh Trenchard. Wilson was strongly opposed to a campaign being conducted by the Colonial Office and the Air Ministry which would draw upon the War Office's soldiers. However, when Amery and Trenchard stated that under no circumstances would they request troops, Wilson withdrew his objection and consented to the RAF taking the lead. [2]
By the January 1920, the following British forces were assembled: [4]
By 1 January 1920 the Z Force had constructed a temporary aerodrome at Berbera from where they operated. [6] On 21 January RAF aircraft bombed Jideli. Many of the dervish forces had never seen an aircraft before and were terrified by the aerial bombardment to the extent that they fled into the hills. [2] It was also during that first bombardment that Hassan came close to being killed, narrowly avoiding death when an unfortunate camel shielded him from a nearby bomb blast. [6] After the next five days had passed the Z Force had destroyed three Dervish forts; they then provided air support and communications for the ground forces. [9] This battle established the tactics of aerial bombardment followed by attacks by ground forces, and of using aircraft to provide support for ground troops during concurrent attacks. These tactics are among the primary methods of wartime operations to this day.
On 28 January the Camel Corps occupied Jideli and Hassan retreated to his main fort at Taleh. After combined land and air operations, the British took Taleh on 9 February. Dervish forces suffered great losses and were scattered, his forts were damaged and he escaped with only four of his followers to the Ogaden. Hassan lost some of his greatest generals during the battle, including his right-hand man Haji Sudi and Commander Ibrahim Boghl. [2] [10]
In the beginning of 1920, the British struck the Dervish settlements with a well-coordinated air and land attack and inflicted a stunning defeat. The forts of the dervishes were damaged and the army suffered great losses. The Dervish retreated in to the Ogaden territory in Abyssinia and raided the Ogaden Bah Hawadle clan who were under Habr Yunis protection, reacting to this incident, Haji Warabe of the Reer Caynaashe assembled an army composed of 3000 warriors. The army set out from Togdheer, on the dawn of July 20, 1920, his army reached Shineleh where the Dervish were camped and proceeded to attack them. The Dervish numbering about 800 were quickly defeated, 700 being killed in the battle, the few remaining survivors fled south.
Haji and his army captured 60,000 camels and 700 rifles from the defeated Dervish. During the midst of the battle Haji Warabe entered Hassan's tent but found the tent empty with Hassan's tea still hot. [11] He had fled to Imi [12] and on 21 December 1920, he died of influenza at the age of 64. [13]
British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate, was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa.
General Sir Alexander Stanhope Cobbe was a senior British Indian Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The Dhulbahante is a Somali clan family, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Darod. They are the traditional inhabitants of the physiographic Nugaal in its topographic sense, and its pre-independence administrative sense, which included Doollo. The clan's progenitor is buried at Badweyn.
The Habr Garhajis also contemporarily known as the Garhajis is a major clan of the wider Isaaq clan family. They are the traditional holders of the Isaaq Sultanate and Habr Yunis Sultanate since the 18th century. As descendants of Ismail bin Sheikh Isaaq, its members form a part of the Habar Magaadle confederation, and they constitute one of the largest sub-clans of the Isaaq. The Garhajis are divided into two major sub-clans: the Habr Yunis and Eidagale. They are traditionally nomadic pastoralists, merchants and skilled poets.
Sayyid Muḥammad ibn 'Abdallāh Hassan was a Somali religious, political, and military leader who founded and headed the Dervish movement, which led a Holy war against British, Italian, and Ethiopian intrusions in the Horn of Africa. He was famously known by the British Empire as the Mad Mullah. In 1917, the Ottoman Empire referred to Hassan as the "Emir of the Somali". Due to his successful completion of the Hajj to Mecca, his complete memorization of the Quran and his purported descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his name is sometimes preluded with honorifics such as Hajji, Hafiz, Emir or Sayyid. His influence led him to being regarded the “Father of Somali nationalism”.
Taleh is a historical town in Sool region of Somalia. The town served as the capital of the pre-independence Dervish movement.
The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somalia. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy.
The Somaliland Camel Corps (SCC) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces unit which was raised in British Somaliland. It existed from 1914 until 1944.
Buuhoodle, also known as Bohotle, serves as a significant border town for the movement of goods between Khaatumo and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The surrounding district is rich in livestock with growing agricultural activities.
Richard Conyngham Corfield was a British colonial police officer who saw service in South Africa, Nigeria, India, Kenya and Somalia in the early 20th century.
The Dervish Movement was an armed resistance movement between 1899 and 1920, which was led by the Salihiyya Sufi Muslim poet and militant leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, also known as Sayyid Mohamed, who called for independence from the British and Italian colonisers and for the defeat of Ethiopian forces. The Dervish movement aimed to remove the British and Italian influence from the region and restore an "Islamic system of governance with a Sufi doctrine as its foundation", according to Mohamed-Rahis Hasan and Salada Robleh.
Sir Geoffrey Francis Archer was an English ornithologist, big game hunter and colonial official. He was Commissioner and then Governor of British Somaliland between 1913 and 1922, and was responsible for finally quelling the twenty-year-long Dervish resistance.
The Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops was the colonial body of the Royal Italian Army based in Italian Somaliland, in present-day northeastern, central and southern Somalia.
Suudi Shabeele Omar, more commonly known as Haji Sudi was one of the leaders behind the Somali Dervish movement. He was also the movement's right-hand man and chief lieutenant till its demise in 1920. He is described as the Mullah's right hand in the earlier days of his rise. He hailed from the Adan Madoba sub-clan of the Habr Je'lo clan.
SultanNur Ahmed Aman, was a learned religious leader and the 5th Sultan of the Habr Yunis Sultanate and later also one of the leaders behind the Somali Dervish movement and revolt (1899–1920). He was the principal agitator rallying the followers of the Kob Fardod Tariqa behind his anti-French Roman Catholic Mission campaign that would become the cause of the Dervish uprising. He assisted in assembling men and arms and hosted the revolting tribesmen in his quarter at Burao in August 1899, declaring the Dervish rebellion. He fought and led the war throughout the years 1899–1904. He and his brother Geleh Ahmed were the main signatories of the Dervish peace treaty with the British, Ethiopians and Italian colonial powers on March 5, 1905, known as the Ilig Treaty or the Pestalozza agreement. Sultan Nur is entombed in a white-domed shrine in Taleh, the location of the largest Dervish forts and the capital of the Dervish from 1912 to 1920, a testimony to his contribution in creating the movement.
Ibrahim Hassan Boghol was a Somali military leader. He was a member of the Dervish council, called the Khusuusi, and was also the commander of the northern Dervish army. He was among the most wanted Dervish leaders in British Somaliland. Ibrahim Boghol hailed from the Adan Madobe sub-division of the Habr Je'lo clan of the Isaaq clan family.
The Reer Caynaashe also spelled Reer Caynaanshe are a royal Somali clan and were the dynastic rulers of the Habr Yunis Sultanate. They divide into 17 major sub-clans that together form the Baha Ainanshe and Rer Sugulle, from the latter descend the rulers of the Habr Yunis Sultanate. They inhabit the Togdheer and Maroodi Jeex regions of Somaliland and the Daroor, Danot and Misraq Gashamo regions of Ethiopia
Haji Mohamed Bullaleh commonly known as Haji Warabe was an early 20th century Akil (chief) of the Habr Yunis Rer Ainanshe.
The Mohamoud Garad is a Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Dhulbahante, a sub-division of the Harti/Darod clan-family. The clan is divided into three main sub-clans ― namely the Jama Siad, the Ugaadhyahan and Omar Wa’eys.
The Farah Garad or the Garad Farah is a Somali clan which is part of the Dhulbahante clan-family, a sub-division of the larger Harti/Darod clan. The Farah Garad are divided into two sub-clans — Yassin Garad and Abdalla Garad. Abdalla has four clan eponyms, Ahmed Garad, Mohamed Garad (Baharsame), Guled Garad (Barkad) and Ali Garad. They are largely significant in Sool and Togdheer regions of Somaliland, and Dollo Somali region of Ethiopia.
This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta