Abstract
This edited volume examines the strategic, medical and logistical dimensions of an often neglected campaign. As the editors observe, East Africa represents ‘one of the most overlooked campaigns of the Second World War’. This has remained true, despite notable interventions such as Andrew Stewart's 2016 history of British and Commonwealth forces victories (1). It is especially the case in areas surveyed in this volume, including indigenous forces, non-Anglophone militaries, and support operations. 1 The Second World War in East Africa spans nine contributions, six of which have previously appeared in a 2023 (43:3) special issue of the International Journal of Military History and Historiography, although not Holbert, Monama and Vincent's chapters. In some cases, such as Vincent, Stapleton and Kleynhans's contributions, the authors examine largely strategic matters, with a convincing argument being mounted that these are neglected within African military history more generally, often in favour of ‘war and society’ approaches, that give greater emphasis to social and cultural developments. Yet the volume moves beyond formal militaries, such as in Stoil's chapter on Ethiopian Irregular Forces, which frames its treatment of them in terms of military efficacy.
Scianna's chapter challenges a common ‘English-centric view’ of the campaign by incorporating the Italian historiography of Mussolini's army and its activities in Africa Orientale Italiana (245). Archival challenges abound, not least because those Italian documents that fell into German hands were often subsequently destroyed, and the Italians themselves buried or otherwise eliminated files (247). Some sources survive in the National Archives of the United Kingdom, including Colonel Talamonte's Intelligence Diary and General Luigi Frusci's Situation Reports (247), but other surviving clusters of material, including correspondence, have previously remained unexplored.
Scianna divides events in A.O.I., into three periods: from June to December 1940, a middle and critical period from January to May 1941 including key British offensives leading to the fall of Keren and Addis Ababa, and a third period extending to November 1941, including the scattered Italian relinquishing of key strongholds culminating in the capitulation of their garrison at Gondar (245–6). Fielding an indigenous force mainly trained for counter-insurgency, rather than combatting modern forces, the Italians found that they were no match for the British. Despite this unequal balance, Italian resistance at battles such as Keren and Gondar was fierce (246). The war's memory in Italian culture has largely remained unexplored, despite a growing scholarship focusing on Italian colonial nostalgia (246). During the war, the fascist government in Italy drew on their soldiers’ resistance at Gondar and Amba Alagi for propaganda material, while ordinary soldiers were impressed by accounts of the Duke of Aosta's last stand (270). Memorialisation continued after the war, as a significant literature continued to elevate the Duke of Aosta, often written by former soldiers and published by the veterans’ association the Istituto del Nastro Azzurro, which served the holders of the Medal for Military Valor (271). This post-1945 literature cast Aosta as a sceptic of the Fascist war, who was forced to uphold his sense of Italian military honour (171). Scianna's chapter warns of the limitations of approaching the campaign through an Anglocentric lens, while at the same time broaching the largely uncharted territory of how the East Africa campaign has been represented in historical memory.
Indigenous forces constitute a second important area in which the book expands existing understandings of the East Africa campaign. Although they had received some research from historians of Ethiopia itself, the Ethiopian ‘patriots’ or arbagnoch had largely been excluded from military histories of the East Africa campaign, apart from references that were vague, derogatory or both. Recovering an historical narrative of their role in the campaign is hindered by the fact that the Special Forces operatives who worked with them inclined towards secrecy, while those documents that did exist were sometimes destroyed (123). This has led to a ‘forced silence of the indigenous personnel of East Africa’, that ultimately limits our comprehension of the wider campaign (149). Stoil deploys oral history as a way of including ‘new indigenous perspectives’, beyond existing sources. He seeks to use multiple measures of military efficiency, rather than imposing a singular absolute standard, ultimately judging them to be ‘generally highly effective’ (149). The arbagnoch engaged with British Special Forces to work behind enemy lines as part of Mission 101, which targeted I.E.A., and likely played an important role in establishing intelligence networks within Italian territory (130). Yet Stoil also reveals a gamut of more quotidian mobilisation; he argues that the arbagnoch attacked chiefly localised support and resources in I.E.A, as well as targeting supposed collaborators, which likely involved an element of score-settling (127).
More generally, The Second World War in East Africa is also of interest in its treatment of medical and logistical history, both neglected dimensions within the historiography of African military service during World War Two. Monama explores water supply structures (173) and Van der Waag the South African Medical Corps (201). Although a nascent historiography has emerged focusing on the role of medical support within South Africa's participation in the war, such approaches remain uncommon elsewhere on the continent. As Monama reminds readers, water supply became crucial to the success of all military forces in the East Africa theatre's often arid and inhospitable terrain (174), areas such as Kenya's Northern Frontier Districts, presented parched semi-desert at around 365 metres below sea level (181). Beyond climatic conditions, certain areas presented health challenges such as ticks, malaria, anthrax and dysentery (183). Monama reveals how the onset of war moved water provisioning from the auspices of civilian to military agencies, including the 36th Water Supply Company and Geological Survey Sections of the South African Expeditionary Corps from June to October 1940 (185). Wartime also led to new forms of prospecting water, such as the handbook written by Major G.L. Plaver and other S.A.E.C. officers in April 1943 (185). The Corps drew on civilian experience in negotiating South Africa's environment during the interwar years, including in the Kalahari desert (186). Institutional changes in support roles also form a key theme in Van der Waag's chapter on the South African Medical Corps, which expanded following a Medical Enquiry Committee in November 1939 (202). Challenging the marginality of the East Africa campaign in the S.A.M.C.'s official history, Van der Waag attempts a ‘bottom-up view’ of its operations (204). He draws on a range of sources, including articles written for the South African Medical Journal, focusing on treatment in the theatre (207). These charted medics’ battles with ‘inhospitable terrain’, ‘flies’, ‘fleas’ and poor infrastructure (209).
It is true that the volume lacks a conclusion, which would have helped tie together its sometimes varied themes, and frame its contribution more effectively. The introduction remains more centred on South African historiography, and it would be helpful to have a clearer exposition of how the chapters speak to the historiography of World War Two at a more general level. The themes of supply and medical treatment are also of great significance in the historiography of African participation in the Burma campaign. On the other hand, the volume contains helpful maps that are invaluable in charting operational narratives, as well as in introducing the geographical regions within the theatre. The text will be of ready use in a range of courses, including within specialist military history teaching, but also more general regional surveys. The chapter on Italy will also be valuable to historians of modern Europe.
