The
East African Campaign was fought in the
Horn of Africa during
World War II by
Allied forces, mainly
British Empire forces, against
Axis forces, primarily from
Italy, between June 1940 and November 1941. Allied forces, under the British
Middle East Command, included units from the
United Kingdom and the British colonies of
British East Africa,
British Somaliland,
British West Africa, the
Indian Empire,
Northern Rhodesia,
Nyasaland,
Mandatory Palestine,
South Africa,
Southern Rhodesia and
Sudan.
Ethiopian irregular forces, the
Free French and Belgian troops of the
Force Publique also participated. Axis forces included units from the Italian
Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali (recruits from Italian-occupied
Abyssinia,
Italian Eritrea and
Italian Somaliland), Italian regulars, and the small
Compagnia Autocarrata Tedesca (German Motorized Company). The majority of the Italian forces were colonial troops from the Horn of Africa led by Italian officers.