East African Campaign (World War II)

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.