T h e N e w G i d e o n F o r c eT h e P l a nT h e P l a nT h e P l a nA Driving Force |
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![]() Akin to a whirlwind Wingate descended upon the British command in Sudan. When he arrived he had expressed his confidence to Wavell in the mission if it was approached in the right way. Wingate told Wavell that it was, "vital to support Haile Selassie 100% and that the revolt could be made the vital factor in the coming campaign."1 Wingate met with Emperor Selassie frequently. The first time they met he pledged his loyalty and support for the cause of liberation, assuring him he would lead a force to return him to his throne. In return, he received Selassie's respect & trust. Determined to see the coming field of battle, on November 20 flew on a daring flight inside Ethiopia to meet with Sandford in the Gojjam at a Mission 101 base. The two easily agreed the Emperor should enter Gojjam as soon as possible. This was decided upon for he was seen as a symbol of Ethiopia's lost independence & national unity. Disappointed at the lack of aid given to the Ethiopian revolt, promoted to the temporary rank Lieutenant-Colonel, he set about changing things immediately. He expanded the mission from a holding action to one of liberation, from harassing to defeating the Italians in the northwest. He dismissed Sandford's plan of waging a guerilla war with distributing money to those Ethiopian tribal leaders who promised to fight Italians as disrespectful and inefficient. As he wrote, "First we have to convince the Ethiopian that contrary to his previous experience, these white men with whom he has to treat will give him a fair deal. He must see us first not fighting by his side, but in front of him...Example instead of precept is what we want."3 He believed a guerilla force hoping to raise revolt must demonstrate strength and appeal to the better side of human nature. Wingate envisioned a small but high-quality force, well led and equipped, operating among a population that was either supportive or neutral. This was opposite of Sandford's idea of distributing arms and money to almost anyone. Writing, "To raise a real fighting revolt you must send in a corps d'elite to do exploits and not peddlers of war material and cash. Given a population favorable to penetration, a thousand resolute and well-armed men can paralyze for an indefinite period the operations of a hundred thousand."4
He set about devoting his energy to his new task with a crusading zest. To the many of the men who were assigned to serve under him he became inspiring. Hearing of it for the first time, one of the British officers exclaimed it was, "bold and refreshing."5 The famous South African explorer Wilfred Thesiger who was assigned to be Sandford's deputy was inspired by Wingate and the mission. He felt, "Wingate was ruthlessly ambitious, yet his aims transcended personal ambition. He was an idealist and a fanatic. He needed a cause which with he could identify himself, but his intolerance and arrogance required him to be in command. He should have lived in the times of the Crusades. I can picture him in that brutal age, fighting with a mad gleam in his eye to liberate the Holy City, but equally determined, when it fell, to be crowned King of Jerusalem."6 |
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The Zealous Crusader
So Wingate pushed without bothering for proper decorum and respect anyone in authority to get the proper supplies and manpower for the nucleus of the new force. To command staff officers, angry at the lack of support he was getting for his efforts Wingate would be abrupt and openly rude. Combined with his appearance, his mere presence became provoking and unpleasant, and he became seen by many as, "scruffy, uncouth, unsoldierly eccentric."8 One of his fellow MI(R) officers in Khartoum handling supplies and organization was Major Dodds-Parker. He saw how his contrariness could be disruptive. There were moments when the Wingate & Platt declared they would not speak to one another again. Dodds-Parker, would be sent for and told, "The General and Wingate have had another row. Both have resigned. You must bring Wingate back to work this afternoon."10 Thesiger overheard Platt exclaim once, "The curse of this war is Lawrence in the last."11 Wingate at this time still had the cause of Jewish independence and a Jewish army on his mind. He had his faithful Jewish interpreter and friend from his SNS days, Avraham Akavia, flown in to be his personal assistant and aide. He said to Akavia, "Everyone who is a friend of Abyssinia is at the same time a friend of the Jews."12 He believed if he could be a success here, he could be of greater help to the Jews later on, perhaps by leading a Jewish striking force in the war (Others were to come as well, doctors to serve with Gideon Force at his request later during the campaign). To his deep distress, per Wavell’s orders, Wingate was informed that he was forbidden to travel to Palestine under any circumstances. This fueled an anger and bitterness in him, creating a frame of mind described as a, "bloody mindedness."13 Rudeness and deliberate baiting of others were manifestations of his devoting his total energy to his mission to deal with this frustration, this single-mindedness also adding to his tribulations. Still, he asked Wilfred Thesiger once if the he was happy. After hearing his affirmative reply, Wingate reflected and said, "I'm not happy, but I don't think any great man ever is."14 |
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Molding the Force
Undertaking guerilla warfare & training Patriot rebels would be a half-dozen Operational Centers (10 originally planned). Leading each of these detachments would be 1 officer with 5 British or Commonwealth NCOs who had volunteered, many from garrison duties in Palestine. The detachments were to start out with 80-200 Ethiopians selected from among those in the Sudan with 200 rounds of ammunition each.16 All told the force numbered close to 1,700.17 The heaviest support the force would have was a single mortar platoon. And there was little in the way of communications to outside forces, or medical support. Accompanying them was a propaganda unit already spreading word of the Emperor's encouragement to fight on or switch allegiance from the Italians. |
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Preparations Complete By January of 1941 the British forces under Wavell were concentrating for the offense. A December conference in Cairo had finalized the details for the offense into Italian East Africa. Then London learned from intelligence (cryptology) sources of the upcoming German invasion of the Balkans. Wavell’s successful offense against the Italians in the Western Desert in North Africa, complimented by the passive Italian efforts in East Africa, was demonstrating that Italian fighting power was weaker than initially feared. So the decision was made to free up British troops for the defense of Greece. This meant halting the offense in North Africa, and speeding up the planned one in East Africa in order to bring about its quicker ending. The northern pincer of the offense was reinforced from one to two divisions, and ordered to push the Italians out of all of Eritrea. The southern pincer’s timetable to conquer Somalia was pushed up from May to February. Then the two forces would converge on Addis Ababa and the mountains around Amba Alga in the nation’s center. It was agreed the Patriot revolt would play a major part, and the Emperor’s planned return to Ethiopia was also hastened. At the December war conference, Wingate was allowed to speak before the top senior officers. He repeated confidence, predicting victory by the end of spring, 1941. While speaking of his plans to weaken the Italians from within, he emphasized the moral aspect of his mission. "Courage, faith, and self-respect, these were the qualities we could appeal to successfully because they were on our side. We had first to convince the Ethiopian...of our bona fidas...he must see us fighting not by his side but in front of him...devoted to the cause of his liberties."19 He saw the revolt and his force with a David and Goliath theme, and along this line Wingate christened his mixed unit Gideon Force. Familiar with guerilla warfare and the Bible, he found the Biblical story of Gideon with his small band of men defeating the larger Midianite force appropriate. So he christened the force Gideon Force.
In January of 1941 the British forces under Wavell were concentrating for the offense. On January 19th the northern part of the offense began as General Platt's 2 Indian divisions pushed forward and engaged the Italians in Eritrea. Five days later, from out of Kenya the southern force of 2 divisions under General Cunningham attacked into Italian Somalia.
The Wingate’s forces began moving forward in late December and January. With 15,000 camels and horses, the main force of two battalions along with the 2 ready Operational Centers departed in several groups from their forward base in southern Sudan. They were heading for Mount Belaiya inside Ethiopia. Previously reconnoitered, it would serve as the first forward operating base and starting point for the Emperor’s return. Behind the advance, a small engineering force would attempt the building of a road into Ethiopia for future supply movements. On January 20
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1. Trevor Royle, Orde Wingate
(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995), 176. |