Following the Italian declaration of war of June 10, 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered his troops to capture some of the constituent countries of the British Empire including British Somaliland and border towns in Sudan and Kenya. The British responded to the threat and built up a military force in Sudan and Kenya. In December 1940, the 4th Indian division was rushed to the British Sudan to join with the 5th Indian Infantry Division, to prevent Italian forces, which were numerically superior, from threatening Red Sea supply routes to Egypt, Egypt itself and the Suez Canal from the south. The Battle of Keren brought the ensuing East African Campaign to a close during 1941 when 42 Italian battalions were defeated by19 British and Indian battalions.
‘The British responded to the threat and built up a military force in Sudan and Kenya’
Keren, aka Cheren, in Italian Eritrea, was of strategic importance to both sides in 1941. The road and railway through it were key routes to Asmara, the colony’s capital, and the Red Sea port of Massawa, both of which would be surrendered to the British after the battle which lasted from February 5 to April 1.
The adversaries were a mixed Italian army of regul…
