Somaliland campaign
The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somalia. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy.
During the First World War (1914–1918), the Dervish leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan received support for a time from the Ottoman Empire and the Ethiopian emperor-designate Lij Iyasu.[2][3] The conflict ended when the British aerially bombed the Dervish capital of Taleh in February 1920.
Campaigns[edit]
1900–1902[edit]
The first offensive campaign was led by the Haroun against Ethiopian encampment at Jijiga in March 1900. The Ethiopian general Gerazmatch Bante reportedly repulsed the attack and inflicted great losses on the Dervishes, although the British vice-consul at Harar claimed the Ethiopians out of pride armed even children with rifles to inflate the size of their forces. The Haroun seized control over parts of the Ogaden but did not attempt to attack Jijiga again. Instead, he raided the non-Dervish Qadariyyah clans for their camels and arms.[13]
In 1901, the British joined with the Ethiopians and attacked the Dervishes with a force 1,500 strong. The Haroun was driven across the border into the Majeerteen Sultanate, which had been incorporated into the Italian protectorate.[13] The Ethiopians failed to get a hold on the eastern Ogaden and the British were eventually forced to retreat, having accomplished none of their goals. In this campaign, "borders were ignored by both British and Somali."[13]
Lt-Col. Alexander Cobbe of 1st (Central Africa) Battalion, King's African Rifles, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at Erego, on 6 October 1902.[14]