050 - Hail Mussolini, Haile Selassie's Usurper - The War in Somaliland - WW2 - August 10 1940

This week, the war spreads to Africa, when the Italians invade the British Colony of British Somaliland. While this might seem trivial, it might have tremendous consequences on the remainder of the war.

Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Map animations: Eastory

Sources:
IWM: CH 3484
Sound effect: littlerobotsoundfactory

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[WorldWarTwo]

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Cheers,
The TimeGhost team


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[BossCampers]

Britain: you will not take our land

Mussolini: I don’t even know where you are

[VladTevez]

Italians have the advantage in numbers and materiel, it seems that Mussolini is an infallible leader and a genius, Italian generals must have learned from Cadorna's mistakes during WW1... what can possibly go wrong for the Italians??

[cobbler]

An Italian victory in Somaliland seems inevitable. I bet that'll be the first of many...

[StickWithTrigger]

“It is us today, tomorrow it will be you”-haile selassie speaking at league of nations 1936 after Italy invades Ethiopia.

[abyssaljam]

I can't help but smile when I hear Indy say "modern war". It brings back so many slightly depressing memories.

[Alex-cwrz]

7:50 that is one hell of a moustache, there can be no wonder why he survived the purges

[indianajones]

Anyone else remembering Paul Von Lettow Vorbeck in East Africa back in The Great War?

[pary]

As a German, this episode hurt my heart a little. Imagine all the death that could have been avoided if Hitler would have thought "Oh, it didn't work in 1914, prolly won't work in 1940."

[andregurkenstein]

British Somaliland: We're just a colony we are meant to be expendable
Britain: Not for me

[pnutz_]

11:36 DRINK


also "Modern War is Global War" would make a good t-shirt line

[johnbelland]

Glad to see that East Africa is being covered. Great episode!


Do you guys have an Amazon page with the books you use for your sources similar to The Great War?

[angelocortez]

10:06
Canadian Soldiers: Hey Brit, do you read me? Brit, do you read me? *ON YOUR LEFT.*

[hemmingwayfan]

I can't wait to see what happens in East Africa. I know almost nothing about what happened there during World War Two but it was my favorite theater to read about from World War One. I'm excited

[pnutz_]

4:18 can confirm, didn't place my armies well once as britain and had to fight my way back from south africa

[thomascrew]

As someone who worked as a surveyor in northern Somalia and Djibouti in the late 1980s this was a very interesting segment. We came across a number of WW II relics between Berbera and Bosasso. And as there is little published about the actions in this theater, this was most enlightening. In 1988 we occupied and cleaned out an abandoned RAF building just west of Bossaso, Somalia near a still functioning dirt airstrip. We removed about four inches of sand from the floors and found RAF logos etched in the concrete. We lived there for a couple weeks and with temperatures 110 F + most days. Sand storms were common and the locals whole purpose in life was to steal our gear. I can't imagine how hard it was to operate and maintain combat aircraft under such conditions.

[_vallee_]

I am amazed by the constant quality of these videos as well as all the obscure unheard of facts that end up here, which decided the fate of Hundreds if not millions of people, but is lost for the more flashy and more "important" fronts and battles. Great work.

[dragosstanciu]

The Soviet Army is only 200 kilometers from the Romanian oil fields (Germany's biggest external oil supply). Thus Hitler has a big reason to be alarmed by the Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe.

[rtsgod]

The east African campaign also mattered to the men fighting there, and also the civilians caught up in the fighting. Even if it's a limited conflict in a far off corner from the UK, it always matters to the people caught up in the fighting - That is war. :( (not implying you weren't thinking that just something i think people here and everywhere shouldn't forget)

[ΝίκοςΤζαλαβάρας-ζε]

August 15 1940 is the day that the Greek cruiser Elli got sunk by an Italian submarine during peacetime. I hope you mention this in your next video. Much love