The “Gideon Force” was a special unit formed by a specialist in… special operations, then Major Ordy Charles Wingate, later father of the famous “Chidits”. This special unit operated against the Italians in East Africa and its men were mainly Ethiopian guerrillas. The Italians occupied Ethiopia in 1936 after about six months of war. The fight was uneven with the Italians throwing everything from light tanks to chemical gas into the battle. After the end of the war, the Italians deployed in the country about 250-290,000 men, 1/3 of whom were Italians and the rest mainly Muslims from Eritrea.
When Italy entered World War II on June 10, 1940, Italian troops in East Africa did not show significant activity. They advanced hesitantly into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and British Somalia. The British had few forces in the area but resisted as much as they could. Gradually, however, the decision was made to clear the area from the Italians. For this purpose, important forces were gathered, British, colonial and Commonwealth, however numerically inferior to the Italians. Ethiopian rebels fought the Italians continuously since 1936 and continued the resistance. The British decided to exploit the insurgent groups, coordinate, train and equip them with the aim of causing an uprising in the Italian rear.
The British assigned the mission to then Major General Ordie Charles Wingate who was to become famous in Burma fighting the "Chidits" against the Japanese. Wingate had served five years with the British forces in the Sudan and knew the terrain and the people. Liaison of British Lieutenant General Platt with Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie who returned to the area. Two battalions were initially allocated to Wonggate, one of Sudanese soldiers of the British and one made up of Ethiopian ex-soldiers who had fought the Italians, as well as a few Jewish volunteers. The unit numbered around 2,000 men and was allocated 18,000 camels as transport animals. Wingate himself named the unit the "Gideon Force." The force also had a mounted unit of Sudanese.
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The "Gideon Force" moved in December 1940 for the Gojam area , northwest of the capital Addis Ababa. At the same time the British had gathered two regular divisions in Sudan and another three in Kenya with the intention of attacking the Italians from two directions. British regular forces attacked on 18 and 19 January 1940. On January 20, Haile Selassie together with Wingate crossed the border of Sudan and entered Ethiopian territory. On February 6, Wingate and the emperor reached Mount Belaya and established their headquarters there. On February 18, after certain issues of jurisdiction were resolved, the "Gideon Force", having made contact with the Ethiopian rebels, began operations against the outposts, small guards and patrols.
On 24 February Wingate led his men against the Italian fort at Bure which was captured. Wingate continued the attacks against the Italians in close cooperation with the Ethiopian rebels. A little later, Haile Selassie also went there. Ethiopians who had passed into Italian service deserted and joined the forces of Wingate and Selassie. The Italians retreated. Wingate attempted to cut them off but was unsuccessful. However, he pursued them and led them into an ambush by Ethiopian rebels who annihilated the Italians. The Italians lost 325 men to 48 Ethiopians. On March 8, the "Gideon Force" freed Debesa.
The next target was the city of Debre Marcos, the capital of Gojam province. However, the Italians counter-attacked and the "Gideon Force" was forced to retreat and again began guerilla warfare operations that cost the Italians 200 dead. The Italians eventually retreated under pressure from Wingate and the rebels, and on April 6 Haile Selassie entered the city. On the same day, British regular forces liberated Addis Ababa.
The retreating Italian forces to the east were pursued by Wingate and the rebels. The "Gideon Force" gathered in Addis Ababa except for a small section which, with the reinforcement of the rebels, continued to hunt the Italians. On May 5, 1941, Haile Selassie re-entered his capital. After this Wingate continued his pursuit of the Italians although he was ordered to stop.
Ignoring orders cut off the Italian forces at Debe Sinai which he forced to surrender on May 24. After this success the "Gideon Force" was disbanded – on June 1, 1941, having written its own history in World War II. Needless to say, the Italians falling into the hands of the Ethiopian rebels were extremely… unlucky.
