Security forces
Somaliland Camel Corps (1914–1944)
The Somaliland Camel Corps was the British protectorate's mounted force, made up mainly of Somali soldiers under British officers. It grew out of the Camel Constabulary, defeated by the Dervishes at Dul Madoba in 1913, and was formed in 1914. It fought in the 1920 campaign that ended the Dervish state, held the Tug Argan gap against the Italian invasion of August 1940, was re-formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1944, when the Somaliland Scouts replaced it.
In short
The Camel Corps was the armed force of British Somaliland. Its riders were mostly Somali; its officers were British. It is remembered both for fighting the Dervish movement and for the defence of the protectorate in 1940. This page records its history from the sources. Its counterpart in the Italian south is described in Somali troops under Italian rule.
The Camel Constabulary and Dul Madoba, 1913
Before the corps there was a Camel Constabulary. On 9 August 1913 a force of 109 men rode out from Burao under Richard Corfield and met about 2,000 Dervish riflemen at Dul Madoba. Corfield was killed; Douglas Jardine's history records 35 of the constabulary killed and 17 badly wounded, and 395 Dervish dead counted on the field (Douglas Jardine, The Mad Mullah of Somaliland, 1923, ch. VII). Wikipedia names the Dervish commanders as Ibraahin Xoorane and Axmed Aarey (Wikipedia, Somaliland Camel Corps).
Formation and the 1920 campaign
The British formed the Somaliland Camel Corps on 12 March 1914. It grew to about 700 riders (Wikipedia). In January 1920 it took part in the combined land and air campaign, with "Z" Unit of the Royal Air Force, the Somaliland police and King's African Rifles units, that took the Dervish forts and ended the movement's state (Jardine, 1923, pp. 262–266; Wikipedia).
Between the wars
After the 1931 financial crisis the corps had 14 British officers and 400 Somali soldiers. In 1939 it had 14 British officers, one British NCO and 554 other ranks, mostly Somali, in four companies, only one of which still rode camels (Wikipedia).
Tug Argan, August 1940
When Italian forces invaded in August 1940, the corps screened their advance and then joined the defence of the Tug Argan gap on the road to Berbera. Captain Eric Wilson, seconded to the corps, commanded machine-gun posts "manned by Somali soldiers" on Observation Hill, which held from 11 to 15 August. His Somali sergeant was killed beside him. Wilson was awarded the Victoria Cross; the citation, published in the London Gazette on 14 October 1940, believed him dead, but he had been taken prisoner and survived (Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum, "Eric Wilson VC"). The British left Berbera on 17 August 1940 and most of the corps was disbanded (Wikipedia).
Re-formed and disbanded, 1941–1944
The British returned on 16 March 1941 and re-formed the corps, which became a mechanised regiment in 1942. Plans to send it to Burma were dropped after several mutinies, and it was disbanded in 1944. The Somaliland Scouts took its place (Wikipedia). See British Somaliland.
Sources differ
- Dul Madoba losses. Wikipedia gives 57 killed or wounded of 110 men; Jardine gives 35 killed and 17 badly wounded of 109.
Read the primary sources yourself
- Douglas Jardine, The Mad Mullah of Somaliland (1923): Internet Archive.
- Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum, "Eric Wilson VC", with the Victoria Cross citation: page.
Sources
- Douglas Jardine, The Mad Mullah of Somaliland, 1923, ch. VII · archive.org
- Wikipedia, Somaliland Camel Corps · en.wikipedia.org
- Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum, "Eric Wilson VC" · queensroyalsurreys.org.uk
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