Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, VC: Camel Corps officer

For valour: Wilson, who left the army in 1949, is seen here at a 1988 VC and GC Association reunion in London, with Gurkha holders of the decoration

Somaliland, 1940: Wilson is seated in the front of the truck holding the dog. It was killed on the first day of the action in which Wilson was taken prisoner

Eric Wilson won the first Victoria Cross to be awarded in the campaigns in Africa during the Second World War. His story is one of persistent yet seemingly nonchalant gallantry as, by his lights, he was simply doing what he was trained to do. He stuck to his precious guns to the bitter end and so certain was the brigade staff that he had been killed in the enemy’s final attack he was awarded a posthumous VC. But he survived to fight in two more campaigns.

Mussolini’s declaration of war on June 10, 1940, two weeks before the fall of France, found him with no enemy immediately to hand. He therefore ordered his forces in Abyssinia to attack the nearby British colonial garrisons. In August, three columns each of brigade strength with tanks and supported by bomber and fighter aircraft crossed into British Somaliland south of Hargeisa and headed for the Tug Argan pass leading to the seaport capital, Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden. The Somaliland Camel Corps delayed the advance from the frontier, covering as best it could preparation of the main defensive position astride the Tug Argan pass.

Wilson, then a captain, commanded the Camel Corps machinegun company. His task was to provide fire support for the Northern Rhodesia Regiment manning the central sector of the front across the enemy’s path. So far as the terrain allowed, he positioned his water-cooled Vickers medium machineguns where they could strike the enemy in the flanks when they moved forward. But, because of the width of the front, several had to be sited frontally with wide arcs of fire. Having briefed all his gun crews, he joined the most forward pillbox on Observation Hill overlooking the enemy’s main approach.

The Italian attack opened on the morning of August 11 with an artillery bombardment of Wilson’s positions. A shell of the first salvo exploded immediately outside the embrasure of his pillbox, blowing the Vickers off its tripod and wounding one of the crew. To Wilson’s surprise the weapon was undamaged and he had it in action again within minutes, but the next salvo killed the corporal in charge of the gun, wounded Wilson in the right shoulder and left eye and smashed his spectacles.

Times Archive

• 1940, Capt. Wilson, VC - mistaken report of death

During the afternoon he detected an Italian mountain artillery battery working its way up from the road to the pass. He had its range and opened fire, only to receive an immediate retaliation from the enemy’s fixed-charge high-explosive shells. Counter-battery fire from his own artillery and a tropical downpour brought action to a halt for the day.

Next morning the Italians began to push forward small groups of infantry and artillery that worked their way along the sides of the Tur Argan gap to attack the British positions at close quarters. Then, on August 13, the enemy launched a large-scale assault, overran the British artillery position and renewed their fire on Wilson’s machinegun posts. On the 15th two of his guns were blown to pieces but he continued to man his own gun until the position was overrun. The citation for his VC, gazetted on October 11, 1940, opened with the words, “For most conspicuous gallantry on active service in Somaliland” and ended with, “The enemy finally overran the post at 5pm when Captain Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed.”

He had been taken prisoner, however, not just wounded but suffering from malaria. This only became known in April 1941 when the 5th Indian Division captured the prisoner-of-war camp at Adi Ugri in Eritrea, where Wilson was being held. Together with other prisoners, he had almost completed a tunnel for a mass escape attempt when they awoke one morning to find all their guards had gone. By then he had learnt of his award from an RAF officer who had been shot down and taken to the same camp.

Eric Charles Twelves Wilson was born in Sandown, Isle of Wight, the son of the Rev C. C. C. Wilson. He was educated at Marlborough and Royal Military College Sandhurst from where he was commissioned into the East Surrey Regiment in 1933. He had been attracted to Africa since boyhood through stories told by his grandfather, who had founded the Church Missionary Society station in Buganda in 1876. So, after four years with the East Surreys, he volunteered for secondment to the King’s African Rifles and served in Tanganyika with the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion until he secured a second secondment to the Somaliland Camel Corps in 1939.

On release from the Italian PoW camp he volunteered to join the Long Range Desert Group operating round the flanks of Rommel’s Afrika Korps in the Western Desert. His knowledge of desert conditions proved a useful asset but, at the end of the North African campaign, he went to Burma as second-in-command of a battalion of The King’s African Rifles. He took part in the advance of the 11th East African Division down the notoriously disease-ridden Kabaw Valley to establish a bridgehead over the Chindwin at Kelawa. He then contracted scrub typhus and spent two months in hospital before being medically downgraded and returned to East Africa. He spent the final months of the war commanding the Infantry Training Centre at Jinja in Uganda.

Wilson left the Army in 1949 to join the Overseas Civil Service in Tanganyika, where he served until independence of the British East African countries led to his retirement in 1961.

He joined the staff of the London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Students, where his fluency in Kiswahili, Gikuria and Chinyakusa stood him in good stead. He was the honorary secretary of the Anglo-Somali Society, 1972-77, and again from 1988 to 1990.

He married Anne Pleydell-Bouverie in 1943. The marriage was dissolved in 1953, and in that year he married Angela Joy, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel J. McK Gordon. He is survived by his second wife, one of the two sons of his first marriage and one son of his second. His death leaves nine surviving holders of the Victoria Cross.

Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Wilson, VC, was born on October 2, 1912. He died on December 23, 2008, aged 96

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5415089.ece

The Politics of Somaliland’s Self-Determination” - Feb.18, 2006

Hunwick Note

Evanston, Illinois, USA, Feb. 25, 2006 (SL Times) – The note below was part of the round table discussion entitled “The Politics of Somaliland’s Self-Determination” that took place on Feb.18, 2006 at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. The Somaliland Times is pleased to share with its readers some of the insights of the participants. We are particularly pleased to know the role that professor Hunwick’s experiences in Somaliland had in stimulating his interest in Islamic and African studies. After all, despite his modesty, Dr Hunwick is the man who drew the attention of the world to the Timbuktu Manuscripts which laid to rest the notion that Africa had no written history.
My Experience of Somalia
By John Hunwick
Professor Emeritus,
Northwestern University

Although I have never done research on Somalia, part of that state was, nevertheless, the first African area that I visited, though regretfully, I have not yet returned there. In fact, some fifty years ago - before Somalia became a large independent state, I spent a year in British Somaliland, serving as a military officer of the local army, known as the "Somaliland Scouts". The British colonial area was to the north and west of the present independent Somalia, with a small French colonial area to its west, and to its east and extending down to Kenya was the Italian colony. British Somaliland also had, as its neighbor to the south of it, a part of Ethiopia, with occasional battles between nomads of both areas, which sectors of the "Somaliland Scouts" generally had to deal with and re-establish peace.

My first location was Hargeysa, the capital of British Somaliland, and the headquarters of the "Somaliland Scouts". I arrived there in September 1955, having sailed from England to Aden, and then flew over to Hargeysa. I was then sent to Burao, some 80 miles east of Hargeysa; and there I was given to learn about military vehicles including, for the first time, how to drive. Driving in British Somaliland was on desert-like tracks, except in Hargeysa (and partly in Burao), where there were regular British-style roads. After a month, or so, in Burao, I was then appointed to a regiment, and joined up with them in Ainabo to the south-east of Burao. Every regiment would change its location every six months, so before long I went back to Hargeysa with my military force, and ultimately to Adade before my military service - a total of two years - came close to an end, and I moved back to England - in August 1956.

My military service in British Somaliland was training of the soldiers of my regiment, and taking care of its vehicles (mainly small-ton trucks). However, I saw parts of the semi-desert country area, especially when my regiment was in an encampment near Adade. There were many various wild animals, including lions; and I had to take part in killing two of them: the first being a lion that had disturbed the evening practice of a group of soldiers of my regiment; and the other in help of some nomads whose sheep had been attacked - and some killed - by a lion.

British Somaliland was an attractive place for me. Many people - even in the army - spoke English to some extent, but I found it useful to be able to contact most people by speaking Somali. The Somali language had some influence of Arabic, since just about all Somalis were Muslims, and they claimed that they had moved into Somaliland many centuries ago from the Arabian Peninsula. I enjoyed working with them, and soon found their religious attitudes very attractive. Indeed, this convinced me to learn Arabic when I returned to England for university training, and with such knowledge, to learn more about Islam. Hence, I have continued to study Arabic and Islam in Africa - most especially related to West Africa, where I spent many first years of my academic career (in Nigeria and Ghana).Now, for five years, I have been running the "Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA)" through our Program of African Studies.

Source: Somaliland Times
http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/214/30.shtml

Invisible Warriors- Somaliland Camel Corps History

Somaliland Camel Corps - The Somali people are natural camel riders it's in their blood. Camel's are in were as important as the pony's of the mongols. In the drought striken land the camel is really thing other than goats that proved worth domesticating. The British recognized their affinity and after creating the colony the British set out to create a Somaliland Camel Corps. During the Mad Mullah period of Somali history the camel Corps included had grown to included some 700 mounted riders they served gallantly enough against the bandit and captured his Jidali hideout. During the same period they set a an impressive standard by covering 150 miles in 72 hours.

Beginnings

The British immediately recognized the affinity between the Somali people and camels. Soon after acquiring the East African colony, the British set out to create the Somaliland Camel Corps. During the "Mad Mullah" (Sayid, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) period of Somali history, the camel corps grew to include some seven-hundred mounted riders. The corps served gallantly against this Somali bandit. But, after four major campaigns to capture him, Hassan remained on the loose. During the same period, the corps set an impressive standard by covering one-hundred-and-fifty miles in seventy-two hours.

In 1920, a combined British land and air offensive -- which included the Somaliland Camel Corps, Somaliland Police, elements from the 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion and 6th (Somaliland) Battalion of the King's African Rifles (KAR) finally defeated Hassan's army. Despite this defeat, many Somalis continued to hail Hassan as a warrior hero and he remains the source of modern Somali nationalism.

During the period between World War I and World War II, the Somaliland Camel Corps was re-configured to better defend the colony in case of a future war. Colonel Arthur Reginald Chater of the Royal Marines was placed in command of a slightly smaller corps of five-hundred troopers. Like many other colonial unit, the Somaliland Camel Corps had a British officer. In the late 1930s, the corps was givien nine-hundred British pounds to build pillboxes and reserve water tanks.

In September 1939, the Somaliland Camel Corps had a total strength of fourteen British officers, one British non-commissioned officer, and five-hundred-and-fifty-four non-European other ranks. Initially, the corps was placed under the garrison commander of French Somaliland. The Somaliland Camel Corps fought alongside units of the KAR and the Northern Rhodesian Regiment. The Somaliland Camel Corps' four companies were split among five different locations in the colony. Only "A" Company retained its camels. The other companies had become infantry units.

Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief of the Middle East Command, was apalled by the under-equipped force that was supposed to defend an entire colony. As a result of his concern, in 1940, the unit was partially mechanized and further defenses were built. But, before the upgrades could be completed, the funds dried up.

World War II

At the beginning of the East African Campaign, the Somaliland Camel Corps only had a total of one-thousand-four-hundred-and-seventy-five men to defend the colony. This number includes a battalion of the Northern Rhodesian Regiment. Reinforcements were eventually sent in a vain hope to stop the Italian invasion.

During the Italian invasion of British Somaliland, the Somaliland Camel Corps skirmished and screened the attacking force along the border before pulling back to more defensible poistions. At Observation Hill, the corps made a formidable stand. One of its officers, Captain Eric Charles Twelves Wilson of the East Surreys, received a Victoria Cross (VC) for his use of a machine gun during the defense. Despite wounds, malaria, and having several guns destroyed out from under him, he stayed at his post. Wilson was the only VC recipient during the Italian invasion of British Somaliland and his was the only VC ever earned in Somalia. Only six other VCs were issued for operations in East Africa. Luckily for Wilson, he was later found alive in an Italian prisoner of war camp.

However, despite a spirted defense, the British were over-matched and withdrew from Berbera on 17 August 1941. With the final withdrawal, most of the Somali troops of the Somaliland Camel Corps were disbanded.

On 16 March 1941, less than one year from the date of withdrawal, the British returned to the colony. Soon afterwards the Somaliland Camel Corps was re-founded. By 18 April, the unit was at about 80% of its former strength. The camel corps spent the following months rounding up stray Italians and policing against local bandits.

In 1942, the Somaliland Camel Corps did become a mechanized regiment. For some time there were plans to send the unit to Burma. But, after several mutinies in 1943, the unit was disbanded for good.

Organization

In 1939, on the brink of war, the Somaliland Camel Corps was organized as follows:

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, The Somaliland Camel Corps: Laferug
A- (Camel) Company: Hargeisa
B- (Nyasa Infantry) Company: Tug Argen
C- Company: Burao
D- Company: Tug Argen (Less 2 Platoons at Sheik)

Uniform

The troopers of the Somaliland Camel Corps had a distinctive dress which was based on the standard British Army khaki drill, but included a knitted woolen pullover and drill patches on the shoulders. Shorts were worn with woolen socks on puttees and chaplis, boots or bare feet. Equipment consisted of a leather ammunition bandolier and a leather waist belt. The officers wore sun helmets and khaki drill uniforms. Other ranks wore a kullah with puggree which ended in a long tail which hung down the back.

wikipedia

Many of the other Peace Corps volunteers were jealous because they did not have a tribe by Jeanne

Ali was my protector from the very first day I came to live in Arabsiyo. I was 22, I didn’t speak very much Somali and I was alone. No other Peace Corps volunteers came to live in Arabsiyo


It was with deep sadness that I have heard of the death of Ali Hanfi. Part of my sorrow was the thought that I might never return to Somaliland. I heard from friends who have visited Arabsiyo that Ali still remembered me and it has been 40 years since I lived there. Somehow, as long as Ali was alive I thought I would be able to go back. Time and trouble make this more and more unlikely as I get older and it is more difficult to travel and now that Ali is gone I fear it may never happen.

Ali was my protector from the very first day I came to live in Arabsiyo. I was 22, I didn’t speak very much Somali and I was alone. No other Peace Corps volunteers came to live in Arabsiyo. Many people in town said they surprised that a young woman would live without the protection of her father and brothers in a far away country but Ali Hanfi did something about it. He decided I should be a Sa’Ad Musa and have the protection of his tribe. He announced one day that I was Sa’Ad Musa and I have been proud of this my whole life. Many of the other Peace Corps volunteers were jealous because they did not have a tribe. Since Ali had decided this, there was little discussion and people accepted it. Some afternoons after we taught at the school, Abdirahman Subti, one of the teachers, and I would walk back to town through the wadi. If a nomad came to state at me, Subti would tell them that I was Sa’Ad Musa and that I was actually his sister. “It was quite a surprise to my mother that her skin is white like that!” he would tell them. The nomads would point and stare even harder in disbelief at this strange brother and sister. Perhaps a djinn did this they would say shaking their heads.

Ali also took care of the food and other supplies that I needed. I would go into his shop at the edge of town and point to whatever I needed. A bottle of kerosene for my lamp, some soap to wash my clothes, a packet of tea, spices and sugar. Ali would write down what each item cost and keep the little papers in a sack. Every month or so, he would come to my house with one of his sons and they would add up all the amounts. I tried at first to add the long list of numbers myself- but I never came up with the same amount twice. I have never been very good a math. Eventually I paid Ali whatever he said I owed him. He was an honest man and I trusted whatever he said.

I had a machine that could make copies of papers for my students at the school. The machine used a special paper and spirits. Sometimes it was hard for me to find spirits because the machine used a whole bottle to make one set of copies and I would go from store to store to see who had any I could buy. One night Ali Hanfi and several of the village elders came to my house. They said that I seemed sad to be living so far from my family. I told them I was happy to be in Arabsiyo. Ali explained that they had noticed that I was buying all of the spirits and they thought I was drinking it. They had come to warn me that I would go blind from drinking pure alcohol spirits. I laughed very hard and invited them to the school to see how I could make copies for my students with the alcohol spirits.

Ali took care of me when I was a helpless stranger and I will always remember this honest, thoughtful and powerful man with gratitude and love. I will continue to hope that someday I will return to Arabisiyo, even though Ali Hanfi will be in paradise.

prepared by professor of Jeanne Dhaem

Source: Gabiley Net

Founder member Henry Allingham on the RAF at 90

Henry Allingham

It is 90 years today since the first Royal Air Force plane took to the skies. Henry Allingham, who at 111 years old is the only surviving founding member of the RAF, will be the guest of honour at RAF Odiham, Hampshire, to mark the anniversary. Here, with remarkable clarity for a man his great age, he tells Matt Roper of those early days.

By Matt Roper

1 April 2008

'I actually took my first flight three years earlier in 1915 and over all these years I remember it like yesterday.

It was still the Royal Naval Air Service then and I was the engineer in an Avro 504 biplane flying a reconnaissance mission over the North Sea.

This was only a dozen years after the Wright brothers flew the first plane, so it was the most amazing adventure for a young bloke like me.

It was so noisy, I do remember the deafening throb and the chap on the ground shouting "Chocks away!"

Then we were up, the freezing wind gushing past my face as we climbed steeply, my heart in my stomach as we banked.

My pilot and I had left Great Yarmouth armed with a rifle, two pigeons, and just enough fuel to get us to the Dutch coast and back again.

The pigeons were there for if we crashed - they would fly back to base with the message. The rifles were in case we saw the enemy... we had no built-in guns, so we would just have to fire from the cockpit.

To be honest, all the planes were so flimsy and unpredictable that both British and German pilots would immediately turn back rather than face each other in the skies.

With just a small windshield to protect us, we wore scarves and sheepskin and smeared Vaseline on our faces. Even so, it was still bitterly cold and I wished I'd wrapped up warmer.

But I remember getting back on the ground and just itching to take off again.

I'd enlisted as a mechanic in September 1915 and joined the Royal Naval Air Service at Great Yarmouth, one of 14 new recruits.

When I joined up lots of people doubted that air power would ever be any use.

Even General Haig though it's only use was for reconnaissance. From our first day, we set out to prove the doubters wrong.

I was involved in everything from repairing and maintaining the aircraft, pulling up seaplanes from the water's edge and helping night landings by using rows of flares to light up the runway.

In September 1917, after graduating as an Air Mechanic, I was posted to the Western Front where my job was recovering planes - often under sniper fire - that had been shot down.

But I most looked forward to the occasions when I would go up in the planes, flying off into the North Sea to look for enemy ships.

Some of the pilots were real Jack the Lads... I once helped strap one into his plane so he wouldn't fall out when he looped the looped - an offence that was punishable by court martial. Even then, I knew airplanes would play a major part in the military history of our country.

But in the end it was the raids by German bombers across London and Kent in 1917 that persuaded the powers-that-be that Britain needed a proper air force.

I read later that Lloyd George said: "Every time the Germans raid London, British airmen must blot out a German town."

A year later the RAF was formed with Hugh Trenchard as its first commander and I was proud to transfer across on April 1, 1918.

Without those early days and our scrappy little biplanes, the Second World War couldn't have been won.

It was wonderful to have been part of it.'

1918-2008 THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

Apr 1, 1918: The Royal Air Force is formed by merging the RFC and RNAS. First mission is carried out by 22 Squadron. Women's Royal Air Force formed but disbanded two years later.

May 13, 1918: The Independent Force, RAF is created - world's first air force not controlled by an army or navy.

Jan-Nov 1918: The RAF destroy 2,953 enemy aircraft.

Nov 11, 1918: At the end of WWI the RAF is largest air force in the world with 27,333 officers, 263,837 other ranks and 22,647 aircraft.

Feb 1920: RAF aircraft acting with the Somaliland Camel Corps overthrow Somali's "Mad Mullah".

March-May, 1925: The RAF's first independent air action, bombing the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in Waziristan.

Dec 23, 1928: The world's first air evacuation is carried out by the RAF when the British Legation in Kabul is flown to safety.

June 1939: Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), later the Women's Royal Air Force, is instituted.

July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain begins.

Sept 1940: 554 German planes downed by Spitfires and Hurricanes as the Luftwaffe fails to gain air superiority over Britain.

May 17, 1943: Eighteen Lancasters take part in the famous "bouncing bomb" Dambusters raid. Only 11 return.

Oct 31, 1956: Canberras bomb airfields on the first night of Suez War's air campaign.

30 April, 1982: Operation Black Buck. Vulcan bombers go on the first raids on Argentine positions in the Falklands.

1994: RAF and WRAF merge.

1991: RAF pilot Lt John Peters and navigator John Nichol (right) are shot down and captured by Iraq. They are released at the end of the war. Sept 2, 2006: Fourteen RAF personnel killed when a Nimrod surveillance plane crashes in Afghanistan in 2006.

42,000 The current strength of the RAF.

1,452 mph. The top speed of the Tornado, the RAF's main strike plane.

55,000 bomber personnel killed over Europe 1939-45.

13 nationalities that served in the RAF in WW2. They included Irish, Poles, Americans and Belgians.

Source: The Mirror (UK)

http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2008/324/140.shtml