This month I am going to research the last stand of the Italian Army in the East Africa's Italian Empire during WW2. The fight was at Culqualber and Gondar (in actual northern Ethiopia, a 1936 conquered country that was inside the "Africa Orientale Italiana" - usually called A.O.I.) in Novembrer 1941 and was so desperate and brave that the few Italian survivors received the "Honours of War" from the British.
The war fought in Italian East Africa and the neighboring territories is the only theater of operations of the Second World War in which the Kingdom of Italy operated without the intervention of its German ally. This alone would justify a much greater interest than that usually dedicated to the war fought between Italians and the armies of the Commonwealth - to which were added Ethiopian irregulars, units of De Gaulle's France and Belgium - in the Horn of Africa.
Angelo Del Boca writes in his monumental work «Gli Italiani in Africa Orientale», always useful, even if excessively critical of italian colonialism and animated by an open ideological prejudice of Marxist origin (Bari, Laterza, 1982; Milan, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1992; vol. III, «La caduta dell'Impero», 521-26):
«The first attack on the defensive belt of Gondar was launched from the south, at the end of July, three weeks after the fall of Debrà Tabòr. The positions of the Culqualber saddle and the Fercaber saddle, extremely important because they blocked access to the plain of Gondar and the airport of Azozò, were held by Colonel Augusto Ugolini, an old colonial who had participated in the conquest of the empire and had held the civil and military command of Beghemeder for years. To defend the stronghold, which is 14 kilometers long, Ugolini has less than 3 thousand men between black shirts, carabinieri and colonials, and 8 pieces of 77/28 and 70/15. Furthermore, he has to face, in addition to the adversaries pressing from the south, large formations of Ethiopian partisans acting behind him and threatening his lines of communication with Gondar. For about three months, from August to October, Ugolini tries to loosen the grip using the same tactic as Gonella, that is, to exit the redoubt and, with surprise actions, fall on the unaware adversary. This is how the offensive attacks of August 8, 14 and 24 take place. On September 4, Ugolini went to dislodge the Ethiopians on Mount Denghel and on October 18, after a night march of over twenty kilometers, he broke into the Anglo-Abyssinian camp of Lambà-Mariàm and sowed death there, also earning a mention in war bulletin no. 505.
In a report of October 5 to the Supreme Command, Nasi defined the stronghold of Culqualber as "now inviolable, especially given the spirit that was created among the defenders"
On the 20th, while the Anglo-Ethiopian forces finished massing against the Italian positions, 57 "Gloster" and "Hurricane" took turns on the stronghold, showering it with bombs, while the Indian artillery, from the Gold Coast and Nyassa, opened fire from the shores of Lake Tana, from the old Portuguese castle of Guzarà, from the Denghel massif and from the Ambaciarà crossroads. "On all the positions - Panetta wrote - one could sense the end was approaching. There was nothing left to eat, there was almost no ammunition left, the surviving defenders were reduced to exhaustion. The field hospital was overflowing with wounded and feverish patients, the medicines were reduced to a few bottles of alcohol and iodine tincture; in the "eritrean wives in tow" camp there was a terrible hunger and a real epidemic of terror: many women and children had died under the bombings".
The general attack was launched by Fowkes between 3 and 4 a.m. on 21 November. Assaulted from the north by the Africans of the 25th Brigade, from the east by the Ethiopian irregulars of Major Douglas Roiar and Degiac Cassa Mescescià Teodròs, and from the south by Colonel Collins' Southforce, Ugolini's men managed to hold their positions, often counterattacking with cold steel, until midday, when Nasi authorised the commander of the redoubt to ask for surrender. But Ugolini did not give in, and only at 3.30 pm, after all the battalion commanders had fallen (Majors Garbieri, Serranti, Cassoli) and the losses were close to a thousand men, he gave the order to cease fire.
On the evening of November 21, 1941, after three and a half months of epic battle, the last resistance of the stronghold of Culqualber died out. The heroic superb extreme defense cost the following very heavy losses: 1,003 dead (513 Italians, 490 Askari) and 1,900 POWs of which 804 hugely wounded (404 Italians and 400 Askari). All the others had minor wounds: not one single soldier was in normal fighting conditions and all of them had lack of food and sleep.
It was one of the greatest casualty percentages in all WW2 battles!
Out of approximately 1,580 nationals: the fallen were 513 and the wounded 404, no less heroic was the behavior of our colonial troops, out of approximately 1,200 soldiers the fallen were 490, the wounded 400. Also to be remembered is the sacrifice of the wives of the Askaris, many of them as has always been the custom in Italian African troops, had wives and children in tow. There were approximately 200 women and they too performed admirably in carrying out the logistical tasks assigned to them. About a hundred of them paid for their dedication with their lives.
General James, commander of the South African troops, granted Lieutenant Colonel Augusto Ugolini, commander of the garrison and the only surviving officer, the privilege of carrying his pistol throughout the subsequent period in which he remained a prisoner of war.
The Culqualber battle was over, but another bloody battle was starting in order to conquer Gondar and completely destroy the Italian empire in east Africa.
The following are translations from an italian book about the last and extreme heroic resistance of the Gondar redoubt, with Uolchefit and Culquabert, where Carabinieri, Zaptié and Blackshirts wrote the last page of the history of Mussolini's ephemeral empire.
General Nasi, the last Vicerroy of A.O.I., wrote the following verses to celebrate the heroic last stand at Culqualber and Gondar in november 1941:
Se non ci conoscete, guardate il nostro paneI GONDARINI
noi siamo i gondarini che sanno far la fame.
Se non ci conoscete, tenetelo a memoria,
noi siamo i gondarini che fuman la cicoria.
L'inglese ci conosce, si morde i pugni e ringhia,
noi siamo i gondarini che stringono la cinghia.
Gl'indiani ci conoscono e anche i sudanesi,
noi siamo i gondarini incubo degli inglesi
Se non ci conoscete, leggete i nostri casi,
noi siamo i gondarini del generale Nasi.
Se non ci conoscete, lasciatevelo dire,
If you don't know us, look at our bread,
we are the Gondars who know how to starve.
If you don't know us, keep it in mind,
we are the Gondars who smoke chicory.
The English know us, they bite their fists and growl,
we are the Gondars who tighten their belts.
The Indians know us and the Sudanese too,
we are the Gondars, the nightmare of the English
If you don't know us, read our cases,
we are the Gondars of General Nasi.
If you don't know us, let me tell you,
we are the Gondars, the tough ones to die
Culqualber-Gondar, November 1941: last stand of the Italian Army in the East Africa Italian Empir (first section: Culqualbert battle) , written by Lucas-G. De Vecchi ( "Storia delle unità combattenti della M.V.S.N. (1923-1943)", Giovanni Volpe Editore, Roma, 1976)
Gondar was the main town of Amhara in the mountains north of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at an elevation of 7,000 ft (2,100 m) and had an Italian garrison of 40,000 men.
The defense (under commander General Nasi) had to be restricted by gathering all the troops in various fundamental redoubts. The total forces available were as follows: 17,000 nationals and 23,000 colonials divided into 12 national battalions, 15 colonial battalions or band groups, 3 squadrons, 4 colonial pack-animal batteries, 3 anti-aircraft sections, 16 position batteries. No aircraft.
The defensive organization was distributed as follows: two detached redoubts and a central redoubt.
1) Uolchefit-Debarech Redoubt: made up of two CC.NN. battalions (CXLI and CLXIV), two band groups, 7 cannons, 1 20-mm machine gun section, 4 81-mm mortars, 12 machine guns (in addition to those of the departments). Total approximately 5,000 men (including services). Commander; Lt. Col. Mario Gonella.
2) Debra Tabor Redoubt: consisting of: 3 CC. NN. battalions (CXVI - CXXXI and DCCXLV), a colonial battalion, a band group, 6 cannons, 2 81 mortars. In total 6,000 men. Commander: Col. I. Angelini.
3) Central Redoubt: for the Gondar and Azozò square, with 4 external strongholds:
Blagir-Celgà. C.te: Lt. Col. Domenico Miranda.
Tucul-Dinghià. C.te: Lt. Col. Riccardo Casalone.
Ualag C.te: Col. Alberto Polverini.
Culqualber-Fercaber. C.te Lt. Col. Augusto Ugolini.
The resistance of the Amhara defense system would not have been possible in the period July-November without the timely and intelligent measures adopted to extend the logistical autonomy beyond the maximum limit that had been foreseen for June 15. The first measure adopted was the evacuation of civilians (women, children and invalids) to Asmara.
Laboratories were set up that, using scrap and out-of-use material, provided for the production of spare parts for artillery and light weapons; to save fuel, animal-drawn vehicles were used.
With agave fabric, harnesses and pockets for fodder were improvised, with tightly woven agave canvas, packable girbes and girbets were prepared.
Makeshift armoured Caterpillar tractor used as a "tank" by Italian forces at Culqualber and nicknamed "hedgehog"
Six caterpillars were transformed into tanks, with armor made of old crossbow leaves resistant at least to rifle and machine gun fire; a 634 was equipped as a giant armored car with 13 light and heavy machine guns.
In the health sector, the possibilities for hospitalization were multiplied and material that would normally have been put out of use was prepared for reuse. The lack of disinfectant alcohol was filled with gasoline purified by a special chemical process.
The daily food ration was reduced by 20-30%. The increasingly scarce wheat flour was gradually replaced with chickpea flour and various cereals. Adequate livestock supplies were built up, vegetable gardens and pig farms were established; teams of specialists were formed to build fishing equipment in Lake Tana; the lack of beef was filled by slaughtering broken horses and mules.
To deal with the serious deficiencies in clothing, all sorts of adaptations were devised: 4,000 hemp pillowcases were transformed into 6,600 jackets, ten thousand blankets were made from those that were no longer in use; 5,000 pairs of shoes were repaired, 2,000 pairs of sandals were made for the askaris. The Forestry Militia provided the amount of wood and coal for the monthly requirement. Overall, the results obtained exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts. The Italian soldier, accustomed to the scarcity of means, sharpened his brain as always and the fateful verb "make do" had its most grandiose and glorious application with the sacrifice and good will of all.
Attack on the Blagir-Celgà redoubt.
It was preceded, in February and April, by our offensive actions against the rebels, who were pushed back.
The enemy attacked on May 16 and continued the action on the 17th and 18th. After an epic fight, assaults and counterattacks, the enemy was repelled with heavy losses. Our losses: 900 men. The enemy will no longer attempt any assaults on the redoubt until the end of operations in A.O.I.
Attack on the Debra Tabor redoubt. (Btgg. CC.NN. CXXXI, CXVI, DCCXLV).
The first attack takes place on May 15; they are rebels commanded by English officers and are clearly repelled. The askaris, discouraged and convinced of the futility of prolonged resistance, ask to be able to return home to avoid the revenge of the rebels who are, only around there, 8,000.
On June 27, a new attack with the assistance of the air force, also this time repelled by a decisive counterattack; the action is repeated with the same result in the following days. But the crisis in the colonial units willing to surrender or desert increases, so much so as to advise their disarmament.
In conclusion, the redoubt is forced to surrender to do so on July 4 and its delaying function is assumed by the redoubt of Culqualber-Fercaber.
Attack on the redoubt of Uolchefit - Debarech.
The garrison of this redoubt was made up of the following units:
- CXLI Btg. CC.NN., with 530 men;
- CLXIV Btg. CC.NN., with 650 men, under the command of 1st Sen. Luciano Gavazzi;
- II Mixed Artillery Group;
- Group of Bands of the plateau, with 1,500 natives;
- Group of Bands of the Amhara, with 750 natives.
The commander of the stronghold was Lt. Col. Mario Gonella.
Already between 10 and 12 April 1941, the defection of the Ras Hayaleu Burrù occurred, who placed himself at the head of the rebels of the area with whom there were immediately lively clashes on the 12th and 13th. On 18 April, the organization of the redoubt could already be considered completed, and the English mechanized elements coming from Asmara had already been stopped. The enemy settled in the Debivar area, positioned artillery and began the daily bombardment of the redoubt. Our men responded sparingly so as not to consume the limited ammunition.
On 28 and 29 May the rebels were driven back with great force, with heavy losses, from the town of Debarech that they had managed to occupy. Hardships, sacrifices and hardships did not bend the national defenders, but they managed to undermine the confidence of the colored units; desertions began to occur and requests from soldiers to be left free to return to their homes. This state of mind would have had serious consequences if it had not been skillfully contained by the persuasive work of the commander and the cadres. Proof of this is the action carried out victoriously on 22 May, after an enemy raid, by two companies of CC.NN. and two gang groups, in one of which the moral crisis had manifested itself.
The action was launched by the CC.NN. against a position defended by 1,500 armed men under the command of Ras Hayaleu Burriz; the rebel formations were routed and put to flight, the wounded ras was captured and, among the 336 enemy dead found on the ground, his son was also found. Our losses: 42 dead and 102 wounded.
Another offensive attack on the Uolchefit garrison was carried out on July 13; the enemy suffered heavy losses and grain and livestock were captured. Meanwhile, the stronghold was continuously subjected to terrifying bombardments from the ground and from the air and on July 19, the English command, having learned that the garrison had almost no food left and could not receive any, sent Colonel Gonella a second message demanding surrender, which was indignantly rejected.
On August 1, with a column of 800 CC.NN. and a small unit of askaris, the commander went in search of the enemy at Monte Girambà and Zuriè, defended by dozens of English machine guns. The victorious action, in addition to inflicting severe losses on the adversary, served to raise the morale of the colonials, shaken by the example and the success.
Our losses:
Fallen: Officers 2 - CC. NN. 20 - Colonials 1.
Wounded: Officers 1 - CC.NN. - 38 - Colonials 3.
The physical wear and tear invariably produced its deleterious effects: shortage of food, suffering, physical effort, sudden changes in temperature at 3,000 meters above sea level, cases of exhaustion and fainting. One of our advanced posts was quickly overwhelmed on August 26, and the survivors captured; this and other symptoms confirmed that the garrison of Uolchefit, although supported by exceptional spiritual forces, was physically worn out.
Nevertheless, miraculously, once again a battalion of legionaries and the two Bande Groups attacked the enemy positions on September 18th in order to procure food and ammunition. After a violent and bloody clash at the Ciank pass, reached by skillfully exploiting the fog, the enemy was routed and weapons, ammunition and medicines were captured, but unfortunately not food or livestock.
Hunger was at the door and it bends any intention of further resistance: when every supply is exhausted, capitulation is now inevitable. However, these two battalions of CC.NN. (CXLI and CLXIV), without shelter, with their uniforms in tatters, threatened by scurvy, held out against the attackers for almost six months and often defeated them, demonstrating in the world what Italians can and know how to do, even in conditions of impossible inferiority, when they are supported by love for their country.
On September 25, spurred by the torment of hunger, the besieged made a last attempt by reaching with their assault the village of Uogherà, where they routed and put to flight the Indians, Sudanese and Abyssinians. But they found nothing and from that same location, with the authorization of General Nasi, they asked the enemy to cease the fight.
On September 28, after 165 days of heroic battle, the garrison of Uochefit-Debarech lowered the bloody tricolor to which the English paid military honors.
30 clashes had been sustained, in defensive and offensive combat; losses estimated at a thousand dead and three thousand wounded had been inflicted on the enemy, over 600 rifles, much ammunition and much material had been captured. 93 air raids were suffered with the launch of 5,500 bombs, many fragmentations and aerial machine guns and 14,000 artillery hits were received.
Our total losses:
Officers: fallen: 8 - wounded: 9.
Nationals: fallen: 86 - wounded: 117.
Colonials: fallen: 280 - wounded: 450.
Uolchefit-Debarech remains a symbol of heroic strenuous defense beyond all limits of human and military possibility and also an everlasting glory for the CC.NN. units that participated.
A famous image of the Culqualber last stand, by A. Beltrame
Attack on the Central Redoubt
Culquaber
This redoubt, consisting of the strongholds of Cualqualber and Fercaber, (the first of which blocked the homonymous saddle on the Debra Tabor - Gondar road and the second on the Fercaber pass, near Lake Tana) at the beginning of August 1941 had a total strength of about 2,900 men, 2,100 in the first and 800 in the second, between nationals and colonials.
The Culqualber stronghold included:
the CCXL Btg. CC.NN. (675 legionnaires, under the command of Senior Alberto Cassòli, divided into 5 companies);
the I Btg. CC.RR. mobilized by the A.O.I. (200 nationals and 160 Eritreans, under the command of Major Serranti. (the Btg. arrived on 6/8);
the LXVII colonial Btg. (620 men in 4 companies under the command of Major Carlo Garbieri);
the 43rd national battery on 3 pieces of 77/28 (40 men);
the 44th colonial battery on 2 pieces of 70/15 (314 men);
the mixed platoon of the Engineers (65 nationals and 23 colonials);
a field hospital (with 2 doctors and a chaplain);
The stronghold of Fercaber included:
the XIV CC.NN. Btg. (on 5 companies, under the command of Senator Lasagni);
the national battery, on 3 pieces of 70/15;
the 6th colonial machine gun company:
a platoon of the Engineers;
a medical officer and 1 chaplain,
The two strongholds were united in a single redoubt commanded by Lt. Col. Augusto Ugolini. The redoubt's forces had positioned themselves for defense on the two passes after the fall of Debre Tabor. (July 6, 1941).
Lt. Col. Ugoliní, a commander of great mettle and with a long colonial experience, had been able to amalgamate the forces under his orders, fusing them into a single block determined to resist until the impossible.
The redoubt was reinforced with exhausting work by the entire troop in such an intelligent and efficient way that it could withstand, as it did, with its checkpoints, trenches and emplacements, the terrifying bombardments from the ground and from the sky, which lasted for months, until the very end, without interruption.
From the beginning of August, the area north of the redoubt was invaded by guerrillas who tended to cut off communications with Gondar and with them the flow of supplies. Lt. Col. Ugolini tried to keep the road clear with effective offensive thrusts starting from the redoubt. One of these spirited attacks was honored with a mention in the bulletin of the Armed Forces n. 434.
A final supply, for which a violent battle broke out, cost the defenders of the redoubt heavy losses in order to be able to deliver loaves of bread and grain to Culqualber on August 24.
The commander decided to give a blow to the dangerous growing activity of the rebels on September 3 by carrying out a coup de main with the use of 3 companies of askaris and 2 companies of CC.NN.; all forces were placed under the direct orders of Ugolini and Garbieri.
The companies, having managed to arrive by surprise during the night at the Abyssinian camps, launched a furious assault, killing about 300 enemies, putting the camp to fire and sword and capturing a large booty of weapons, ammunition and livestock. The English response was immediate, after the triumphant return of the Italians to the redoubt, and took the form of intense artillery fire and continuous air raids that were unfortunately unopposed due to the lack of aviation and anti-aircraft artillery on our part.
Water supplies also began to become difficult.
On September 28, with the fall of the Uolchefit redoubt, the possibility of a full-scale enemy attack against Culqualber increased significantly. The defenders, with the strength of desperation, despite malnutrition and disease, work continued to strengthen the defenses.
Emaciated and dirty, terribly weakened, the carabinieri, artillerymen, CC.NN. engineers and askaris calmly prepared for the last defense, determined not to accept surrender even with the honors of war.
Many of the askaris had, as has always been the custom in our colored troops, wives and children in tow. There were about 200 women and therefore they too could not go without the meager ration of flour, chickpeas or teff; the little meat was distributed to the wounded and the sick.
The hammering of the artillery and the machine-gunning from the sky were continuous, causing ever more deaths and injuries. Urinals reduced to shreds with shoes, the defenders made themselves shoes and cioce with dried cattle hides and bandages of sackcloth tied with string. Such heroic soldiers looked like ragged men and paid for their tenacity with blood and sweat, fed only on a sour and musty burgundy.
The discovery of a spring solved, in part, the problem of thirst; but hunger grew and rations decreased: now the men were given a small measure of chickpeas per head per day. There was nothing left to raid in the vicinity of the stronghold.
The only solution, to avoid being forced to give in due to hunger, was to go and take food by force from the enemy's home. So Lt. Col. Ugolini decided to carry out a new coup for October 18: attack the base set up by the English in a camp of 4,000 Abyssinians near the village of Dambà Mariam.
After meticulous preparation, the three battalions of the garrison would have intervened in the assault, with the exception of a few men left to guard the redoubt: the CCXL CC.NN., the I Carabinieri, the LXVII colonial. The first would have surrounded the base from the east, the second would have attacked frontally, the third would have encircled it from the west.
Having reached the positions from which to launch the assault in the dead of night, protected by the tall grass, the men of the three battalions launched themselves like wild beasts on the guerrilla camps, annihilating with bombs and bladed weapons those who tried to resist and pursuing those who fled after the ferocious hand-to-hand combat; the last to be routed were the defenders of the large depot.
While some of the Italians pursued the routed enemy, the others, aided by the women of the askaris, collected everything they found: sacks of cereals, crates of cans of meat, weapons, ammunition, medicines.
Everything was loaded onto mules or carried on shoulders to the redoubt, which however was reached only after having sustained further fighting against the offensive returns of the enemy. Among the enemy corpses counted in the destroyed camp were those of various English officers and non-commissioned officers. Our fallen and wounded, stretchered, were brought back to Culqualber: the action had cost us 36 fallen and 31 wounded and was mentioned in bulletin no. 505 of the Armed Forces.
From that day on, the Abyssinian populations still remember with admiration the defenders of Culqualber, defined with their figurative expression as the "Roaring Lions of the Euphorbia Pass".
From November 1st, the English, who by then had finished gathering the masses destined for the final attack against our strongholds, resumed an uninterrupted land and air pounding of our positions, causing the defenders a drip of painful losses. On the 2nd, for the anniversary of the Deceased, in front of the representatives of the departments, a Mass was celebrated in suffrage for the Fallen at the cemetery; during it, a new terrible air raid also hit the cemetery, causing victims among the living, shaking the bones of the Fallen and also hitting the field hospital that still bore, clearly visible, the large red cross.
On the 4th of November, the shooting of the English batteries resumed with ever greater violence; our pieces could not counterattack due to their shorter ranges and in order not to waste the ammunition that was to be used for the final battle.
The shooting of the artillery alternated with massive waves of bombing and fighter planes that hit every corner of the positions; but the defenders remained nailed to their combat posts and when East Africans, Sudanese and Abyssinians trained by the British attempted to start an assault, they found weapons ready and strong hearts to receive them.
By the evening of the 5th, the enemy masses, totally repelled, had left many fallen on the ground. On November 6th, the first message demanding surrender with the honors of war arrives at Culqualber: it is proudly and decisively rejected.
The enemy artillery action resumes intensely on the morning of the 10th; around 12 o'clock two Abyssinian priests appear at the outposts with another message, this too rejected.
The English had now massed against our defense:
To the North (Brigadier General W.A.L. James).
The 25th East African Brigade on three battalions of the King's African Rifles, various machine gun companies, 6 batteries of various calibers, a Sudanese company and about 6,500 Abyssinians. Altogether about 13,000 men.
To the South (Lt. Col. Collins).
The Southforce, on two battalions of East Africans, a battery of 6 pieces of the Gold Coast, a South African battery, various machine gun companies and Abyssinian formations: a total of 9,500 fighters.
The Italian Culqualber redoubt was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Augusto Ugolini, who later received the Gold Medal of Military Valor (proposed by General Nasi).
The garrison of the Italian redoubt could now only oppose 1,800 ragged, hungry, exhausted and feverish men, many of whom were already wounded.
We are now at the last act of the tragedy for the defenders of Culqualber-Fercaber, more determined than ever, from the commander to the last soldier, not to surrender even with the honors of war; rather to all die.
On November 12, the decisive attack begins; it will not succeed in getting the better of that handful of heroes until November 21, after nine days of very hard fighting.
At dawn on the 12th, about fifty planes, in successive but continuous waves, bombarded the entire area of the strongholds with bombs and machine gun fire, causing heavy losses in our dead and wounded.
After a sleepless night, because the defenders were tense in trying to avoid any infiltration, the Italians were hit at dawn on the 13th by a general attack from all directions.
Regular units of Indians, Sudanese and East Africans with a mass of Abyssinians, all supported by English officers and non-commissioned officers, launched the assault; the greatest effort was exerted against the Roccioni ridge, on the north side, defended by the 1st and 3rd companies of the CCXL Btg. CC.NN. and by the 2nd of the Carabinieri Battalion. At some points the line was damaged but the situation was immediately re-established by a series of furious counterattacks.
The enemy, who had suffered enormous losses, had new fresh masses leapfrog those who had been repelled in the first attack; this time the Abyssinians managed to reach the edge of the trenches but were annihilated there by the bionet and hand grenades.
When, around 5 pm, the enemy abandoned the game now lost, over 150 of his fallen were scattered in front of our lines; Carabinieri and CC.NN. had fought like desperate men, without limits of sacrifice. At the 3rd CC.NN. Company, all the defenders of a fire center fell, they were spontaneously replaced by a group of cooks and clerks; once again subjected the same center to a relentless bombardment of enemy mortars, these brave improvised fighters allowed themselves to be massacred to the last man rather than abandon the place they had rushed to defend and thus stop the fire of the weapons of the center.
By the end of the day on the 13th, the CCXL Btg. CC.NN. had already lost 45% of its men.
A day of rest. The fight resumed on the 15th with yet another furious bombardment of the Italian positions both from the ground and from the air.
New enemy attacks were unleashed on the 16th: they were all bloodily repelled, but in the meantime new losses were thinning the ranks of the brave defenders. On the morning of the 18th, in the southern sector, an attack with tanks was taking shape: tear-off mines blew up some of them and the others retreated. Meanwhile, at the same time, the armored cars attacked from the north and were pushed back by the precise shots of the few pieces of defense.
On the 19th, after a new proposal for honorable surrender, which was also rejected, the air raids began again and continued on the 20th: the Culqualber saddle was seething with explosions, splinters and flames. Our losses were mounting. Team Leader Colagrossi, of the 42nd CC.NN. Company, seriously wounded, refused to be taken to the hospital and, clinging to the machine gun, continued to shoot, singing: "But I won't leave the machine gun!".
General Nasi, the last Vicerroy of AOI, when received the notification of the italian declaration of war in May 1940 declared: "We Italians are not ready for a war in AOI, but we will do our military duty to the last end for the honor of Italy"
At three in the morning of November 21, large enemy units began to approach the Italian positions, which were being ferociously attacked by fire from all directions.
Before dawn, in the darkness, from the rock positions and trenches, the song of Culqualber had risen, subdued and heartfelt, for the last time: it was the CC.NN. of the CCXL Battalion! They were bidding their last farewell to their homeland and to life.
After a terrifying fire, the decisive and total assault developed, with more violent attacks in the sectors of the northern front, held by the 1st and 3rd Companies of legionaries and the 2nd Carabinieri Company. At the same time the southern front was being attacked (1st Carabinieri and 2nd CC.NN.).
At first light, piles of enemy corpses covered the ground in front of our positions and many were the fallen and wounded among the defenders. But not a single inch of ground had yet been lost.
At 6 o'clock the attack resumed with increasing intensity; Lt. Col. Ugolini, from his command post targeted like the trenches, kept in touch with the commanders of his three battalions. Also in Fercaber, the XIV CC.NN. Btg. of Senior Lasagni was violently attacked and defended itself fiercely.
The second attack of the day was unleashed above all against the sector of the 2nd CC.RR. Company and against the CC.NN. of Calabrese and Mazzoni. The Italian forces were thinning out. The enemy, who had reached the trenches, were once again thrown back into furious hand-to-hand combat. There had been a massacre on both sides.
The enemy, however, had managed to infiltrate between the two strongholds of Culqualber and Fercaber, thus managing to separate them: but the XIV CC.NN. Btg., now isolated, still resisted, entrenched in its positions.
After 7 o'clock the attack became increasingly vigorous. Captain Azzari's Carabinieri (2nd Company) were crushed by mortar fire and machine-gunning from low-flying aircraft; a new assault found few survivors who defended themselves to the death and the enemy conquered the now deserted trenches. The advanced positions having been submerged, the English African units and the Abyssinians fell upon the last men of the 2nd Carabinieri; these counterattacked the Banca Arma but were crushed by the number of the enemy hordes, and the same fate befell the 2nd company of the CC.NN.
Having also lost the Roccioni ridge, the very few survivors of the Carabinieri and legionaries, exhausted and bleeding, retreated, gathering around the command for the ultimate sacrifice.
Meanwhile, on the southern sector, the CC.RR. and CC.NN., at the spur and the Uorkajè gorge, resisted without giving ground; the enemy, drunk on alcohol and success, was about to invade the inside of the redoubt; but the last two companies of askaris, with Major Garbieri at their head, were thrown into the counterattack. They hesitated for a moment, but when they saw the last remnants of the Italians joining them, they threw themselves on the enemy. The enemy did not have the courage to face these men transformed into beasts and fled. At 9:30 all the trenches had been reconquered.
At the same time, the dramatic battle engaged the 4th Company of the CC.NN. The Company of the LXVII colonial rushed to its aid and together the two units managed to disperse the Sudanese.
After a brief pause, the battle flared up again with a new attack on the Carabinieri Company of Captain Celi and on the Roccioni ridge now defended by the remains of the CC. NN. companies 1st and 3rd of the CCXL Btg.
Crushed by the bombs, the defenders had to retreat somewhat; then, aided by the last askaris, with an extreme counterattack they re-established the integrity of the line.
The fallen added to the fallen; the survivors had now serenely accepted their fate of death. Time passed, the ammunition ran out, but the fight continued inexorably. At 12:50, the first among the remnants of his askaris, Major Garbieri fell.
Meanwhile, the garrison of Fercaber, (the CC.NN. of the XIV Btg., the few askaris and the engineers and artillerymen), had had to succumb literally overwhelmed. It was 13:00 on November 21 and in Culqualber they were still fighting stoically. Major Serranti, commander of the Carabinieri, already wounded and bleeding, continued undaunted to remain with the last men of his battalion. Even Lt. Col. Ugolini was losing blood from many wounds, but no one stopped fighting.
Under the impetus of a ferocious assault by the Abyssinians, the defenders, exhausted, began to falter. Having gathered the last handful of soldiers, Major Serranti and Senior Cassòli of the CCXL Btg. CC. NN. leap to a final counterattack: mixed together, Carabinieri, CC.NN., askaris and engineers, shouting "Savoia", engage in a furious fight.
In this last desperate rush, Major Serranti dies gloriously, pierced by the bayonet of a Sudanese; immediately afterwards, Senior Cassòli, commander of the CCXL Btg. CC.NN., falls, struck down by a bullet.
Gathered around the heroic commander of the redoubt, the very few survivors, having fired the last shots, blown up the artillery pieces, the weapons unused, surrounded by the horns of their fallen comrades, they prepare to die. Lt. Col. Ugolini has the flag lowered and burns it.
Meanwhile, the wave of enemies reaches the heart of the stronghold and an East African soldier launches himself with a bayonet against the Italian commander, but is stopped, just in time, by an English captain, who salutes Ugolini and refuses to have him hand over his pistol. In recognition of his valor, with a special authorization from Gen. James, Ugolini will be able to keep the weapon even in captivity.
Here is a direct testimony from Captain Leonard Mallory of the British Army:
“... There were six or seven of them left; they were tattered and bleeding and they had grouped themselves against each other’s backs and with their bayonets they had created a sort of steel circle. ‘Surrender!’, I shouted at the top of my voice, for a moment over the noise of the fighting. ‘Surrender!!!’. My words, which I hoped would be followed by a sign of surrender from those carabinieri who were fighting so heroically to the point of exhaustion, were instead answered by their war cry: ‘SAVOIA!’. And once again, inconceivable to think of and wonderful to see, those six men left alone, without any hope or possibility, rushed against us... ‘Surrender!’, I shouted once more. But it was all in vain, they continued to come forward... I hesitated for a moment longer; I did not want to give the order that I should have. My soldiers had knelt on the ground and aimed their rifles.Their hands were also shaking as they waited for the order that would come. ‘Surrender!’, I shouted once again. But it was all in vain; they continued to come forward and perhaps did not even see us. ‘Fire!’. As soon as the cloud of dust caused by the shots rose, there was no one in front of us. All dead...”.
Thus the curtain falls on the Culqualbcr - Fercaber epic. The heroic superb extreme defense cost, between 1.3 and 21 November, the following losses:
- of approximately 1,580 nationals: fallen, 513 - wounded, 404.
- of approximately 1,200 colonials: fallen, 490 - wounded, 400.
- of approximately 200 women wives of the askaris, over 100 perished,
In particular, the CCXL Btg. "Camicie Nere" sacrificed himself almost completely on the field.
General Nasi proposed Commander Ugolini and the three battalion commanders for the Gold Medal of Military Valor.
.......to be continued next month with the second essay, related to the last stand: the Gondar battle.....
