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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0237.PDF
• - - • •"«••- -r- FEBRUARY 26, 1920 THE OPERATIONS IN SOMALILAND THE Secretary of the Air Ministry is instructed by the Secre- tary of State for Air to issue the following statement:— " The Air Force unit which has assisted to break the Mullah's power in Somaliland, amounted to 22 officers and 159 other ranks, under the CQmmand of Group-Capt. R. Gordon, D.S.O. ; these numbers included a considerable medical staff equipped with a very complete hospital outfit. The aeroplanes with which the unit operated were 12 De Havilland o.'s with B.H.P. engines. One of these aero- planes was fitted up as an aerial ambulance to take a stretcher case with attendant. " Sanction was obtained for aerial operations on October 8, 1919, and by the middle of November all personnel and stores were en route to Egypt, which was the assembly station for the unit. The War Office assisted by permitting a flight of personnel to be withdrawn from Egypt for the operations, and the Admiralty rendered important aid in ordering H.M.S. Ark Royal to embark the whole unit with its stores at Alex- andria and take them direct to Berbera; the shipping diffi- culty was thus overcome. " Previous to the arrival of the main body of the expedition advanced parties had been sent to Somaliland to complete administrative details, such as rations, evacuation of casual- ties, etc., and to prepare aerodromes and advanced landing- grounds for the purposes of the operations. Berbera was made the base, Eil Dor Elan the main advanced aero- drome, with subsidiary landing-grounds at Las Khorai and Eil Dab. " On December 31 H.M.S. Ark Royal with the main body of the expedition arrived at Berbera, and the erection of aeroplanes was at once pressed on in order that the Mullah should not get warning of the impending attack. " By January 20 all was ready to bomb the Mullah, whose headquarters were reported at Medishi, 200 miles east of Berbera. " It had been agreed between the Colonial Office and the Air Ministry that the first part of the operation should be a purely aerial attack. Should this be successful in breaking up the Dervishes, the local military forces would attempt to round up the enemy, capture his stock and destroy his forts. Everything went according to plan. On the 21st the Mullah's headquarters at Medishi and the fort at Jidali were located and bombed, and machines descended to low heights and inflicted heavy casualties on the fleeing Dervishes and then- stock. The attack was repeated on the 22nd and 23rd. On the latter date the Dervishes were caught concentrated preparatory to moving off, and heavy losses were inflicted and great panic created. By January 24 the Dervish force was scattered among the hills, and targets for aerial bom- bardment were hard to find, Independent, aerial operations therefore ceased, and the R.A.F. prepared to co-operate with the local military forces. " On the 28th these troops took Jidali when it was ascer- tained that the Mullah himself narrowly escaped being killed in our first bombardment ; his uncle being killed at his side and the Mullah's clothes singed. It was also reported that the Mullah with most of the Dervish leaders had broken south on this date. On the morning of January 31 the Air Force located the Mullah's party east of Eil Apweina, and heavily attacked it, dispersing the Dervishes in great alarm. From this date aerial operations took a normal course, and the Air Force was chiefly employed in reconnaissances, pro- paganda dropping and in message-carrying, which ensured good co-operation between the main bodies of troops. These were spread widely over the Protectorate in the attempt to catch the Mullah, who was apparently making for Tale. This latter place was located, photographed and bombed on February 1. A few days later it was ascertained that the Mullah had taken refuge in one of the forts of Tale ; this position was captured on February 11, but the Mullah with 70 horsemen escaped in the direction of Italian territory. " By the aid of the Air Force operations have been con- cluded in the space of three weeks ; in this time the Mullah has been reduced from a power in the land with many armed and aggressive followers rich in stock to a fugitive accompanied by a faithful few. The problem which has exercised the minds of the Protectorate Government for seventeen years, and caused an expenditure of millions of mone ', has it is hoped been dealt with at a minimum of cost, and with prac- tically no casualties. " The general plan of the air campaign was prepared under the directions of the Chief of the Air Staff." Col. Amery, in the absence of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, has sent a telegram asking the Governor of Somaliland, Mr. G. F. Archer, C.M.G., under whose general control the recent operations against the Mullah were carried out, to convey his thanks to all officers. He adds :— " That the complete overthrow of the Dervish power should have been secured in so short a space of time and at such a trifling cost affords high testimony to the skill with which the operations were planned and the ability and determination with which they have been carried out." THE CAIRO TO CAPE ROUTE Preparing the Aerodromes on the Southern Section DETAILED reports which have recently been received from the officer in charge of No. 3 Survey Party of the Cairo to Cape air route, Maj. Court Treatt, R.A.F., give a vivid idea of the extraordinary difficulties which confronted him in carrying out his portion of the survey and the subsequent construction of aerodromes. This party was responsible for the southern area, covering some 2,000 miles of the route, from Abercorn to Cape Town; and in the northern portion of this area some of the most difficult country was encoun- tered. Maj. Court Treatt had with him as assistants the following officers :—Capts. Marcus, Shortridge and Sutton, Lieuts. Bell and Holthouse, and a few other ranks. For labour dependence had to be placed on several hundreds of natives. Compared with that of other parts of the route, the nature of the country south of Pretoria was favourable for the formation of aerodromes, as the surface was generally grassy. Once the sites had been selected the work was light, except for the removal of ant-heaps and rock outcrop, though, as some of the former were 60 ft. high and 40 ft. in diameter, considerable labour was involved in dealing with them. The greatest difficulties were met with in Northern Rhodesia, where the soil was found to consist mostly of (1) red sand, (2) black soil, (3) red soil. The red sand is quite unsuitable for aerodromes, as during the dry season the surface is con- verted into thick dust in which an aeroplane would sink up to the axles of the undercarriage. The black soil, on the other hand, though apparently suitable during dry weather, becomes hopelessly boggy during the rains. For instance, at N'dola, at a time when there had been no rain for six weeks, water lay at a depth of from 6 ins. to 3 ft. below the surface. The red soil was found to be the best, since its surface remains hard even during the heavy rains. The work of preparation. however, was extremely hard, as this soil is usually well timbered, and also covered with thick bush, and clearance involved the felling and removal of trees and the extraction of all stumps. Owing to the size of the timber it was fre- quently found necessary to make an excavation 10 ft. in diameter in order to uproot a single tree, and even the smaller trees had to be dug out to a minimum depth of 2J ft. so as to get rid of the lateral roots which very soon sprout up. The grass, also, which grows to a height of from 7 ft. to 12 ft. had, of course, to be cleared before the other work could be proceeded with. This Rhodesian grass resembles bamboo more than grass, and during the rains grows at an extremely rapid rate. When the site of an aerodrome had been cleared and, where necessary, levelled, it was replanted with suitable grass. For identification each aerodrome was marked with a large circle composed of white stone flush with the ground and usually about 100 ft. in circumference, which would show prominently from the air. The angles of the aerodromes were similarly marked by " L's," and a " P" was placed on all regular aerodromes (as distinguished from the emergency landing-grounds) to mark the position of the petrol, oil and water dumps, which were usually placed underground. As illustrating the, labour which was involved, it may be men- tioned that from one aerodrome some thousand trees were removed ; at another a sluit (ravine) 600 yards long by 30 yards wide had to be filled in with stones ; while at a third 1,000 wagon-loads of stones and rock outcrop were collected and carried from the ground. At aerodromes where no water was readily available special wells were sunk, and at others liable to flooding by one night's rain a drainage system had to be undertaken. The survey parties had very often to cut roads for the cars 237
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