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The Battle of Keren, Where Indians Beat Fascist Italy of The Failed Italian Empire
My great grandfather said he killed 2 Punjabi sikh men in hand to hand combat which I never believed, also said he recalls shooting at many and possibly killing or injuring some, also said he took their turbans and Kirpan, these things are still stored in my Grandparents house attic but I never believed it, thought it was a joke. My great grandfather is dead now of course, due to old age. This is my great grandfather on my Italian grand mothers side, he was a big man for that time, 5'10, the average Italian soldier in Africa during that time was only around 5'7.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Keren
The Indians got destroyed at every instance they tried to make gains against the italians. I
"Meanwhile, on the Sanchil feature 4th Division, having been given 10th Indian Infantry Brigade under command, continued to batter away to no avail. On the night of 17 March, having sustained heavy losses, they withdrew from the slopes of Sanchil and Brig's Peak and the damaged 10th Brigade returned to 5th Division to reform. 4th Indian Division continued to hold Hog's Back and Flat Top. Over the next three days, the Italian forces continued to make fierce counter-attacks on both sides of the gorge involving desperate, often hand to hand, fighting"
The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade, (4th Indian Division) arrived on 3 February, reconnoitred the next day and attacked on the left of the gorge on 5 February. The 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders fought their way to the top of the ridge called feature 1616, in front of Sanchil and on the night of 6/7 February, the 3/14th Punjab Regiment passed through and advanced onto Brig's Peak. The Indians were counter-attacked by elements of the 65th Infantry Division "Granatieri di Savoia" (Granatieri di Savoia) who forced them back towards Cameron Ridge, which was being consolidated by the 1st (Wellesley's)/6th Rajputana Rifles.
By 6 February, the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade (4th Indian Division) had arrived and next day, attacked the Dologorodoc feature east of the gorge, looping right through the Scescilembi Valley (known as Happy Valley) and then attacking from the south-east toward Acqua Col joining Mount Zelele and Mount Falestoh. On the night of 7 February, a company of the 4th (Outram's)/6th Rajputana Rifles took the col until 4:30 a.m., when they ran out of ammunition and were driven back to a lower feature. On 8 February, having spent most of the day under heavy artillery and mortar fire, they withdrew to their jumping-off positions.[12]
On the afternoon of 10 February, 3/1st Punjab Regiment attacked Brig's Peak and by the morning of 11 February were on top of Sanchil. However, the requirement for men to handle and carry supplies, ammunition and wounded meant there were only two platoons to hold the feature.[13] Having endured heavy shelling and mortar fire throughout the day, they were forced off Sanchil and Brig's Peak with heavy casualties by a determined counter-attack from the Savoia Grenadiers. Once again the attackers were thrown onto desperate defence on Cameron Ridge.
Despite the failure by the Punjabis to hold the important observation posts on Sanchil, the renewed attack on Acqua Col—planned for 12 February—went ahead. 5th Indian Infantry Division's 29th Indian Infantry Brigade was brought up from Barentu and put under command of 4th Division's Major-General Beresford-Peirse and held in readiness to exploit the hoped-for break-through. At 05:30, supported by an intensive artillery barrage, 4/6th Rajputana Rifles once again led the way. This time, Richhpal Ram was less fortunate and having gained the crest, had a foot blown off and shortly thereafter was mortally wounded. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his exploits on the Col. Meanwhile, the 4/11th Sikh Regiment were pushing up around the side of Acqua Col but the overall attack could not be carried through, lacking the extra impact that might have come from the 2/5th Mahratta Light Infantry which had been diverted to reinforce the hard-pressed defences on Cameron Ridge.[13]
I was convinced the Indians humiliated and owned the Italians in this battle but then I read it all, the Italians literally beat the Indians/Punjabis whenever they tried to break their positions or gain territory. The turning point of the battle was the final attack which was done with massive shelling by the attackers,
It is amusing that the Indians only have success if supported by other Europeans.
From the north, Briggs Force—consisting of two battalions from 4th Indian Division's 7th Indian Infantry Brigade and two Free French battalions—had arrived under Brigadier Briggs, the 7th Indian Brigade commander. After crossing the border into Eritrea on the Red Sea coast, Briggsforce had captured Karora and then moved south to take Kubkub. On 1 March, the force had broken through the Mescelit pass some 15 mi (24 km) north-east of Keren.[15] Briggsforce provided not only a third potential direction of attack to occupy the Keren defenders but also created a threat to Massawa on the coast and pinning valuable reserves there.[16]
Finally found 1 instance of Indians actually having success even though they were lead by a White man.
The capture of Pinnacle that night by the 3/5th Mahratta Light Infantry led by Lieutenant-Colonel Denys Reid (with 3/12th Frontier Force Regiment less two companies under command to take Pimple) is described by Compton Mackenzie in Eastern Epic, his official history of the British Indian Army during the war, as
This was the turning point of the battle where the Italians suffered the most casualties, 100 gun artiellery bombardment and it seems they flanked the Italians main position which was focused against another area and catching them by surprise.
At 03:00 on 25 March, the 2nd Highland Light Infantry and the 4/10th Baluch Regiment on their right advanced from the shelter of the railway tunnel, previously cleared by the sappers and miners, up the gorge. A 100-gun artillery bombardment was raining down on the ridge on Sanchil above (to suppress any defensive fire from this dominating height) and the attack in the gorge achieved complete surprise, with the defenders' attention focused on Sanchil. The 3/2nd Punjab Regiment then advanced between the Baluchis and the West Yorkshires to clear the gorge. By 05:30, the railway bumps and most of the objectives were captured and the defenders no longer held positions from which to direct fire into the gorge below.[24][25]
Overall I see 2 instances of Indian success in this battle against the Italians, the final turning point included but I don't know if I can really count that since they were heavily supported by a massive artillery bombardment and the 2nd Highland Light Infantry which were white British, they did manage to clear the gorge but it was a surprise attack instead of an actual battle where both enemy sides are completely aware of each others positions and not caught off guard.
In 1951, Mackenzie wrote that in the final stages of the battle, the Italians had 5,000 casualties, of whom 1,135 men were killed.[22
I am convinced that if only Indian units were involved in this battle being lead by Indians or just white men butt with no White regiments at all then the Indians would have surly lost. There are too many instances in this battle of the Indians failing to make any achievements against the Italian enemy, it is no surprise, look at history, European Empires, Islamic Caliphate invaders, Mughals,Alexander the Greats Army, list goes on, Indians always lose, they are not capable warriors at all.
It seems the Mahratta Light Infantry regiment was the only effective successful Indian unit in this entire battle, I would have expected the Punjabi's/Sikh's to be more effective considering Punjabi Sikh Culture has a lot of warrior aspects to it.
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Originally Posted by Purohit ji
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