Invasion of French Somaliland

The British invasion of French Somaliland was a military invasion in the Horn of Africa, which took place in December 1942 as part of the conflict between forces of Vichy France and the British Army.

Background
During the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in the mid-1930s and during the early stages of World War II, constant border skirmishes occurred between the forces in French Somaliland and the forces in Italian East Africa. After the fall of France in 1940, French Somaliland declared loyalty to Vichy France. The colony remained loyal to Vichy France during the East African Campaign but stayed out of that conflict. British forces in Ethiopia begin dropping leaflets calling on the French Somaliland to rally to Free France. The newspaper Djibouti Libre published in Dire Dawa is also air dropped into the Vichy controlled colony and a 15 minute newscast is broadcast over the radio. 1942 Vichy recalls Governor Pierre Nouailhetas after his superiors decide that he is in too close contact with the British. Nouailhetas delegates his authority to the military commander General Truffert. Two battalions, accompanied by civilians, leave Djibouti to join the British forces in British Somaliland. General Truffert is forced to resign and cede power to his adjutant General Dupont after a great majority of Djibouti’s military and civil administrators threaten to leave for British held Somaliland. This lasted until December 1942. By that time, the Italians had been defeated and the French colony was isolated by a British blockade. Free French troops, regrouped in Ethiopia under the command of colonels Appert and Raynal, reach the outskirts of Djibouti by train. General Christian Dupont, the Vichy Governor, surrenders the colony to British and Free French forces. Free French and Allied forces recaptured the colony's capital of Djibouti at the end of 1942. A local battalion from Djibouti participated in the liberation of France in 1944.