Despatches Relative to the Operations of the Somaliland Field Force - Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty (Cd. 1500)

Manning, Brigadier-General W.H.

Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London, 1903

About this Item

Printed stitched foolscap self-wraps, 42pp. Near fine, lightly tanned, with small institutional ink stamp inside front wrap. The Somaliland Field Force operated during 1901-1920 to suppress Sayyid Mohammad Abdallah Hassan and his Dervish movement, which was resisting British, Italian and Abyssinian incursions. Hassan was known to the Ottomans as "the Emir of the Somali people", to the British as "the Mad Mullah", and he came to be seen as the father of Somali nationalism. The Field Force's objectives were to capture or defeat Hassan and suppress his influence. Its operations consisted of a number of Expeditions. The first two during 1901-02, under Lieutenant Colonel Eric Swayne of the Indian Army, proved inconclusive. Swayne had raised a force made up mainly of local levies with elements from the British and Indian Armies. In November 1902 Brigadier-General W.H. Manning was appointed to lead the Third Expedition (1902-3). Manning was Inspector General of the King?s African Rifles (KAR), and doubting the reliability of the local levies, he added the KAR to the Field Force's ranks. Believing the Dervishes to be located around Mudug in Italian Somaliland, he planned to contain then destroy them and seize their flocks and herds. This involved Italy's cooperation in establishing a line of posts from Berbera to the coastal port of Obbia to control the water wells that Hassan relied on for his livestock, and Emperor Menelik's cooperation in providing an Abyssinian force to block any escape. Apparently Manning lacked Swayne's local knowledge. The operation inflicted only partial damage, and Hassan was able to escape. In mid-1903 the British appointed Major General Sir Charles Egerton to lead the Fourth Expedition, with Manning placed in charge of the 1st Brigade made up of KAR units. With content dating from December 1902 to June 1903, this document covers the duration of the Third Expedition. Most of the 16 documents included are Manning's detailed field reports to the Secretary of State for War, sent from Berbera, Obbia and Bohotle. Also included are his letters to Count Lovatelli of the Royal Italian Navy. Other contributors include Chief Staff Officer G. Forestier-Walker, Lt-Col A.S. Cobbe Commanding Reconnaissance, Captain G.C. Shakerley of the KAR Mounted Infantry, Major J.E. Gough Officer Commanding Flying Column, and Lt-Col J. Swann Commanding Berbera - Bohotle Lines of Communication.

Seller Inventory # 6724

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Despatches Relative to the Operations of the Somaliland Field Force - Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty (Cd. 1500)
• Publisher: His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London
• Publication Date: 1903
• Language: English
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine