Description

Synopsis.

Si l’on en croit re vers de jaquette, David Shirreff a participé à la libération de l’Ethiopie. Cependant, son témoignage n’est pas le sujet de son travail mais l’histoire de trois hommes : l’empereur d’Ethiopie, Hailé Sélassié et les Britanniques, Orde Wingate et Daniel Sandford. La campagne de la « Gideon Force » et de la « Mission 101 », décrite dans les moindres détails comblera les passionnés de batailles. Les autres apprendront à connaître les hommes et les liens qui les lient. On appréciera tout particulièrement l’index biographique et les 16 photographies. On regrettera l’absence d’un hommage aux précurseurs que sont Monnier, Barontini, Ukmar et Rolla. A ce propos, l’auteur se contente, à la page 15, de mentionner que la France a envoyé deux agents en 1939 et 1940, Paul Langrois et Paul Monnier. En réalité, il s’agit du colonel français Robert Monnier (pseudonyme Andréa) et du communiste italien Ilio Barontini (pseudo : Paolus ou Paul Langlois). Mais peut-être que les sources britanniques sont moins riches lorsqu’il s’agit de décrire les hommes de l’ombre.

Biblethiophile, 05.07.2020

1^er revers de jaquette :

The Italian invasion of Ethiopia succeeded in expelling Emperor Haile Selassie into exile in 1936. It was essential for British prestige in the region that the Emperor was re-instated. Thus the campaign, so vividly described in this fascinating book, was of great political and military importance, albeit relatively small in scale. So it was in 1941 that British Commonwealth and Sudanese forces together with loyal Ethiopians (known as the Patriots) advanced into what was at that time known as Italian East Africa and convincingly crushed the Italian invaders. David Shirreff, who served in the campaign himself, describes in graphic and evocative details how Colonel Orde Wingate and his Gideon force forced the surrender of a much larger enemy force. Wingate’s bold and imaginative command so captured Churchill’s admiration that his later proposal for deep penetration ‘Chindit’ patrols against the Japanese in Burma was accepted. Bare Feet and Bandoliers is unlikely to be bettered as an account of this victorious campaign. We also learn of the achievements of Brigadier Daniel Sandford’s Mission 101 and the sustained rebellion of the Patriots.

2^ème revers de jaquette :

After Sherborne and Exeter College, Oxford DAVID SHIRREFF enlisted in 1939. Commissioned into the Dorset Regiment in 1940 he was soon seconded to the 5th Battalion, King’s African Rifles (from November 1940 to August 1945). He served in Abyssinia (Mentioned in Despatches), won an MC[1] in Madagascar and was wounded in Burma. After the War he joined the Colonial Service in Kenya and became a Senior District Commissioner. In 1969 he qualified as a solicitor and became a partner in a firm at Bury St Edmunds until 1985. He was appointed Deputy District Judge. His interests included ornithology and country pursuits. He died in 1999.

[1] MC : Military Cross