1920 Conflict Between British Forces and The Dervish State - Actions

Actions

By 1 January 1920 the Z Force had constructed a temporary aerodrome at Berbera from where they operated. On 21 January RAF aircraft bombed Hassan's main base at Medistie and his fort at Jideli. Many members of Hassan's forces had never seen an aircraft before and were terrified by the aerial bombardment to the extent that they fled into the hills. It was also during that first bombardment that Hassan came close to being killed, narrowly avoiding death when an unfortunate camel shielded him from a nearby bomb blast. After the next five days had passed the Z Force had destroyed three Dervish forts; they then provided air support and communications for the ground forces. This battle established the tactics of aerial bombardment followed by attacks by ground forces, and of using aircraft to provide support for ground troops during concurrent attacks. These tactics are among the primary methods of wartime operations to this day.

On 28 January the Camel Corps occupied Jideli and Hassan retreated to his main fort at Taleh. After combined land and air operations, the British took Taleh on 9 February. Hassan's forces suffered great losses and were scattered, his forts were damaged and he escaped with only four of his followers to the Ogaden.