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{{Short description|Expedition against the Dervish movement in Somalia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox military conflict
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|combatant2= [[Dervish movement (Somali)|Dervish movement]]
|commander1= [[File:flag of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Robert Gordon (RAF officer)|Robert Gordon]]<br /> [[File:flag of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Frederick Bowhill]]<br /> [[File:flag of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Haji Bullaleh]]<br /> [[File:flag of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Musa Farah Egarreh]]<br>
|commander2= [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]]<br> [[Haji Sudi]]{{KIA}}<br> [[Nur Ahmed Aman]]{{KIA}} <br> [[Ibrahim Boghol]]{{KIA}}<br> [[AbdullahAbdallah ShihriShihiri]]{{KIA}} <br> [[Ismail Mire]] <br> [[Diiriye Gurre]]
|strength1=12 aircraft<br />local gendarmerie<br />1 battalion ([[King's African Rifles]])
|strength2=
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In 1919, the unrest in British Somaliland alarmed the British Government enough for [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Lord Milner]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Secretary]], to consider sending a military expedition to the protectorate. The [[Chief of the Imperial General Staff]], [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]], advised Milner that at least two [[Division (military)|divisions]] would be required and this was likely to cost several million pounds. Such a cost was seen as being prohibitively expensive in the conditions of post-war austerity.<ref name = "Baker"/>
 
Lord Milner then turned to the newly formed Royal Air Force, asking the [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]], [[Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard|Sir Hugh Trenchard]], if he could suggest a solution. Trenchard who at that time was most eager to ensure that the air force remained as a separate service, immediately proposed that the RAF should take responsibility for the whole operation.<ref name = "Baker"/> Milner argued that some ground troops would be needed and Trenchard replied that the local colonial forces which were already in Somaliland would be sufficient.<ref>{{cite book |last=Boyle |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Boyle (journalist) |title=Trenchard Man of Vision |year=1962 |publisher=Collins |location= St. James's Place London |pages=366 to 367|chapter=Chapter 13}}</ref>
 
A meeting was arranged to discuss the coming campaign. In attendance were: [[Winston Churchill]] who was [[Secretary of State for War]] and [[Secretary of State for Air|Air]], [[Leo Amery]] the Colonial Under-Secretary who deputized for Milner, Sir Henry Wilson and Sir Hugh Trenchard. Wilson was strongly opposed to a campaign being conducted by the [[Colonial Office]] and the [[Air Ministry]] which would draw upon the [[War Office]]'s soldiers. However, when Amery and Trenchard stated that under no circumstances would they request troops, Wilson withdrew his objection and consented to the RAF taking the lead.<ref name = "Baker"/>
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[[File:Z Force DH9 in air ambulance role.jpg|thumb|right|A Z Force DH9 being used as an air ambulance]]
By the January 1920, the following British forces were assembled:<ref name="RAF History">{{cite book |title=Air Publication 3003 – A Brief History of the Royal Air Force |editor=Finn, C. J. |year=2004 |publisher=HMSO |pages=63 |chapter=Chapter 2 |chapter-url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/F21C6257_ABD1_7132_E8716B8C2DA98948.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012002529/http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/F21C6257_ABD1_7132_E8716B8C2DA98948.pdf |archive-date=12 October 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
* "Z Force" ({{'"}}Z" Unit' in some sources)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32107|supp=y|page=10589|date=29 October 1920}}</ref> provided by the RAF in Egypt. The force consisted of:<ref name="Dean">{{cite web|url=http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1983/jul-aug/dean.html |title=Air Power in Small Wars – the British air control experience |last=Dean |first=David J. |date=July–August 1983 |work=Air University Review|publisher=[[Air University (United States)|Air University]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321105715/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1983/jul-aug/dean.html |archive-date=2017-03-21|access-date=2008-01-13}}</ref>
** 12 [[Airco DH.9A]] aircraft. The aircraft were shipped to Somaliland on the [[Royal Navy]] aircraft carrier [[HMS Ark Royal (1914)|HMS ''Ark Royal'']]<ref name="Global Security">{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/ro-7.htm |title=RO-7 Ark Royal |access-date=2008-01-13 |date=2005-04-27 |work=GlobalSecurity.org Web Site |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref> and were used for bombing. One was converted into an [[air ambulance]].
** A vehicle fleet consisting of ten Ford trucks, two Ford ambulances, six trailers, two motorcycles and two [[Crossley Motors]] light trucks.
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By H. Rayne,</ref>
 
==Defeat==
==Subsequent events==
In the beginning of 1920, the British struck the Dervish settlements with a well-coordinated air and land attack and inflicted a stunning defeat. The forts of the dervishes were damaged and the army suffered great losses. The Dervish retreated in to the Ogaden territory in [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]] and raided the Ogaden Bah Hawadle clan who were under [[Habr Yunis]] protection, reacting to this incident, [[Mohamed Bullaleh|Haji Warabe]] of the [[Reer Caynaashe]] assembled an army composed of 3000 warriors. The army set out from Togdheer, on the dawn of July 20, 1920, his army reached Shineleh where the Dervish were camped and proceeded to attack them. The Dervish numbering about 800 were quickly defeated, 700 being killed in the battle, the few remaining survivors fled south. Haji and his army captured 60,000 camels and 700 rifles from the defeated Dervish. During the midst of the battle Haji Warabe entered Hassan's tent but found the tent empty with Hassan's tea still hot.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9LxyAAAAMAAJ&q=Haji+Waraba |title= The warrior mullah: the Horn aflame, 1892-1920, by R.W Beachey, p.153 |isbn= 9780947792435 |last1= Beachey |first1= R. W. |year= 1990 }}</ref> He had fled to [[Imi, Ethiopia|Imi]]<ref>A Somali Poetic Combat
Although in the following months Hassan did regain some power in Ogaden he was never a force in British Somaliland again. He died of natural causes in December 1920.<ref name="Baker"/>
Pt. I, II and III. pp.43</ref> and on 21 December 1920, he died of [[influenza]] at the age of 64.<ref>[http://www.bakayrblog.com/archive/Sayid.html Honouring Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan, By Mohamed Bakayr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221030/http://www.bakayrblog.com/archive/Sayid.html |date=2016-03-03 }}.</ref>
 
In Great Britain, where Mohammed Abdullah Hassan had long been a source of irritation, news of the swift victory was well received in Parliament and the country. The cost of the 1920 operation was put at £77,000 and Amery described it as "the cheapest war in history". Trenchard and the newly established RAF were greatly encouraged by the outcome.<ref name="Baker"/>
 
The following year in March 1921 at the [[Cairo Conference (1921)|Cairo Conference]], Winston Churchill, who was by then Colonial Secretary, along with the three service chiefs, decided that all British forces in Iraq would be [[RAF Iraq Command|put under control of the RAF]]. The intention was to apply the model of imperial air control which had worked in Somaliland to a much larger region which was similarly troubled.<ref name="Dean"/>
 
==References==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland_campaign_(1920)"