MERCENARIES RETURN
UNFULFILLED PROMISES
FIGHTING FOR ABYSSINIA
(Received November 27, 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, November 26.
Half-starved and fever-stricken tribesmen from British Somaliland are drifting back to the British post at Hargeisa after deserting from the Abyssinian forces in which they found only disillusionment and misery, says the "Daily 'Mail." Many young herdsmen, against official advice, joined the Abyssinians, being tempted by offers of pay of 13s 6d a month and prospects of plunder. Many were wiped out by disease and wild animals.
Two deserters who joined up in July said: "After being trained we were sent south from Jijiga. Nothing happened, we never saw our officers, our rations soon ceased, and we lived for weeks under the desert scrub while Italian aeroplanes scouted overhead. The Somalis fell ill with scurvy and fever and were reduced from several thousands to a few hundreds. We first saw the Italians at Gorahai a fortnight ago when we saw our own countrymen in the Italian askari uniforms firing at us. We gave up and fled across the desert. From the day we joined up we have not received any pay."
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 129, 27 November 1935, Page 9
Word Count
186
MERCENARIES RETURN
Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 129, 27 November 1935, Page 9
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