18 January 1941
Northern Front
Two additional Vickers Wellesley (K7739 and K8527) are deployed to the forward airfield at Blackdown. Five aircraft are tasked to bomb Barentu aerodrome (11:55–15:15), while two others target positions at Umm Hagar (12:25–15:25). These air attacks prepare the offensive towards Agordat, which begins the following day[1]. The same applies to No.223 (RAF) Squadron. Four Wellesley[2] attack Agordat aerodrome between 09:10 and 13:45, fitted with delayed-action bombs with delays ranging from 6 to 24 hours.
Armourers of No. 47 Squadron RAF fill Small Bomb Containers with incendiaries before loading them into the underwing panniers of Vickers Wellesley Mark I, K8527, at Kassala, Sudan, for a bombing raid on Italian positions in Eritrea.
Gladiators of No.1 (SAAF) Squadron provide escort for the various raids, but the fighters and bombers fail to rendezvous. Lieutenant P. H. Smith is the only one able to join the Wellesleys bound for Agordat. At the same time, the various detachments of No.1 (SAAF) Squadron are ordered to concentrate at the forward landing ground at Oxo (west of Kassala).
Southern Front
After the bitter reverse the previous day, the South Africans renew the attack on El Yibo.
This time, Force C succeeds in capturing a forward position shortly before 09:00. Shortly afterwards, Forces B and C, assisted by A Company of the 1st Natal Mounted Rifles (urgently called forward) and three additional armoured cars, attempt to advance on the main objective. The attempt again fails. By midday, coordination between the elements breaks down as the troops are exhausted by the heat, while the Italians return fire from high ground, exploiting their position.
Once again, three Hartbees of No.40 (SAAF) Squadron are sent in support and repeatedly bomb enemy positions throughout the afternoon.
Finally, at 15:00, Brigadier Buchanan orders the frontal attacks to be broken off :
« the enemy position is impregnable to infantry without substantial air and artillery support. Reinforcements are absolutely necessary to renew the attack tomorrow morning »[3]
According to Douglas Baker:
« The Regiment spent a sleepless night in discovering that the extreme heat by day of semi-desert is exchanged in the night by freezing conditions. Worse ! Water supplies did not get throught until the next day. The following day was almost as frustrating. The enemy, 150 strong, countedattacked but were driven off after they had reached a point 100 yards distant from battalion headquarters. More humming and aharring around and after this further day of heat exposure the exhausted regiment had to spend a further night on the bare mountain. »[4]
[1] No.47 (RAF) Squadron : Operations Record Book (Form 540 and Form 541). Kiew : TNA, AIR 27 / 463.
[2] The number of aircraft is in question, as Form 540 records four aircraft: « four aircraft (…) attacked the aerodrome of Agordat », whereas Form 541 lists only three Wellesleys, namely: L2715, K8528 and K8530. No.223 (RAF) Squadron : Operations Record Book (Form 540 and Form 541). Kiew : TNA, AIR 27 / 1373.
[3] ORPEN Neil. East African and Abyssinian Campaigns : https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/SouthAfrica/EAfrica/EAfrica-8.html
[4] KATZ, David Brock. South Africans versus Rommel : The Untold Story of the Desert War in World War II. Stackpole Books, 2017.
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