Battle of Keren

The Battle of Keren (Battaglia di Cheren) took place from 3 February to 27 March 1941. Keren was attacked by the British during the East African Campaign of the Second World War. A force of Italian regular and colonial troops defended the position against British troops (mostly from Sudan and British India) and Free French forces. The town of Keren, in the colony of Italian East Africa, was of tactical importance to both sides. The road and railway through Keren were the main routes to the colonial capital of Italian Eritrea at Asmara and the Red Sea port of Massawa, which surrendered to the British after the battle. First Italo-Abyssinian War and Second Italo-Abyssinian War Colonised by the Italians in 1885, Italian Eritrea was used as a staging ground for Italian invasions of the Ethiopian Empire in the First and Second Italo-Abyssinian Wars. The second invasion began in 1935 and Ethiopia fell in 1936. Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland and Eritrea were combined to form Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana) part of the Italian Empire. Following the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered his troops to capture the British Somaliland and border towns in the Sudan and Kenya. Eritrea has three climate zones: a coastal region of sandy plain and low scrub, a cool and fertile highland plateau in the north and the hot and arid Afar Depression in the south. The coastal region runs inland for in the east with elevations of up to and is hot and humid for most of the year, with June, September and October the hottest months. At Massawa the average temperature is and in summer can reach in the shade. Most rain falls in the summer monsoon, with occasional showers in the winter. In the escarpments and valleys, the climate is temperate with only summer monsoon rains, except close to the coast, where there is some winter rain. May is the hottest month. Approaching the highland plateau, the elevation rises steeply to , with some peaks high and the ground declines to the west.