South Africa

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31.5.41 [George Orwell]

May 31, 2011 in Abyssinia, Addis Ababa, Political, South Africa, Union Jack, War-time by orwelldiaries

Still not quite happy about Abyssinia. Saw to-day the news-reel of the South African troops marching into Addis Ababa. At the Emperor’s palace (or whatever the building was) the Union Jack was hauled up first and only afterwards the Abyssinian flag.

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14.4.41 [George Orwell]

April 14, 2011 in Abyssinia, America, Benghazi, Cairo, China, Egypt, French West Africa, Germany, Indians, Japan, Negroes, Political, Red Sea, Russia, South Africa, Tobruk, War-time, non-aggression pact by orwelldiaries

The news today is appalling. The Germans are at the Egyptian frontier and a British force in Tobruk has the appearance of being cut off, though this is denied from Cairo. [1] Opinion is divided as to whether the Germans really have an overwhelming army in Libya, or whether they have only a comparatively small force while we have practically nothing, most of the troops and fighting vehicles having been withdrawn to other fronts as soon as we had taken Benghazi. In my opinion the latter is the likelier, and also the probability is that we sent only European troops to Greece and have chiefly Indians and Negroes in Egypt. D., speaking from a knowledge of South Africa, thinks that after Benghazi was taken the army was removed not so much for use in Greece as to polish off the Abyssinian campaign, and that the motive for this was political, to give the South Africans, who are more or less hostile to us, a victory to keep them in good temper. If we can hang on to Egypt the whole thing will have been worth while for the sake of clearing the Red Sea and opening that route to American ships. But the necessary complement to this is the French West African ports, which we could have seized a year ago almost without fighting.

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