The Somaliland Scouts was a Rayid

military unit Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a natio ...

, a regiment, of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

. It was established after the liberation of

British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French So ...

from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in December 1941 and the dissolution of the

Somaliland Camel Corps The Somaliland Camel Corps (SCC) was a Rayid unit of the British Army based in British Somaliland. It lasted from the early 20th century until 1944. Beginnings and the Dervish rebellion In 1888, after signing successive treaties with the then r ...

in 1942, which was formerly tasked with the defense of the

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

History

Originally formed as the ''Somali Guard Battalion'', and tasked with defending the border between British and

French Somaliland French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Te ...

, the brigade quickly rose in size and importance. It later became the Somali Companies in June 1942, before finally being renamed to the Somaliland Scouts in August 1943. A transcript of a Reuters report of 26 June 1960 says that, during the independence ceremony for Somaliland "..Nearly 1,000 British-trained Somaliland Scouts were then handed over to the Prime Minister by Brigadier O. G. Brooks, the Colonel Commandant." On 1 July 1960, upon the merger of British Somaliland and

Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...

to form the

Somali Republic The Somali Republic ( so, Jamhuuriyadda Soomaaliyeed; it, Repubblica Somala; ar, الجمهورية الصومالية, Jumhūriyyat aṣ-Ṣūmālīyyah) was a sovereign state composed of Somalia and Somaliland, following the unification o ...

, the Somaliland Scouts was merged with former Italian-raised police forces from the south to become the nucleus for the new Somali National Army.

References

* {{cite book, ref={{harvid, Metz, 1993, first=Helen, last=Metz, title=Somalia: A Country Study , url=https://cdn.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/so/somaliacountryst00metz_0/somaliacountryst00metz_0.pdf , publisher=Library of Congress , year=c. 1993 , access-date=12 July 2019 British colonial regiments Military history of Somaliland Military units and formations of British Somaliland in World War II East African campaign (World War II) Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1960 1942 establishments in the British Empire 1960 disestablishments in the British Empire 1960 disestablishments in Somalia

History

See also

References