The Battle of Madagascar is another name for Operation Ironclad, the Allied invasion of Madagascar launched on May 5 1942, when it was feared that bases on the Vichy French-controlled island might be used by Japan. Fighting did not cease until November 6.

Following their conquest of South East Asia, east of Burma by the end of February 1942, the Japanese high command was able to contemplate moves westward. Their submarines were moving freely throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and in March the Imperial Japanese Navy launched the Indian Ocean raid, which drove the British Eastern Fleet out of Ceylonese waters, to a new base at Kilindini , near Mombasa, in Kenya.

The move laid the fleet open to a new angle of attack: the possibility of Japanese naval forces using forward bases in Madagascar had to be addressed. Not only did the potential use of these facilities threaten Allied merchant shipping, they also now threatened an entire British fleet.

Japanese submarines had the longest ranges of any at the time — more than 10,000 miles (16,000km) in some cases. Had they been able to utilise the bases, it would have affected Allied lines of communications in a region stretching from the Pacific and Australia, to the Middle East and South Atlantic.

The battle

Allied forces, centred initially on the British Army and the Royal Navy were commanded by Major-General Robert Sturges . The aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious, her sister ship HMS Indomitable and the ageing battleship HMS Ramillies covered the landings.

Following many reconnaissance missions by the South African Air Force, the British 5th Infantry Division's 17th Infantry Brigade Group and 13th Infantry Brigade, as well as the British 29th Infantry Brigade, and 5 Commando, Royal Marines were carried ashore by landing craft to Courrier Bay and Ambararata Bay, west of Diego Suarez. A diversionary attack was staged to the east. Air cover was provided mainly by Fairey Albacores, Grumman Martlets and Fairey Swordfish from the Fleet Air Arm, which attacked Vichy shipping. A small number of SAAF planes assisted.

The Vichy forces, led by Governor General Armand Léon Annet , included about 8,000 troops, of whom about 6,000 were Madagascan. A large proportion of the others were Senegalese. Between 1,500 and 3,000 Vichy troops were concentrated around Diego Suarez. However, naval and air defences were relatively light and/or obsolete: eight coastal batteries, two armed merchant cruisers, two sloops, five submarines, 17 Morane-Saulnier 406 fighters and 10 Potez 63 bombers.

Following a major assault, Diego Suarez was surrendered on May 7, although substantial Vichy forces withdrew to the south.

Vichy forces resisted more than expected and reinforcements were sent by both sides. In the case of the Axis, the Japanese submarines I-10 , I-16 and I-20 arrived on May 29, and a reconnaissance plane from I-10 spotted the Ramillies at anchor in Diego Suarez harbour. However, the plane was seen and Ramillies changed berth. I-20 and I-16 launched two midget submarines, one of which managed to enter the harbour and fired two torpedoes, while under depth charge attack from two corvettes. One torpedo severely damaged Ramillies, while the second sank an oil tanker. Lieutenant Saburo Akieda and Petty Officer Masami Takemoto beached their submarine and fled inland, where both were killed in a firefight with Royal Marines three days later.

Hostilities continued at a low level for several months. The British 5th Division was transferred to India, and in June the 22nd East African Brigade Group arrived. The South African 7th Motorized Brigade and the Rhodesian 27th Infantry Brigade (including forces from East Africa) were landed in the following weeks.

The 29th Brigade and 22nd Brigade Group carried out an amphibious landing on September 10 at Majunga , in the north-west, to re-launch Allied offensive operations ahead of the rainy season. Progress was slow for the Allied forces, and although they faced little direct opposition, they enountered scores of obstacles erected on the main roads by Vichy soldiers. The Allies eventually captured the capital, Tananarive without much opposition and the town of Ambalavao . The last major action was at Andriamanalina on October 18. when Annet surrendered near Ilhosy, in the south of the island on November 5.

The Allies suffered about 500 casualties in the landing at Diego Suarez, and 30 killed and 90 wounded in the operations which followed September 10.

References

E.D.R. Harrison, "British Subversion in French East Africa, 1941-42: SOE's Todd Mission." English Historical Review, April 1999.

External links

Bill Stone, 1998, "Operation Ironclad: Invasion of Madagascar"

exordio.com, ?, "Operación Ironclad" (Spanish language)