Kagnew Battalion

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The Kagnew (ቃኘው) Battalions were three successive battalions from the Military of Ethiopia sent by the Emperor Haile Selassie between June 1951 and April 1954 as part of the United Nations forces in the Korean War. They served principally alongside the 7th Infantry Division (United States) and acquitted themselves well in battle, suffering 121 killed and 536 wounded during the course of the conflict.[1]

("Kagnew" had been the name of Menelik II's imperial warhorse during the First Italo-Ethiopian War.[2]) The infantry force in the Korean War included volunteers from Haile Selassie's Imperial Bodyguard.[3] Altogether, 3,158 Ethiopians served in Kagnew Battalions.[1]

One member of the battalion, Gebre (or Guebre) M. Kassa, was later the commanding officer of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Ethiopian soldiers in the Korean War, 1951
Ethiopian soldiers in the Korean War, 1951

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Varhola, Michael J. Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953. 2000, page 134.
  2. ^ Edwards, Paul M. To Acknowledge a War: The Korean War in American Memory. 2000, page 117.
  3. ^ Varhola, Michael J. Fire and Ice: The Korean War, 1950-1953. 2000, page 133.

[edit] External links