Royal Corps of Eritrean Colonial Troops

[3] Except for the German parachute division in Italy and the Japanese in Burma no enemy with whom the British and Indian troops were matched put up a finer fight than those Savoia battalions at Keren (Eritrea).

In January 1941, Commonwealth and Free French forces[6] invaded Italian-occupied Ethiopia and the majority of the newly recruited Ethiopian Ascaris serving with the Italian Army in East Africa deserted.

The Eritrean Ascari originated from a mercenary Arab group employed by the Ottoman Empire and called Basci Buzuks.

This irregular force was created in Eritrea by the Albanian adventurer Sagiak Hassan, who worked for local Eritrean tribes in the second half of the 19th century.

Prior to World War I service with the Ascari had become the main source of paid employment for the indigenous male population of Eritrea.

Eritrean regiments in Italian service wore high red fezzes with coloured tufts and waist sashes that varied according to each unit.

At the beginning of World War II the Italian Viceroy Amedeo Duke of Aosta gave lieutenant Guillet command of the 2,500 strong Gruppo Bande Eritrea, an irregular unit made up mainly of recruits from Hamasien.

This force was primarily a cavalry one, but also included camel mounted troops and some Yemeni infantry led by Eritrean Ascari NCOs.

At dawn the Gruppo Bande Tigre, armed only with sabres, rifles and hand grenades charged an Allied column which included armoured vehicles.

Hiding his uniform near a farm owned by Italian colonists, he conducted guerrilla raids with his remaining askaris against Allied forces for almost eight months.

Even if the amount was minimal (the equivalent of $100 yearly), this was paid through the Italian Embassy in Asmara and was of some value in the underdeveloped economy of Eritrea after World War II.

During the 1992-93 UN Intervention in the Somali civil war, an elderly Ascari joined an Italian unit with his original uniform and rifle, stating that he had sworn a lifetime oath to "Italy, to the King and to the Duce."