Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb II significant presence of Royal Navy in the Red Sea. With the start of Operation Compass in North Africa and the defeat of the Italian troops at Sidi Barrani on 9-12 December 1940, it became clear that it would be impossible for Italian troops in Libya to reach Italian East Africa to break its isolation. The fuel supplies were dwindling and were projected to be exhausted by June 1941. In anticipation of the inevitable fall of the colony, a plan was developed to send as many ships as possible to Japan or occupied France and to destroy all other ships that
History of cricket in Zimbabwe to 1992 the British South Africa Company in 1888/9. The country was the southern part of 'Zambezia' until that name was officially changed to 'Rhodesia' in 1895, and in 1898 the designation 'Southern Rhodesia' was made official. Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in 1922. In 1953 Northern and Southern Rhodesia were reunited in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and after its dissolution in 1963, an independence movement in Southern Rhodesia was led by Ian Smith. Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia in 1965, and a unilateral declaration of independence occurred. This was declared illegal by Great Britain, and 15 years