General Platt's situation immediately after April 1941

Operations in Eritrea ended in April 1941. General Wavell had intervened and redirected General Platt to secure the road from Asmara to Dessie, as General Wavell wanted to smooth the way for the movement of South African troops north to Egypt. General Platt had to be content, for the moment, to just screen the Italians in Wolchefit. By the time that General Platt had forces available, the weather in the north of Ethiopia precluded major operations. Most of what was happening in northern Ethiopia was either air operations or raids by Ethiopian guerillas ("The Patriots"). There were also a certain number of British officers and senior enlisted men who had "gone native" and were operating with the guerillas. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Official History