 General Emilio de Bono put on record that preparations for the invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) had been going on since 1932 as roads were being built from Italian Somaliland into Ethiopian territory, though Mussolini constantly claimed that he was not a "collector of deserts" and would never think of invading.Ethiopians protested this build-up to war which eventually led up to a border clash at Walwal.Mussolini called this clash "unprovoked aggression" by Ethiopia and Italian forces invaded on 3 October 1935, led by de Bono.