the somaliland border was long and after the italian occupation of ethiopia, all but the border with french somaliland was contiguous with the new italian colony. according to the hornby report of 1936, the war office intended to offer no resistance to an invasion. in 1938, the governor, arthur lawrence, deplored such a defeatist policy and suggested that the colony could be demilitarised, that the british could leave or that the colony could be defended. according to chater, a small reinforcement would give the local garrison the means to resist an invasion of the colony for twelve days, sufficient for a relief force to arrive from india but the policy was rejected. in august 1939 the evacuation policy was revised according to two scenarios, that if the french succeeded in defending djibouti, the british would withdraw towards them and if the french were defeated, the british would retreat into the hills and wait on events. all of the defence arrangements were based on co-operation with legentilhomme, who would command both forces if war began.