on 16 march 1941, the british executed operation appearance from [[aden]]; the two [[sikh]] battalions of the [[indian army]], that had been part of the defence force in august 1940 and a somali commando detachment, were landed on either side of berbera from transports escorted by hms "glasgow", "caledon", "kandahar" and "kingston". the invasion by the sikhs was the first successful [[allies of world war ii|allied]] landing on an occupied beach of the war; few men of the italian 70th colonial brigade offered resistance. repairs began on the port and supplies for the [[1st (african) division|11th african division]] were passing through within a week, reducing the road transport distance by . the british re-captured the whole of [[british somaliland]] and on 8 april, chater was appointed military governor.