ራስ ደስታ ዳምጠው

Ras Desta Damtew

Ras Desta Damtew

 
የአቶ ስብሃት ነጋ አጎት/ የእናቱ ታላቅ ወንድም—- ደጃዝማች ተክሉ መሸሻ በኢጣልያን ወረራ ዘመን በደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ የኢጣልያ ባንዳ ጦር አዛዥ ሆኖ ጣልያን በደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ የተሰለፈውን የኢትዮጵያ ጦር በታንክ በመድፍ ከአውሮፕላን በሚወርድ ቦንብና የመርዝ ጭስ አጥቅቶ ድል ካደረገ በኋላ የደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ ጦር አዛዥ የነበሩት ራስ ደስታ ዳምጠው ቆስለው ከጦር ሜዳ በማፈግፈግ በጉራጌ አካባቢ አካባቢ መስቃ ከተባለው ሥፍራ ተኝተው በስቃይ ላይ እያሉ ደጃዝማች ተክሉ እግር በግር ተከታትሎ ቁስለኛውን በመያዝ ከግንድ ጋር አስሮ በጭካኔ ደብድቦ ከገደላቸው በኋላ ራሳቸውን ረግጦ በመቆም ፎተግራፍ በመነሳት ለጣልያኑ ጌታው ግዳይ ያቀረበ ከሃዲ ባንዳ ነበር፡፡»
HAILE SELASSIE’S WAR ከተባለው የ-Anthony Mockler መጽሃፍ ውስጥ ገጽ 173. Source: facebook.
 
Ras Desta Damtew 
Ras Desta Damtew was captured by bandas from Tigray, with the above picture. The name of the askari was Dejazmach Teklu Meshesha brother of Sibhat Nega’s mother. Ras Desta ze bihere Meskan, having retreated to his homeland in Gurage, was recovering from a wound he sustained from a previous battle with the Italians. He was pursued by a Tigre banda Dejazmach Teklu Meshesha who was a leader of tigrean mercenaries working for Italian commander Captain Tucci. The banda Teklu Meshesha was paid and awarded italian titles for his services. Bandaw Wedi Meshesha is seen here in the picture below next to Ras Desta
 

http://mereja.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=81121&sid=2c741f17e458d39205c0b5989ffc3a0c
The link below shows the Italian newspaper Il mattino Illustrato celebrating the execution of Ras desta and hailing captain Tucci and their servant teklu meshesha for the capture. The caption at the bottom reads:
‘LA FINE DI UN TRADITORE. RAS DESTA DAMTOU, CHE AVEVA COMANDATO I RIBELLI DURANTE LO SCONTRO DI GOGGETTI, RIUSCIVA ANCORA UNA VOLTA A SOTTRARSI MA ACCANITAMENTE INSEGUITO E STATO RAGGIUNTO IL 24 FEBBRARIO DALLA BANDA TIGRINA DEL DEGIAC TOCLU, COMANDATA DAL CAPITANO TUCCI, CATTURATO E PASSATO IMMEDIATAMENTE PER LE ARMI”
Rough English translation:
“The end of a traitor. Ras Desta Damtew, the rebel commander of the battle of Goggetti, chased and reached by on 24 February by tigrigna mercenaries of Dejach Teklu Meshesha, commanded by Captain Tucci,….”

Hailu Bitanya
 

Ras Desta Damtew was captured by bandas from Tigray, with picture
Ras Desta ze bihere Meskan, having retreated to his homeland in Gurage, was recovering from a wound he sustained from a previous battle with the Italians. He was pursued by a Tigre banda Dejazmach Teklu Meshesha who was a leader of tigrean mercenaries working for Italian commander Captain Tucci. The banda Teklu Meshesha was paid and awarded italian titles for his services. Bandaw Wedi Meshesha is seen here in the picture below next to Ras Desta
http://mereja.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=81121&sid=2c741f17e458d39205c0b5989ffc3a0c
The link below shows the Italian newspaper Il mattino Illustrato celebrating the execution of Ras desta and hailing captain Tucci and their servant teklu meshesha for the capture. The caption at the bottom reads:
‘LA FINE DI UN TRADITORE. RAS DESTA DAMTOU, CHE AVEVA COMANDATO I RIBELLI DURANTE LO SCONTRO DI GOGGETTI, RIUSCIVA ANCORA UNA VOLTA A SOTTRARSI MA ACCANITAMENTE INSEGUITO E STATO RAGGIUNTO IL 24 FEBBRARIO DALLA BANDA TIGRINA DEL DEGIAC TOCLU, COMANDATA DAL CAPITANO TUCCI, CATTURATO E PASSATO IMMEDIATAMENTE PER LE ARMI”
Rough English translation:
“The end of a traitor. Ras Desta Damtew, the rebel commander of the battle of Goggetti, chased and reached by on 24 February by tigrigna mercenaries of Dejach Teklu, commanded by Captain Tucci,….”

 

 

Ras Desta Damtew was born at a place called Maskan (in Gurage Zone) He was the second son of Fitawrari Damtew Ketena. His older brother was Abebe Damtew. Fitawrari Damtew Ketena was killed at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. Lij Desta Damtew and his brother Lij Abebe Damtew served at the Imperial Palace in Addis Ababa as pages to Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taitu Bitul. In 1924, Desta Damtew married Tafari Makonnen’s daughter Leult Tenagnework Haile Selassie and had four daughters and two sons.

Anthony Mockler describes Desta Damtew as “something of an eccentric among Ethiopian nobles”, who had run away in his twenties to become a monk at Debre Libanos, as well as having a reputation “as an entrepreneur. According to his obituary in The Times he was “a tall and princelike figure, ascetically handsome in face and reserved in manner.

People say he was brave but very kind and compassionate person. He had the soft, almost inaudible voice of the higher class Amhara. Although a modernizer on the Imperial pattern, he was perfectly frank about his distrust of foreigners. “The less foreigners visit Ethiopia, the better,” was a remark he once made at a European gathering at the British Legation. He has also served Ethiopia as a Shumof Kefa and Sidamo Provinces.

In 1933, Ras Desta Damtew traveled to America to return the visit of the United States representative to the coronation of Haile Selassie. It was his only journey outside Ethiopia.He arrived in New York and was greeted with royal honours, later lunching with President Roosevelt.

Ras Desta Damtew

Ras Desta Damtew

In 1935, Ras Desta commanded troops along the southern border of Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. In January 1936, he fought bravely but he did not have logistic and other resource to overcome the invader Italian Fascist army and thousands of employed bandas.  

He made a tactical retreat back to his administrative centre at Yirgalem, where with the help of DejazmachGabremariam, he reorganized his survivors to resist the Italian advance. Ras Desta continued to resist the Italians after the Emperor left the country and he stormed the invaders camp several times. The brave Ras Desta was wounded but continued to fight until he was captured by the help of Ascari or Bandas and executed savagely near his birthplace. RIP.

www.iwooket.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Archives

Copyright and Disclaimer

Copyright © 2010 - 2015 Kefale Alemu

Copyright © [2010]. KAlemu, All Rights Reserved.