Operation Appearance takes place to re-establish British Somaliland

Operation Appearance was a British landing in the British Somaliland Protectorate against troops of the Italian Army. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland had taken place in August 1940, seven months earlier. The British had withdrawn from the protectorate after a delaying action at the Battle of Tug Argan. This withdrawal, after the disastrous conclusion of the Battle of France and the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, had repercussions among British leaders. It led the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to lose confidence in General Archibald Wavell, the British commander in the Middle East, which culminated in Wavell's sacking on 20 June 1941.

British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate, was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. It was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia. From 1940 to 1941, it was part of Italian East Africa.

March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 290 days remain until the end of the year.