War Ministry headquarters, Empire of Abyssinia, just before the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.  The guards' uniforms identify them as member of Emperor Haile Selassie's Imperial Guard - in practice, a personal military corps which was one of the principal underpinnings of the Emperor's régime.  The concept of "boots" seems to have been absent from these soldiers' military thinking ... Best regards, JR.

Iron Lions, bare feet ...

The Great Muftì of Jerusalem Al Husseini receives the combat flag of the Battaglione d'Assalto A (= A for Arabs) composed by Arab and Muslim volounteers. 
The unit was well trained like a special assault force battalion (with arditi and paratroopers coys), and reached a top strenght of about 550 men, not all foreign, especially among officers and ncos. Tivoli, spring 1942. DVX

War flag for the Great Muftì

Aimer of a battery of Eritrean Ascari. Italo-Ethiopian war 1935-36. DVX