Sudan Defence Force - Background

Background

The British did not garrison the Empire exclusively with British troops; almost every territory had a local militia or an indigenous regiment. Prior to 1925, the garrison of the Sudan comprised a British battalion around the capital, and battalions of the Egyptian Army, both Egyptian and Sudanese, in the regional capitals.

British Military involvement in the Sudan goes back to the days of General Herbert Kitchener and General Gordon who were sent by London to defend British interests in the country. In 1895 Kitchener led the march to Khartoum in charge of the Anglo-Egyptian Expeditionary Force. A force composed of British, Egyptian and Sudanese troops. As a young Army officer Winston Churchill saw military service in the Sudan.

The Sudan had been a territory loosely administered by Egypt, but in the 1880s it had fallen to the forces of the Mahdi. From 1885 to 1898 it was ruled, de facto, by the Mahdi and his successor the Khalifa (literally 'Successor'). Following the defeat of the Mahdists at the Battle of Omdurman, the Sudan was reorganised as an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. The Head of the Egyptian Army was the Governor-General and there was still a large garrison, as the territory was huge and the remoter parts, such as Darfur, were not pacified until 1916.

In 1925, the Governor-General Sir Lee Stack was assassinated, by an Egyptian nationalist, on a visit to Cairo. Sudanese soldiers in Khartoum mutinied, the Egyptian Army garrison of the Sudan was therefore deemed unreliable and the Egyptian battalions were sent home. The Sudanese battalions disbanded, 140 British officers were transferred from the Egyptian army and a Sudanese force was formed under the the first Kaid Lewa Huddleston who had previously been acting Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian army. The structure of the new force of about 6,000 troops was slightly different: a little looser and more territorial, to give a better esprit de corps and sense of responsibility in each 'Corps' for its own territory. Unlike the old battalions, with anonymous numbers, the names of the four main corps were Camel Corps, Eastern Arab Corps, Western Arab Corps and Equatorial Corps. These were intended to give a distinct, and regional, identity, like English county regiments. Recruitment in each Corps reflected the local ethnicities. These corps were supported by artillery, engineer, armoured car and machine-gun units, medical, signals and transport services.

However, some continuity was maintained. The Egypt ruler, the Khedive, or Viceroy, had been, nominally, a subject of the Ottoman Sultan and so the SDF continued Egyptian titles, which in turn continued Ottoman titles. The result was that British officers in the Sudan were called Bimbashi not Major, or an Arabic equivalent, and Kaimakam. Turkish expressions extended beyond the rank structure, too.