Hello to one and all on PF ,
After what has been a really hectic post Euro month with work and family things I can at last get back to sharing releases with you .
This threads subject has been out a little while but is still well worth me sharing my thought on it .
What are we looking at ...A subject from the mid 19th century who fought in a war that happened in the Sudan in 1885 namely a:
Grenadier Guard Camel Private 1885 from Grenadier Miniatures :
As I like to lets have a bit of background on this period , the war was fought against a fantatic namely the self proclaimed Mahdi called Muhammad Ahmad
......on 7 June they were against the strong Egyptian Army who were so confident they camped within sight of the enemy without sentrys being put out ...the result being a dawn raid by the Mahdi's army which left a devastating mass of bodies with no survivors whasoever .
The British Governor of the Sudan was of course General Gordon
who was killed at Khartoum .
The battle of Abu Klea
was fought in 1885 as a bid to rescue Gordon The British force numbered 1,400 against a Sudanese army of around 14,000 of which some 3,000 actually attacked the British square.
Uniforms, arms and equipment: The British Camel Corps wore grey tunics, cord breeches and helmets stained brown. The infantry of the Sussex Regiment wore khaki tunics. The British troops were all armed with Martini-Henry single shot rifles and 22 inch bayonets, both infantry and cavalry, and mounted on camels, except the 19th Hussars which carried carbines and swords and was mounted on horses. The Mahdist Sudanese carried spears and swords and the Remington single shot rifles they had captured from the Egyptians.
British Regiments:
The Heavy Camel Corps, comprising Household Cavalry, Dragoon Guards, Dragoons and Lancers.
The Guards Camel Corps, comprising Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards and Royal Marine Light Infantry.
The Mounted Infantry Camel Corps, drawn from the infantry regiments stationed in Egypt.
1st Battalion the Sussex Regiment
3 guns of the Royal Artillery
A Royal Navy contingent with a Gardiner Gun (a cranked machine gun similar to the Gatling).
Although members of so many British regiments fought at Abu Klea in the Camel Corps, the only regiments to have the battle honour are the 19th Hussars and the Sussex Regiment.
The Desert Column suffered from inadequate equipment. The Gardner gun that jammed in the battle was the same Gardiner that had jammed at Tamai the year before. The small arms ammunition used by the column was of poor quality and caused frequent jams in the Martini-Henry rifles. The bayonets were of sub-standard material and bent during the battle. They were insufficiently sharp.
22 regiments provided the personnel (1,789 officers and men) for the 4 regiments of the Camel Corps. An officer described the corps as ‘London society on camels’. The corps fired the imagination of late Victorian England and officers, many of them peers, unable to serve in the campaign with their regiments, volunteered for the Camel Corps. While the troops were meant to be the best available, some regiments sent their throw-outs. The commanding officer of the 2nd Life Guards assigned the regiment’s drunks to the Camel Corps on the basis that they would be unlikely to find alcohol in the desert.
The Camel Corps caused enormous interest and comment in Britain. It was referred to as the ‘Nile Circus’. Lord Wolseley fuelled the mirth by ordering 1,000 white umbrellas to keep the desert sun off the corps. The regimental march selected for the corps was the Scottish air ‘The Campbells are coming’. This was transposed to ‘The Camels are coming’.
The Heavy Regiment of the Camel Corps was drawn from 10 regiments of cavalry: 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards
, the Royal Horse Guards, the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), 4th Dragoon Guards, 5th Dragoon Guards, 1st Royal Dragoons, the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys), the 16th Lancers and the 5th Lancers.
As you might gather at times the Camel Corps troops were looked on as rather an oddity but they used the best vehicle available ...the camel .
I would recommed that you read if you wish the following book :
"The Camel Corp up the Nile " by Lieut. Count Gleichon who served in the Grenadier Guards..a truely great insight into the campaign and the regiments role within it .
Continued in next post:
Nap
After what has been a really hectic post Euro month with work and family things I can at last get back to sharing releases with you .
This threads subject has been out a little while but is still well worth me sharing my thought on it .
What are we looking at ...A subject from the mid 19th century who fought in a war that happened in the Sudan in 1885 namely a:
Grenadier Guard Camel Private 1885 from Grenadier Miniatures :
As I like to lets have a bit of background on this period , the war was fought against a fantatic namely the self proclaimed Mahdi called Muhammad Ahmad
......on 7 June they were against the strong Egyptian Army who were so confident they camped within sight of the enemy without sentrys being put out ...the result being a dawn raid by the Mahdi's army which left a devastating mass of bodies with no survivors whasoever .The British Governor of the Sudan was of course General Gordon
who was killed at Khartoum .
The battle of Abu Klea
Uniforms, arms and equipment: The British Camel Corps wore grey tunics, cord breeches and helmets stained brown. The infantry of the Sussex Regiment wore khaki tunics. The British troops were all armed with Martini-Henry single shot rifles and 22 inch bayonets, both infantry and cavalry, and mounted on camels, except the 19th Hussars which carried carbines and swords and was mounted on horses. The Mahdist Sudanese carried spears and swords and the Remington single shot rifles they had captured from the Egyptians.
British Regiments:
The Heavy Camel Corps, comprising Household Cavalry, Dragoon Guards, Dragoons and Lancers.
The Guards Camel Corps, comprising Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards and Royal Marine Light Infantry.
The Mounted Infantry Camel Corps, drawn from the infantry regiments stationed in Egypt.
1st Battalion the Sussex Regiment
3 guns of the Royal Artillery
A Royal Navy contingent with a Gardiner Gun (a cranked machine gun similar to the Gatling).
Although members of so many British regiments fought at Abu Klea in the Camel Corps, the only regiments to have the battle honour are the 19th Hussars and the Sussex Regiment.
The Desert Column suffered from inadequate equipment. The Gardner gun that jammed in the battle was the same Gardiner that had jammed at Tamai the year before. The small arms ammunition used by the column was of poor quality and caused frequent jams in the Martini-Henry rifles. The bayonets were of sub-standard material and bent during the battle. They were insufficiently sharp.
22 regiments provided the personnel (1,789 officers and men) for the 4 regiments of the Camel Corps. An officer described the corps as ‘London society on camels’. The corps fired the imagination of late Victorian England and officers, many of them peers, unable to serve in the campaign with their regiments, volunteered for the Camel Corps. While the troops were meant to be the best available, some regiments sent their throw-outs. The commanding officer of the 2nd Life Guards assigned the regiment’s drunks to the Camel Corps on the basis that they would be unlikely to find alcohol in the desert.
The Camel Corps caused enormous interest and comment in Britain. It was referred to as the ‘Nile Circus’. Lord Wolseley fuelled the mirth by ordering 1,000 white umbrellas to keep the desert sun off the corps. The regimental march selected for the corps was the Scottish air ‘The Campbells are coming’. This was transposed to ‘The Camels are coming’.
The Heavy Regiment of the Camel Corps was drawn from 10 regiments of cavalry: 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards
As you might gather at times the Camel Corps troops were looked on as rather an oddity but they used the best vehicle available ...the camel .
I would recommed that you read if you wish the following book :
"The Camel Corp up the Nile " by Lieut. Count Gleichon who served in the Grenadier Guards..a truely great insight into the campaign and the regiments role within it .
Continued in next post:
Nap
