Less than a week later, on the 27th, Fiki Ali was apprehended, taken to Talodi, where he was tried for rebellion, and sentenced to death by hanging. At the request of the local Mudir, Capt. R. S. Wilson, it was agreed that the sentence would be carried out at Kadugli, to serve as an example to the Mek’s followers. During the journey the wily Fiki Ali, still a man of some influence, contrived to escape from his escort at a town called Kororak. The Governor-General felt that the escape must have been as a result of collusion between the prisoner and his army guard and as such, was a slur on the integrity of the Egyptian Army as a whole, so he ordered the affair hushed up. Fiki Ali, with his little band of followers, however, soon reverted to the old ways, and managed to make a complete nuisance of himself by raiding defenceless villages in the neighbourhood of Kadugli.
As a result of Wingate’s orders to settle the matter quietly, the Acting Governor, Major F. C. C. Balfour, arranged a meeting with Fiki Ali, in an attempt to settle the whole sorry affair by diplomacy. The meeting was held in an a wide open Wady where Balfour and Captain Owen Conran, Royal Lancaster Regiment, having sent their police escort back about a quarter of a mile, calmly ensconced themselves in a couple of deck chairs to await developments. When some of the Nuba appeared, Conran pluckily walked forward visibly unarmed to meet them. The Nubas, who had riflemen behind almost every rock, thought this brave foolhardiness to be absolutely hilarious. However the ploy worked, and following some brief negotiations, the Fiki Ali, his brother Idris, and their eight younger brothers all agreed to surrender. As a result, Fiki Ali’s death sentence was commuted to banishment to the northern town of Wadi Halfa, where hopefully he would be kept out of trouble. He was, in the end, replaced as King of the Nuba, not because the government had planned it, but as a result of his own foolishness. In the 1920’s Ali was allowed to return to Kadugli, but seems to have remained a dangerous troublemaker, so he was moved to Dilling, where he died in 1936.
Darfur 1916 (31 March-31 October 1916) and Fasher (15-23 May 1916)
The Medal was awarded without clasp to the garrison of El Obeid, and to detachments of the R.F.C. and R.A.S.C. who were based at Rahad between 1 March and 31 December 1916 - thus 13 Medals awarded to officers and 90 to other ranks.
The clasp “Darfur 1916” was awarded to those who were part of the Western Frontier force under El Lewa Kelly, and/or who were at Nahud, or west of it, between 1 March and 31 December 1916, and those under the command of Bimbashi Wylie, and subsequently Bimbashi Lamb, in Dongola Province between 31 March and 31 October 1916 - thus 90 clasps awarded to officers and 215 to other ranks.
The clasp “Fasher” was awarded to those who were west of Abiad, 15-23 May 1916 - thus 32 clasps to officers, all 2-clasp Medals, and 23 to other ranks.
In the Sudan there are few if any secrets. Sultan Ali Dinar, who ruled the more or less autonomous Sudanese region of Darfur could not resist the temptation of trying to expand his authority along the border with Kordofan while he felt that the British were tied up in the great war with the Ottoman Empire. To this end he had met with envoys of the Senussi tribes of the Western Desert, who were already in revolt against their Anglo-Egyptian rulers, and in regular contact with Turkey. The final straw came in early 1915, when Ali Dinar received a letter dated, 15 February, from Enver Pasha calling upon him to co-operate with Turkey and her Allies in the prosecution of the war against Britain. Envoys from the Senussi tribes, who were fighting a war of their own with the British in the Western Desert, had also reached Darfur. Sir Reginald Wingate, still Governor-General of the Sudan, and expert spymaster, who was of course keeping a close eye on the situation in Darfur, soon knew all about the letter, and fearing that Ali Dinar was about to become a pawn in Turkish ambitions, and probably invade the Kordofan, decided to act. Aggressive incidents along the border of Kordofan and Darfur no doubt also helped him come to a decision.
Wingate decided to send a large expeditionary force to resolve the problem once and for all, and despatched a mixed force of all arms to Nahud, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel P. V. Kelly, 3rd Hussars, with orders to subdue the Sultanate. The far thinking Wingate also requested a section of the Royal Flying Corps with four crated aircraft. As the force moved westwards, on 2 April Burush was occupied by a mounted column and Um Kedada on the 4th. Meleit was occupied on 18 May. On the 22nd Ali Dinar was found to be occupying a strong, well dug-in position about 12 miles north of his capital Fasher, based on the village of Beringia. His strength was estimated at 3,500 rifles, the best of his army. The Egyptian force was composed of 60 Mounted Infantry, eight field guns, 14 machine-guns, four Companies of Camel Corps with a further two machine-guns, and eight Companies of Infantry.
When a Company of Camel Corps reconnoitring Beringia village came under heavy fire and was forced to retire, Dinar’s men broke cover, and advanced. He was soon heavily engaged by the main Egyptian force. Undeterred, the Fur pressed home their attack with fanatical bravery, many only falling within 10 yards of the Egyptian Army’s line. At noon the attack wavered, and a general advance was sounded, whereupon the remnants of the enemy scattered in all directions and the rout became general. On 23 May Fasher itself was occupied, but Ali Dinar with a substantial following had made good his escape.
On 1 September, a force consisting of 18 officers, including four British, with 486 other ranks, under the command of Major W. H. Cowan, Cameron Highlanders, left El Fasher to conduct a reconnaissance towards Kebkebia. On the 14th a force under Major Huddleston, Dorset Regiment, occupied Dibbis, south-west of Zalingei, having first surprised and routed an enemy force of 100 rifles and 1,000 Fur spear-men.
Ali Dinar and his son Zakaria were reported by spies to be encamped in the region of Kulme, 40 miles west of Dibbis, so on 1 November, Major Huddleston along with the three other British officers, 280 riflemen, two field guns and two machine- guns left for Kulme. Some opposition was encountered on the way, but at Kulme itself the quarry was found to be gone, and the place in great confusion. Four days later, on 5 November, having left an occupying garrison, Huddlestone left Kulme in pursuit of the elusive Emir. He was accompanied by Captain J. O. Thorburn, R.H.A., 120 rifles, 18 Camel Corps Mounted Infantry, 12 men of the Arab Battalion, one field gun and four machine-guns. The following dawn he surprised Ali Dinar at his camp at Guibe, some 30 miles south-west of Kulme. The camp was enfiladed with machine-gun fire, and a running fight ensued. This time there was no escape for Ali Dinar, his body being found a short distance from the camp. Although his son Zakaria escaped in the confusion, he finally surrendered to Major Huddlestone on the 23rd. The surrender of Zakaria brought about the close of the military operations in the interior of Darfur.
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