Operations continued throughout the first few months of 1918, until, in March, the patrol made a surprise attack on Mathiang’s base at Lwell, 30 miles from Rumbek. The attack was a success, with over 60 Dinka being killed, and 1400 head of cattle captured. Mathiang however escaped. The punitive expedition then turned its attentions on Mathiang’s followers, the Atwot Dinka. Two columns scoured the Atwot country, destroying the rebel villages and confiscating their cattle. Loyal Dinka villages were not touched. The following months were punctuated by small bloody skirmishes, not without casualties on the government side. On 10 April, while leading a patrol operating on the east bank of the Lau river, about 10 miles north-east of Gnopp, Captain G. Lawton, East Surrey Regiment, received a spear wound from which he subsequently died. In all, the government forces lost about a dozen men. The patrols gradually broke the rebels down, and by the end of April over 300 Dinka had been killed, thousands of head of stock captured, and hundreds of rebel huts destroyed. On 24 May Dio Alam surrendered, and two days later, along with his brothers and principal followers, so did Mathiang. The Dinka rebellion was over.
Garjak Nuer (13 May 1919-26 April 1920) 31 clasps awarded to British army officers, five to R.A.F. aircrew officers, and 19 Medals without clasp to R.A.F. other ranks.
For those who incline to the practice of non co-operation and splendid isolation there is no stretch of country in the Sudan more suitable than the Eastern Nuer District of the Upper Nile Province, and it offers the additional attraction of an international boundary across which ill-disposed persons can slip when things become too warm for them in the Sudan. There are also some inoffensive people close at hand, the Burun who, in the past, could be raided without great fear of retaliation. The area in question lies east of Nasser on the Sobat river, and north of it and the Baro river as far as the Yabus river, with Abyssinia bounding it to the east.
The raids of the Garjak Nuer on these Burun in 1919 necessitated the intervention of the Sudan Government, and a patrol was sent to restore law and order. The attitude of the other Nuer in the area was uncertain and account had to be taken of the possibility of the tribesmen seeking refuge across the frontier in Abyssinia. Two columns were employed. The Southern, under the command of Major C. R. K. Bacon, O.B.E., Royal West Surrey Regiment, established itself at Khor Machar, west of Jokau on the north bank of the Baro river, whilst the Northern column, dis-embarking at Melut, under the command of Major G. G. Cobden, 9th Lancers, proceeded eastwards and occupied Danga on the Yabus river. Operations continued until the end of April 1920, when Major Bacon was able to report that the authority of Government had been completely re- established. Casualties suffered by the army included Major C. R. K. Bacon, Queen’s Regiment, Captain H. B. H. White, D.S.O., Royal West Kent Regiment, and Lieutenant D. H. Wise, M.C., 18th Hussars, wounded.
Because of the vast size and inhospitable terrain of the Garjak Nuer country, the Sirdar and Governor- General, Sir Lee Stack, requested the Air Ministry to provide air support. His request was no doubt influenced by the success of the R.F.C. during the Darfur operations in 1916. As a result of this request, on 2 December 1919, “H” unit Royal Air Force was formed in Cairo. The unit consisted of five officers, 18 other ranks (and a medical orderly was added later), six Egyptian servants, and three crated D.H.9 aeroplanes, of which one was a spare. The personnel were drawn from various units stationed in Egypt and Palestine and Acting Squadron Leader R. M. Drummond, D.S.O., M.C., was appointed to command the unit. The unit was to be attached to the Egyptian Army, who would be liable for all the costs of the expedition. By the 15th the party was on its way to Port Sudan.
The unit arrived at Nasser, via Khartoum on 3 January 1920, where assembly of the first aeroplane was begun. By the 25th the two aeroplanes were assembled and air tested, and the unit ready for action. And on the 31 January the first reconnaissance flights were made.
Aliab Dinka (8 November 1919-6 May 1920) 36 clasps awarded to British officers.
On the morning of 30 October 1919 Wenkamon Post, Upper Nile Province, was attacked by about 3,000 Aliab Dinka tribesmen. The small garrison fought back, but in the face of the overwhelming numerical superiority of the attackers, the officer in charge evacuated the post and led his men to refuge on a small island in the main branch of the Nile. From here he made contact with Bor on the east bank from where the news was sent to the Provincial Headquarters at Mongalla. At about the same time, some members of the Mandari tribe, which was based south of the Aliab country, attacked and murdered some telegraph linesmen and province policemen.
It actually transpired that the whole of the Aliab country had unexpectedly risen in revolt, and had been joined by the Northern branch of the Manderi tribe. The Bor Dinka based on the east bank of the Nile were, for the moment, sitting on the fence to see what would happen. They did not have to wait long. On 8 November a force of the Equitorial Battalion under Major R. F. White, Essex Regiment, reached Tombe to be joined on the 12th by a second force under the command of Brevet Major F. C. Roberts, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., Worcestershire Regiment, with Captain Wynne-Finch, Scots Guards, as his second in command. To find out exactly what the attitude of the Dinka on the east bank was, Roberts, along with Major C. H. Stigand, O.B.E., Governor of Mongalla, undertook a reconnaissance amongst the Alit section before rejoining the main force at Tombe.
The country inhabited by the Nilotic tribes of the Southern Sudan is composed for the most part of vast plains, which in the wet weather are turned into swamps with vast grass and reed beds, mostly six to ten feet high. Visibility is therefore extremely limited, unless the grass is sufficiently dry to be burnt off, and even then there is nearly always some sort of reasonable cover available.
On 8 December, whilst advancing in loose square formation, the force was suddenly charged by hordes of Dinka warriors, who had managed to creep up through the long grass unobserved. The civilian carriers in the middle of the square panicked and along with their animals ran about screaming and shouting, with the result that there was chaos inside the square, and Dinka attacking from outside. In the confusion which reigned before order could be restored, and the Dinka attack beaten back, Majors Stigand and White along with Youzbashi Saad Effendi Osman were mortally wounded. It was obvious that the expedition could not continue, so it was decided to return to Tombe to regroup. The force had to fight its way back for much of the time, but eventually reached Tombe on 13 December.
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