THE SUDAN DEFENCE FORCE
In the aftermath of the Great War considerable anti-British unrest broke out in Egypt which spilt over into the Sudan. In 1920 the British authorities developed plans for the removal of most Egyptian officials and Egyptian troops from the Sudan and of Egyptian officers from the Sudanese Units, leading to the formation of a Sudanese Army with British and, in increasing numbers, Sudanese officers. However, it was not until 1924 following the assassination in Cairo of Ferik Sir Lee Stack Pasha, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army and Governor-General of the Sudan, and a serious mutiny among Sudanese troops in Khartoum, that these plans were put into effect. Thus, in January 1925, the Sudan Defence Force (S.D.F.) was formed and about 140 British officers were transferred to it from the Egyptian Army under the first Kaid (G.O.C.) Lewa Huddleston Pasha, who had been Acting Sirdar of the Egyptian Army following the assassination of Sir Lee Stack. A small number of British officers under an Inspector-General, Lewa Spinks Pasha, remained with the Egyptian Army in a largely supervisory role until 1936.
The new force of approximately 6,000 officers and men was made up of four principal corps, the Camel Corps, Eastern Arab Corps, Western Arab Corps and Equatorial Corps, all, with the exception of the Camel Corps, being recruited locally as their prefixes suggest. These were supported by artillery, engineer, armoured car and machine-gun units, medical, signals and transport services. On Independence in 1956 all British officers were withdrawn and the Sudan Defence Force ceased to exist.
With the formation of the ‘Sudanised’ S.D.F., and the return of all Egyptian soldiers back north, it was obvious that in future to issue Egyptian Medals would not be appropriate, nor would British ones. As usual a neat compromise was reached, the necessary awards would be instituted locally by the Governor-General, and approved for issue by the Kaid El’Amm, the commander of the Sudan Defence Force. No British forces would be entitled to these Medals.
The Defence of the Sudan and Abyssinian campaign
On 10th June 1940, Mussolini declared war on Great Britain and France in the belief that France was nearly beaten by the Germans, and that Great Britain would soon be. Now, he felt, was the time to realise his ambition of an Italian empire in Africa, which he saw as encompassing both the Sudan and Egypt, as well as North Africa.
Early in July, 10,000 Italian troops from Eritrea crossed the Sudanese border to capture the town of Kassala. Opposing them were 3 motor machine gun, and one Mounted infantry companies of the SDF, about 600 men in all. The tactic chosen by General Platt, the Kaid El’Amm, was to fight and run, guerrilla style, as any pitched fight against such overwhelming odds was pointless, especially as the Italians also had air power, whereas the nearest RAF base was hundreds of miles away on the Red Sea.
The Italians also seized the small British fort at Gallabat, just over the border from Metemma, some 200 miles (320 km) to the south of Kassala, and the villages of Ghezzan, Kurmuk and Dumbode on the Blue Nile. Having taken Kassala and Gallabat the Italians decided not to venture any further because of the fear of sand storms coupled with a lack of fuel, so decided for the moment to simply to fortify Kassala with anti-tank defences, machine-gun posts, and strong-points. The front line was now nearly 1200 miles long, defended by some 6000 Sudanese, and 2500, Europeans, with only little light artillery, and no tanks or aircraft, against a potential force of 100,000 Italians with 200 aircraft.
On 16 October 1940, Gazelle Force was created as a mobile reconnaissance and fighting force. It comprised three motor machine-gun companies from the SDF, along with the 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse, and some mobile artillery. Other mobile forces were also formed, with exotic names like “Meadow Force” “Bakr Force” “Gideon Force” and “Frosty Force” and thanks to their speed of action, and their hit and run tactics, and planted misinformation, convinced the Italians that the Sudan was defended by very substantial numbers of troops. Their stories make fascinating reading. These defensive ploys, coupled with a fairly inept Italian campaign coupled with their reluctance to fight over hostile terrain, meant that the invaders did not move very far into the Sudan before British and Indian Army reinforcements and aircraft began to arrive.
By January 1941 sufficient reinforcements had arrived in the Sudan for full scale counter attacks to begin on two fronts. In two months the Italians were pushed back over the border into Abyssinia on both fronts. However the northern advance was brought more or less to a halt when the heights of Keren were reached. This almost impassable Abyssinian mountain range was easily fortified and defended by the Italians with their superior numbers of troops and artillery - and here it was that the Italians did find their “fighting spirit”. It took the allied forces a further two months of desperate, bloody, fighting to finally overcome this barrier and capture Massowa.
Addis Ababa fell on the 6th April, and Emperor Haile Selassie returned to his capital shortly afterwards. Amongst his escorting troops, were men of the SDF.
In the South the advance reached Gondar after long sustained mountain fighting, and Italian resistance collapsed. A Sudan Column was supporting the attack on the southern front from Gallabat in the West.
The official report of the Abyssinian Campaign states: “If the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan had gone, the supply lines to the Middle East up the Red Sea and across Africa from Takoradi to Khartoum would have gone too. Egypt itself would have become untenable. ………. General Platt and his men succeeded in bluffing the Italians into thinking that our forces were far stronger than in fact they were. This difficult and vital task fell mainly upon the motor machine gun companies – incidentally a purely Sudanese force with only two British officers to each company. They deserve in the Battle for Africa the same tribute as the prime Minister paid to the fighter pilots of the R.A.F. in the Battle of Britain: for rarely has “so much been owed by so many to so few”.
In 1956 the Sudan became an independent country, the old SDF was broken up, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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