THE SUDAN CAMPAIGN 1896-1908 35
The Great War D.S.O. group of five awarded to Colonel B. W. Y. Danford, Royal Engineers, who took part in the Talodi expedition and commanded a Tunnelling Company in the Great War, becoming Inspector of Mines on the Western Front: he was shot and badly wounded in 1920, while trying to escape after being kidnapped by the I.R.A., along with General Lucas
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER, G.V.R.; 1914 STAR, with clasp (Major B. W. Y. Danford, R.E.); BRITISHWAR AND VICTORY MEDALS, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col. B. W. Y. Danford); KHEDIVE’S SUDAN 1896-1908, 1 clasp, Talodi, unnamed, mounted court style, good very fine (5)
£2000-2500 D.S.O. London Gazette 3 June 1916.
M.I.D. London Gazette 22 June 1915; 1 January 1916; 15 June 1916; 11 December 1917.
Bertram William Young Danford was born on 6 June 1875. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Engineers, on 17 August 1894, becoming Lieutenant in August 1897, and Captain in April 1904.
He was seconded to the Egyptian Army on 6 April 1905, where he became Assistant Director of Military Works, Sudan. Following the defeat of the Khalifa, Khartoum was rebuilt by a department of works administered by Royal Engineers, and Omdurman city was cleansed and improved. A small unit of Mechanical Transport was formed by Danford.
In the summer of 1905, he was attached to a small mixed force which was sent from El Obeid to suppress a revolt at Talodi, in the turbulent area known as the Nuba Mountains, against the Abu Rufas. The expedition was under the Command of Captain (Local Major) J. R. O’Connel, with seven other British Officers, 380 Camelry and 150 men of the XIIth Sudanese Infantry. They left El Obeid on 2 June, reached Talodi on the 12th and finally put an end to the uprising at Eliri on the 15th.
Danford was based in Kordofan province from January 1906 to June 1907, and was appointed Assistant Director of Military Works in January 1907, when the Military and Public Works departments were split. During his later time in Khartoum great strides were made in rebuilding the place with a considerable amount being achieved before he returned to the home establishment in April 1910.
As a Major, Danford served as Adjutant, H.Q. 6th Division from 5 August 1914 until 18 March 1915, seeing service in France, after which time he took Command of the newly formed 174th Tunnelling Company and went into action almost at once at Houplines, in the III Corps area. At first most of their work was defensive, designed to keep German miners at a healthy distance. During this time 174 Company had several encounters with the enemy. In May 1915 they had some exciting moments in the Ploegsteert sector when the enemy fired a mine which damaged one of their galleries, cutting off nine men who were working near the face.
Rescue was soon put in hand by Danford, with short shifts of men working at top pressure. Fortunately, the armoured hose pipe had not been damaged by the explosion, which meant that not only could a supply of air to the entombed men be maintained, but their morale was kept up by the use of the pipe as a speaking tube, telling confidently of the desperate efforts of their comrades to rescue them. Thus encouraged, they themselves worked valiantly from their end. The gallery was a mess of broken timbers, but after thirty six hours, over 100 feet had been repaired or re-driven, while the entombed men had cleared no less than 30 feet. Hungry, but otherwise unhurt, all the nine men were liberated and after a night’s rest took up their normal place in the next shift.
On 24 July 1915, Danford and his Company moved to the Somme Front and established Headquarters at Bray. He took over from the French no less than 66 shafts at Carnoy, Fricourt, Maricourt and Le Boisselle, and received a warm reception from the enemy, who could be heard plainly at work all around. The enemy was particularly active in these sectors and very aggressive, constantly firing camouflets, which usually succeeded in destroying not only the galleries, but shafts also.
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