The Pacification of the Sudan.
Governor-general Reginald Wingate was the architect of a prosperous Sudan. His gradual pacification oversaw the spreading of the rule of government throughout the country, and, more or less, the keeping the peace. The latter was more easily said than done, as a large proportion of the several hundred tribes which populate the Sudan were either traditional enemies, or tribes who preyed on their weaker neighbours, thriving on murder, robbery, slavery and cattle theft. The tribes, and many of their leaders, were only looking out for their own power and influence, and usually indifferent to the plight of anyone else. In the light of more modern warfare, many of these latter policing operations pale into insignificance, and it may well be that according to present day conceptions, sometimes less vigourous methods might have been employed. However, that as it may be, conditions and sensitivities then were not what they are now, and modern 20:20 hindsight can be rather a harsh and unjust judge. Much of this vast country was unknown and unexplored. There were no helicopters to move troops to and from the scenes of' operations, communications were poor, and sickness took a heavy toll on administrators. When out on patrol one was on one’s own, and stood on your own two feet, with absolutely no chance of the speedy backup normally expected today. A single young British lieutenant (always given the local rank of bimbashi – major), supported only by one or two native officers, could be in control of an area larger than the United Kingdom, and having to make decisions, rightly or wrongly, “on the spot" with no time to seek guidance from higher authority. It must be conceded that the security and economic stability that the Sudan enjoyed up to the time of its independence in 1956, was in no small measure to the fairness of the governance of the country, as well as to the "patrols" undertaken by the Egyptian Army, and its successor the Sudan Defence Force.
Admittedly the Sudan was drawn into the British sphere of influence because of wider imperial political
considerations, but this was with a genuine reluctance on the part of the British, but once in charge, the British tried their best to govern the country well. As one would expect, the re-occupied areas were initially under the control of the Egyptian Army, which of course was run by the British. This in the longer term was not a really satisfactory arrangement, as experienced British officers serving in the Egyptian Army were liable to recall by the War Office at short notice, as is evident by what happened following “black week” during the South African War. To minimise the disruptive effect this sort of situation would have on the continuity of administration in the Sudan, a new administrative service, the famous Sudan Political Service, known to all as the SPS, was founded. Right from the start, and unlike the Indian Civil Service, the SPS only accepted the best graduates that British colleges could provide. Selection was not guaranteed however academically well qualified the applicant was, with the final decision being made by someone with considerable Sudan experience who felt that the applicant was suitable for the demanding position. Between 1899 and 1956 only 393 men were deemed suitable – an average of only seven per annum. This policy, arguably provided the basis for one of the most dedicated, practical and successful administrative bodies in the world. There was also a small number of British officers of the Egyptian Army taken on to the permanent cadre of the Sudan Government, and while they continued to wear army uniform, they all wore the Turkish-Egyptian “tarbush” hat, also known as a “fez” as a tribute to the this connection.
THE KHEDIVE’S SUDAN MEDAL 1910-22
On 12 June 1911, under Special Army Order No. 1, The Egyptian Khedive Abbas Hilmi the Second promulgated the award of a new medal to be known as The Sudan Medal, 1910 to replace the old large Sudan Medal, issued under Special Army Order of 12 February 1897, which had in many cases become too cumbersome to wear, especially when carrying up to 10 clasps. A new design was to be used with the obverse bearing the Khedive’s Togra (signature) in Arabic. The medal was be mounted from a swivel suspender, and issued in silver or bronze, as appropriate. Bronze Medals would not be awarded clasps, but Silver Medals would be issued with clasps where appropriate.
The story of the pacification of the Sudan now continues with the rekindling of unrest in the Atwot Dinka country, part of the Bahr el Ghazal (Gazelle River) Province in the far South, where a bitter old man was to start a chain of events which would, a decade later, bring down a devastating retribution onto the Dinka people.
Atwot (9 February - 4 April 1910) 14 clasps awarded to British officers - not held in this collection.
Early in 1902, Atwot Dinka irregulars of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province had assisted the government forces in the suppression of the Agar Dinka uprising, and as a result were considered to be a fairly loyal bunch. Being in the very early days of the condominium administration, it was not fully realised at the time that this Atwot ‘assistance’ was not so much out of loyalty to the new government, but more out of an opportunity to enrich themselves with Agar cattle, an age old tradition in the southern Sudan.
Unfortunately for the Atwot, by 1907 they were under the rule of a rather eccentric old Chief, named Awo, who ordered his people not to pay herd tax, and to stop clearing the mail roads of vegetation - a task which was counted as part of their overall taxation. Awo also ordered his Atwot to kill all government mail carriers passing through the region. As soon as they heard of what was going on, the government quickly despatched a military patrol to sort things out, but as the old chief suddenly died, the unrest fizzled out without any serious action and the patrol returned to base. Subsequently the government imposed a fine of cattle on the miscreant Dinka, equal to the cost of sending the patrol, and things went quiet for a time.
This fine, however, continued to rankle in the minds of some of the young Atwot hotheads, a perceived indignity which was stirred up into open defiance some two years later, by another chief named Ashwol. In 1909 the government demand for the road clearing to continue was again met by outright refusal, so troops were sent, and Ashwol arrested for fermenting rebellion. On their way back to Wau with their prisoner, the patrol was ambushed by the Loitch clan of the Atwot Dinka,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138