A Shawish (Sergeant) of the Egyptian Army.

[Vanuatu Blue]

This very rare Anglo-Egyptian Army, Sergeant's, trio of medals recently sold at auction in London, I have never seen another confirmed group like it in 30 odd years, also MID for Atwot operations.

Comments welcome, Regards, Brian.

Shawish, (Sergeant) Abu Bakr Isa Agha,

9th Sudanese Battalion, Egyptian Army.

Awards.

Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, East Africa 1915, named, (3245 Shawish Abu Bakr Isa Agha, 9 Sud. R.).

Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 1 clasp, Nyam-Nyam, edge named in Arabic Script, 3245.

Khedive’s Sudan 1910-22, 1st issue, 1 clasp, Atwot, unnamed as issued.

Nyam Nyam operations, 1st January to 31st May 1905.

Atwot operations, 9th February to 4th April 1910.

East Africa operations, 4th February to 28th May 1915.

Public Records Office. File WO100/407

Operations against the Atwot Tribe. SPECIAL ARMY ORDER.

(Effectively a Mention in Despatches).

Headquarters Khartoum 21^st June 1910.

The Acting Sirdar publishes to the Army, the following list of Officers, Non-commissioned Officers and Men whose names have been brought to the notice of His Highness the Khedive for their good services in connection with recent operations against the Atwot Tribe, Bahr-el-Ghazal.

9^th Sudanese

El Yusbashi, Mohamed Effendi Abdulla.

El Mulazim Awal, Mabruk Effendi khelil Obeid.

El Mulazim Tani, Hassan Effendi Mohammed.

No. 1923. Bash, Bash Shawish Mohammed Nur.

No. 2601. Shawish Ebd El Farrag Mohammed.

No. 2635. Shawish Sumit Mohammed Ali.

No. 2376. Shawish Abd El Rezak Ali.

No. 2265. Shawish Ali Bekhit.

No. 3245. Onbashi Abu Bakr Isa Agar.

No. 3240. Onbashi Fadl El Mula Kheir El Sid.

No. 2871. Onbashi Bekit Walad El Mek.

No. 2785. Onbashi Fadl El Mula Muma.

No. 3128. Onbashi Mirsal Hassan.

No. 3216. Nafar Ebd El Rahman Ahmed.

No. 3145. Nafar Abd El Radi Fadlalla.

No. 3336. Nafar Abd El Sid Ahmed.

By Order,

(Signed) C. R. G. Mayne, Kaimakam,

Assistant Adjutant-General

For, Adjutant-General

[oamotme]

Brian,

A very nice group indeed - Lot 1869 at the DNW auction on 21 June - estimated at 500-600 and hammer at 1,900 then plus 20% plus VAT - ouch.

There must have been two very keen bidders - commiserations to the underbidder and congratulations to the winner.

Owain

[paul wood]

Wonderful trio, expensive but worth every penny, as rare as rocking horse manure.

Paul

[Vanuatu Blue]

Owain,

You are absolutely right "Very Expensive" but will you ever see another one like it, I don’t think so !, with only 133 AGS medals with the clasp East Africa 1915 being awarded to the 9th Sudanese, plus the confirmed 1896 with clasp Nyam Nyam and confirmed Mentioned in Despatches 1910 medal clasp Atwot, it wont get any better than that.

Oh well Owain, I had to have it so he is now residing in my collection, good news is, have, already had an, if you ever sell I want it message.

Paul, yes as you eloquently put it, very rare group.

Best Regards, Brian.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Vanuatu Blue

[oamotme]

Good for you Brian, When I received the catalogue I had noted the group as one I was interested in, but budget dictated my focus was elsewhere. It is good to know it went to a good home and your research has proved that knowledge is indeed king. In Arabic "Alf Mabruk!" (A thousand congratulations!) Owain

[Vanuatu Blue]

Thanks Owain, am very pleased to have them.

For anyone interested, below is a description of the service for the award of the three medals.

Nyam Nyam (1 January – 31 May 1905).

In the autumn of 1903, a small escort conveying a number of presents for Sultan Yambio, the paramount Chief of the Nyam Nyam tribe, left Rumbek under the command of the late Captain Armstrong (Lancashire Fusiliers) for the purpose of entering into personal negotiations with the chieftain, and of course hoisting the British and Egyptian flags in this portion of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan which hitherto had not been effectively reoccupied for administrative purposes by the Sudan

Government. As the correspondence which had previously taken place between Sultan Yambio and the Sudan Government had been of so friendly a nature, the party was organized more on the lines of an embassy than of a fighting force.

Unfortunately, a few marches from Rumbek, Captain Armstrong was gored to death by an elephant, and the party had to proceed under the command of Colour-Sergeant Boardman (Liverpool Regiment). On entering Nyam Nyam territory the attitude of the natives was noticed to be hostile, and as the party penetrated further its march was dogged by armed bands whose numbers daily increased, a general attack being only averted by the determined attitude of the little force. Seeing the futility of attempting to carry out his instructions in face of this ever-increasing opposition, Colour-Sergeant Boardman (later to be awarded the D.C.M. for his services) skilfully withdrew his force by night and by covering 120 miles in four days managed to shake himself clear of the pursuing Nyam Nyams with slight casualties, but with the loss of the transport animals and baggage, including the presents for Yambio.

Following this reverse, in February 1904, a patrol of 100 men, with two Maxim machine-guns, under Captain Wood (Royal Irish Fusiliers), with Lieutenant Haymes as Principal Medical and Staff Officer, was sent in an attempt to re-open negotiations

with Yambio, and set out for the village of Rikta, Yambio’s son. The patrol reached Mimmobolo on 1 February, but received a somewhat unexpected check on reaching Rikta’s about 70 miles further south, or 142 miles south of Tonj, on 7 February. No

villages or inhabitants were met until reaching the first Nyam Nyam village (Sheikh Toin’s), 20 miles north of Rikta’s. Sheikh Toin was apparently friendly, but professed ignorance of the intentions and movements of Rikta, who sent Wood Bey on entering his district two almost valueless presents of very inferior ivory. These were refused. As the patrol approached Rikta’s village gunfire was suddenly opened up on them at a few yards range and almost simultaneously a number of spear and bowmen lying concealed in the Khor, charged the government troops. The result was hand-to-hand melee, from which the Nyam Nyam rapidly withdrew into the high grass with which the surrounding country was covered. The Maxims were quickly brought into action, and cleared the enemy from the high grass which was as soon as possible burnt. Bimbashi Haymes had received a dangerous gunshot wound in the head and one man of the XV Sudanese had been killed, whilst nine others were wounded, mostly by spears and arrows. The Nyam Nyam, who are said to have numbered about 50, left

behind six dead. Meanwhile after the two previous attempts at friendly overtures to Yambio had failed, it was clear that peaceful negotiations were out of the question, so it was decided to dispatch an expeditionary force in January 1905 to suitably impress the Nyam Nyam (Azande) with a show of force and permanently establish the authority of the Sudan Government in this area of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The force, which was placed under the command of Major W. A. Boulnois (Royal Artillery), Commandant and Governor of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, was organized in two columns. A Western Column, under Captain A. B. Bethell, Royal Artillery with 11 British officers and nearly 700 infantry and 4 Maxims, and an Eastern Column, under Captain A. Sutherland, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, with three British officers and about 150 men. The Eastern Column was ordered to advance from Rumbek via Mvolo into the eastern portion of the Nyam Nyam territory, engage the attention of Mangi, the most powerful son of Yambio, and by enforcing his submission, prevent him coming to the assistance of his father; whilst the Western Column, under the immediate command of Major Boulnois, advanced viâ Tambura and N'Doruma directly against Yambio himself. The Column was concentrated at Mvolo by 1 January, on which date it began its advance towards Mangi's. The Western Column completed its concentration at N'Doruma's, 255 miles south of Wau, in the third week in January, and began its advance to Yambio's on the 26th of that month. The Eastern Column marched southward along the Rhol River, mostly through uninhabited country. On 12 February the column crossed the Meridi River and proceeded westward to Mangi's village, where it effected a junction with the Western Column on the 25th. There was practically no serious opposition on the part of the Nyam Nyams to the advance of this column, which was attributable undoubtedly to the presence of the Congo Free State forces in their midst and to a heavy defeat which these forces had inflicted on them when attacking one of their posts a short time before. The Western Column reached Zugumbia on 30 January, where the sick and most of the transport and baggage were left under a guard, and advanced on 2 February with eight days' rations. On 3 February the mounted infantry scouts located an ambush of the enemy, who retired after a short skirmish. On 6 February a large force of Nyam Nyams was found massed to oppose the column, but retired on its determined advance on the 7th. Yambio's village was occupied, with Yambio fleeing into the bush. On the 8th a column under the late Lieutenant Fell (late R.N.) advanced, located Yambio himself, and dispersed his force again after a slight skirmish. That evening three columns went out to effect the capture of the Sultan, which was successfully accomplished by Major Carter's column, Yambio receiving a mortal wound in the skirmish, of which he died that night. By Yambio's death the country was relieved of a barbarous and cruel despotism which had pressed heavily on the people for many years. It was, therefore, hailed with satisfaction, as was evidenced by the numbers who, in a short time, came in gladly to Government and further resistance ended.

Atwot (9 February - 4 April 1910).

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, and three soldiers were killed, as were six of the attackers, and Ashwol escaped. The chief, by now somewhat of a hero, called on all the Dinka tribes to rise in rebellion, and throw off the yoke of foreign government. Encouraged and emboldened by the seditious preaching of Ashwol’s brother Dar, and by Ashwol’s own groups of travelling Dinka

‘magicians’ (also known as witch doctors), who prophesied the early demise of the government, virtually the whole of the Dinka nation rose in rebellion. In an attempt to find a peaceful solution, the Government Inspector in the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, Kaimakam H. R. Headlam, made approaches to the rebels but his advances were rebuffed by the Chief and the rebellion spread. Before long police patrols were being attacked, and rest houses destroyed. Headlam, far too short of resources to take action on his own, was forced to ask Khartoum for help.

A small patrol comprising of 160 officers and men was assembled in Khartoum, and left for Wau on 16 January 1910. On arrival it was re-enforced by the 150 or so troops already stationed there. This combined force was under the command of El Kaimakam W. J. St. J. Harvey Bey, of the Black Watch. In February, the patrol swept through the Atwot country, which was about 2,400 square miles in area, fighting a few minor skirmishes here and there, and confiscating large quantities of cattle.

Harvey also took over 100 warriors prisoner. Most of the operations centred on the country around Gnopp, southeast of Rumbek, between Yirrol and Amadi. In early March the revolt gradually petered out and in April, chief Ashwol himself finally surrendered. The chief was put under house arrest in Khartoum, and the government replaced him with a wealthy Dinka by the name of Diu. This imposed leader, having no personally earned authority, was duly ignored by the Dinka. When Diu was unable to get ‘his’ people back to clearing the roads and providing carriers for the government, he was himself replaced in 1913 by none other than the wily Ashwol who, while incarcerated under house arrest in Khartoum, managed to persuade the

government that his newly discovered loyalty to the administration was really genuine. An uneasy sort of peace descended over the Bahr-el-Ghazal province. However, over the years Ashwol’s stature, which had been bolstered and strengthened by his leadership of the rebellion and subsequent imprisonment in Khartoum, slowly declined in the light of his new found loyalty to the government. The young Dinka warriors, to whom raiding, fighting and cattle rustling were a manly way of life

could not be restrained for long, and in 1917, by now under the sway of more influential leaders, they again rose in rebellion, this time with far more devastating effects.

East Africa 1915 (4 February-28 May 1915).

Two medals with this clasp awarded to British officers of the Egyptian Army and 133 Native Soldiers of the 9^th Sudanese Battalion, Egyptian Army.

With the embodiment of the Sudan Defence Force in 1925, ‘Darfur 1921’ was the last clasp to be issued for the Khedives Sudan 1910 Medal, and the last Medal to be issued to British military personnel for service in the Sudan, although they could still be awarded the Order of the Nile when appropriate. Sudanese Regiments of the Egyptian Army were only used outside of the Sudan on two occasions, both of them against the Turkhana tribes on the Uganda and British East Africa borders. At the request of the Governor of Uganda, a company and a half of the IXth Sudanese were sent to Madial, Morongole and Kitgum to protect the northern frontier of Uganda from raiding Dodinga tribesmen. These troops left Mongalla on 21 September 1914. A detachment consisting of two British officers, Bimbashi (Major) D. A. Fairbairn and H. F. C. Hobbs, both of the West Riding Regiment, along with two Egyptian

officers, Yuzbashi (Captain) Sherif and Mulazim Awal (Lieutenant) Hafez, with 67 N.C.O.’s and men. They assisted in military operations against the Turkhana raiders commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel W. F. S. Edwards, D.S.O., of the Kings African

Rifles, undertaken along the shores of Lake Rudolf during April and May 1915. The Uganda force consisted of 491 officers and men, including the elements of the IXth Sudanese Infantry under the command of Fairbairn. As is often the case in this

type of operation, a great deal of trekking, but little actual fighting was done.

At the conclusion of the Turkhana operations, one company of the IXth Sudanese under Bimbashi Hobbs was left as a garrison at Madial, with Bimbashi Fairbairn and the remaining troops returned to the Sudan. The valuable services performed

by this Sudanese detachment was cordially acknowledged by the Government of Uganda.