Sudan Defence Force

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Sudan Defence Force
Undated photo of inspection of SDF honour guard by Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
Active1925–1956
CountryUnited KingdomKingdom of Egypt Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Allegiance British Empire
Branch British Colonial Auxiliary Forces
TypeLine infantry
RoleLight infantry
Garrison/HQKhartoum
Nickname(s)SDF
Insignia
Flag of the Sudan Defence Force (1925–1956)

The Sudan Defence Force (SDF) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces unit raised in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1925 to assist local police in internal security duties and maintain the condominium's territorial integrity. During World War II, it also served in East Africa as part of the East African campaign and in North Africa during the Western Desert campaign.[1]

Establishment

Between 1898 and 1925 Sudanese soldiers served in separate infantry battalions of the Egyptian Army, under British and Egyptian officers. These were designated as either "Sudanese Battalions" or "Arab Battalions" according to their region of recruitment within the Sudan. By contrast to the bulk of the Egyptian Army, who were recruited through annual conscription, the Sudanese units enlisted only long-serving volunteers.[2]

Following a mutiny of Sudanese troops in 1924, and at a time of unrest in Egypt itself, the garrisoning of the Sudan was put on a new basis. Egyptian military units and Egyptian officers of Sudanese battalions were transferred back to Egypt itself. The Sudanese troops remaining were incorporated into the newly created Sudan Defence Force. The junior commissioned officer and NCO positions previously held by Egyptian personnel, were now open to "Sudanisation". A military academy was opened in Omdurman to train the new Sudanese officer corps, most of whom were Muslims from the north. By 1939 the SDF numbered 5,000 officers and men.[3]

Composition

O'Ballance describes the SDF on its formation as divided into five regions, with '..four "corps", all dissimilar: the

Second World War
. (OB 50)

"Before the establishment of the SDF, under the early Condominium, troops in the Sudan had been part of the Egyptian Army, which then basically consisted of eight Egyptian (that is, serving in Egypt) and seven Sudanese (serving in the Sudan) battalions.; the later was officered by both British and Egyptians, the soldiers being Egyptian fellaheen and Sudanese."[4]

In peacetime, the SDF comprised approximately 4,500 regular Sudanese soldiers.

Italian Somalia; and the recently (1936) occupied Abyssinia (Ethiopia). To accommodate the extra numbers, a new war-service battalion was formed, the Sudanese Frontier Force.[6]
In wartime, the SDF grew to as many as 20,000 men.

There were also two regiments of irregular special forces linked with the SDF during World War II:

Background

The British did not garrison their Empire exclusively with British troops; almost every territory had a local militia or an indigenous regular force. Prior to 1925, the garrison of the Sudan comprised a British battalion near the capital, and battalions of the Egyptian Army, both Egyptian and Sudanese, in the regional capitals.

British military involvement in the Sudan goes back to the days of Generals

Anglo-Egyptian Expeditionary Force composed of British, Egyptian and Sudanese troops. As a young Army officer Winston Churchill saw military service in the Sudan.[7]

Since 1819 the Sudan had been a territory loosely administered by Egypt,

Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. The Head of the Egyptian Army was the Governor-General and there was still a large garrison, as the territory was huge and the remoter parts, such as Darfur
, were not pacified until 1916.

In 1925, the Governor-General Sir Lee Stack was assassinated by a group of Egyptian nationalists, while being driven through Cairo. Sudanese soldiers in Khartoum mutinied,[9] the Egyptian Army garrison of the Sudan was deemed unreliable and the Egyptian battalions were sent home, while the Sudanese battalions were disbanded. One hundred and forty British officers were transferred from the Egyptian army and a new Sudanese force was formed under the first Kaid Lewa Huddleston who had previously been acting Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army.[9] The structure of the new force of about 6,000 troops was slightly different: a little looser and more territorial, to give a better esprit de corps and sense of responsibility in each 'Corps' for its own territory. Unlike the old battalions, with anonymous numbers, the names of the four main corps were Camel Corps, Eastern Arab Corps, Western Arab Corps and Equatoria Corps. These were intended to give a distinct, and regional, identity, like English county regiments. Recruitment in each Corps reflected the local ethnicities. These corps were supported by artillery, engineer, armoured car and machine-gun units; plus medical, signals and transport services.[9]

However, some continuity was maintained. The Egypt ruler, the

Kaimakam. The use of Turkish
military terms extended beyond the rank structure.

Inter-war years

The main duties of the SDF were internal security: assisting the police in the event of unrest, including restraining inter-tribal violence, cattle raiding and slave trading; or natural disaster.[1] In such a vast country, companies could be detached on garrison duties far from the actual Corps headquarters.

In the mid to late 1930s, the SDF was used to counter the aggressive actions of

Jebel Uweinat area along the poorly defined border between the Kingdom of Egypt, the Sudan, and ASI. Responding to the Italian probes in the area, the SDF was ordered to occupy the Merga oasis and then the area around the Karkur Marr spring.[10] The Italian conquest of Ethiopia led to a reorganisation and an increase in scope of the force. By June 1940 the SDF comprised twenty-one companies—including five (later six) Motor Machine Gun Companies— totalling 4,500 men.[11]

Second World War

As part of the Anglo-Egyptian "Condominium," the Sudan was at war with the

Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. Initially the war was limited to Europe and so the Sudan Defence Force had little to do other than preparation work should the land war reach Africa
.

From 10 June 1940, when

Royal Army (Regio Esercito) and the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) based in Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI). The Italians occupied the railway junction at Kassala, the small fort at Gallabat, and the villages of Ghezzan, Kurmuk, and Dumbode on the Blue Nile. In the first days of August, an Italian force of irregular Eritreans raided as far north as Port Sudan.[12]

The Sudan Defence Force fought during the

Lieutenant-General William Platt. In October 1940, three motor machine-gun companies from the SDF were part of Gazelle Force, a mobile reconnaissance and fighting force commanded by Colonel Frank Messervy.[13] The Frontier battalion from the SDF was part of Gideon Force commanded by Major Orde Wingate. In January 1941, during the British and Commonwealth offensive into the AOI, the SDF took part in the successful invasion of Eritrea. During this invasion, the SDF contributed machine gun companies, howitzer batteries, and other forces (including some homemade armoured cars
).

The SDF also played an active role during the

Battle of Kufra.[14]

SDF convoys of 3-ton trucks had to make a round trip of about 1,300 miles to keep the garrisons at Kufra supplied with petrol, food, and other vital supplies. The overall scarcity of petrol meant that LRDG patrols could do little more than guard Kufra against attacks from the north. They were unable to raid northwards from Kufra. In February 1941, the situation was somewhat improved when twenty 10-ton trucks were added to the convoys. Ultimately the SDF took over the garrison duties at the oasis from the LRDG.[14] In September 1942 Force Z the battalion of SDF working with the LRDG launched a raid on Jalo Oasis. Captain Preston John Hurman discusses this action in his war memories held by the Imperial War Museum.[15] on Operation Nicety in support to Operation Agreement.[16]

The SDF provided the garrison for

Operation Salaam, the infiltration of German Brandenburger commandos into Egypt.[citation needed] Together with British intelligence agents, members of the SDF were ordered to intercept and capture the German intelligence (Abwehr) commandos and their Hungarian guide, desert explorer László Almásy.[17]

Even after the

Tunisian Campaign had ended in Allied victory, SDF patrols were busy thwarting German efforts to land agents behind the lines. The Germans continued attempts to make contact with Arab rebels. On 15 May 1943, a four-engine aircraft with German markings attempted to land at El Mukaram only to be engaged and shot up by a SDF patrol. The aircraft was able to take off and make good its escape, but it did so with casualties and flying on two engines.[18]

By the end of the war, the SDF was an experienced military force with about 70 Sudanese officers, almost all of them Muslim northerners. Gradually Sudanese officers were appointed to replace British officers in the years that preceded independence.[19]

Independence

"From mid-1945 to the introduction of self-determination in January 1954, the number of men serving in the SDF remained roughly constant, between 4500 and 5000."[20]

In March 1954 British troops in the Sudan consisted of one battalion stationed in Khartoum, reporting ultimately to the Governor-General.[21] The Governor-General's military commander was the Major-General Commanding British Troops in the Sudan, who was also Commandant of the Sudan Defence Force. In this post from 1950 onward was Major General Reginald 'Cully' Scoones.[22] The last British troops, 1st Battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment, left the country on 16 August 1955.[23] Ibrahim Abboud was Commander of the SDF in 1949 and Assistant Commander in Chief in 1954. He was appointed Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces at independence. Aboud later served as Prime Minister of Sudan from 1958 to 1964 and as president in 1964.[24]

One source wrote that Sudan was "the one African Country south of the Sahara to emerge from the colonial period with a military establishment possessing the attributes of an independent national army."[25] However internal religious and racial divisions led to the mutiny and disbandment of the Equatoria Corps (recruited from southern black Africans) in 1955 and the commencement of a 17-year civil war.[3]

British officers

Most middle-ranking and senior officers of the SDF were British Army officers on secondment for a few years. The attraction was independence of command, sporting (game-hunting) opportunities in leisure hours and local promotion (1 rank). On the outbreak of war, many young men of the Sudan Political Service, the administrative service for the Condominium, were allowed to join up. Those who served in the SDF included:

Commandants of the Sudan Defence Force included those officers listed below:[26] In this role the Commandant carried the Arabic title of al-qa'id al-'amm ("the Leader of the Army") and was often referred to simply as "the Kaid".[27]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "badge, internal security force, Sudan Defence Force". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  2. ^ page 169 "Military Report on Egypt", War Office 1906
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-333-17236-1
    .
  4. ^ a b O'Ballance, 38.
  5. ^ Keegan 2005, p. 852.
  6. ^ See Playfair Vol. I, p.183.
  7. ^ Michael Barthorp. War on the Nile. Part III. pp. 132–170. Published Blandford Press, London. 1984.
  8. ^ Winston Churchill, The River War, Longman 1899 vol.1 p.20
  9. ^ a b c "The Sudan Defence Force – The Melik Society". www.melik.org.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  10. ^ Kelly 2002, p. 106.
  11. ^ Playfair 2004, p. 169.
  12. ^ Cernuschi, Enrico. La resistenza sconosciuta in Africa Orientale
  13. ^ Mackenzie 1951, p. 32.
  14. ^ a b Kelly 2002, p. 156.
  15. ^ Memories of World War II by P J Hurman, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030008843 page 20
  16. ^ John W Gordon,"The Other Desert War"p 127 accessed 9 sept 2020.
  17. ^ Kelly 2002, p. 193.
  18. ^ Kelly 2002, p. 247.
  19. ISBN 978-0863720758
  20. ^ Niblock 1987, p. 143.
  21. British Parliament House of Lords Debate, 10 March 1954
  22. ^ "Major-General Sir Reginald "Cully" Scoones - Telegraph". 14 October 2010. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010.
  23. ^ British Troops in the Sudan 1930-47 British Military History, Retrieved 23 December 2018
  24. ^ "Ibrahim Abboud - Rediff Pages : 591103". pages.rediff.com. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  25. ISBN 978-0-691-01851-5
  26. ^ "Colin Mackie". www.gulabin.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  27. ^ Richard Mead, p. 352
  28. ^ "British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  29. OCLC 59031387
    .

References

External links
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