battle report 'to the last man'

[Gluteus Maximus]

Another one on this topic to consider is Fighting the Fuzzy-Wuzzy: Days and nights of service with Sir Gerald Graham's Field Force at Suakin by Captain E.A. de Cosson. This one is the personal account of an officer who was actually present, I think during the second campaign (it's a hell of a time since I read it, I must admit).

As for the neck cloths, it could be as simple as the Australians, when embarking upon this colonial warfare lark for the first time, had their own ideas about ways of doing things, and so tried it out. They've never been afraid of doing things differently to the Brits. It wasn't a new idea, as caps with neck-cloths were common during the Indian Mutiny.

That's a good book. It's a useful eyewitness account of the campaign and he gives quite a lot of background info on the logistical side of things. The number of camels they required is frightening.

Of course, the famous "Havelocke". Your probably right about the improvisation, so if it was a purely Aussie ploy, it would be easy enough to model some with some green stuff to make them stand out from the crowd.

[Paul E]

I thought that this cartoon was interesting in that it depicts the Australians wearing correct uniform including the unusual ankle gaiters. As this is all correct perhaps we can also assume the colour is correct which is a light sandy khaki

[Gluteus Maximus]

Fair enough 

[thejammedgatling]

When you lift the lid off the range of different uniforms available to Australian colonial forces it is quite amazing. I must admit I had no idea of the variety. Pre-federation when Australia existed as a series of States under British rule there was a lot of competition between them to 'outdo' each other, and this was reflected in uniform. The Australian detatment that made it to the Sudan in 1885 was actually a New South Wales unit of infantry and artillery.

Although we can probably (and from everyones replies) fairly shrewdly deduce what what worn in the field, it would be interesting to look also at what could have been worn in the field. The slouch hat apparently had been in military use since 1885 when it was introduced for the Victorian mounted rifles:



When it was first introduced it was worn with the turn up on the right:



Although I have found no pictures of slouch hats in the Sudan, I have read reports that soldiers hated the pith helmets they were issued with in the Boer war (which is where they are commonly assumed to have begun use) and used their pith helmets as footballs until they were re-issued with the slouchies. Their use was certainly widespread into the 1890's according to the digger history website.

So I could see a unit of Aussies bored on outpost duty in the Sudan, having a game of football or cricket in their casuals..some of them in slouchies...(I know I'll be shot down in flames for this..) when the Mahdists make a sneak attack.

This is a good site to have a look at:

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/slouch_hat.htm

[Driscoles]

Somehow I missed this beautiful topic.
Great pictures, nice miniatures and I am glad I got the chance to see them.
Björn

[Galloping Major]

Great stuff
 
Brilliant pics in the first posting, for some reason the pics in the later postings (other than one) aren't opening for me. I'll try back later though 


www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[Plynkes]

It's an old thread from 2008. Those pics were hotlinked from the Digger History site, which seems to have vanished. Can't get it to load. Might be a temporary glitch, might be gone for good. Shame if it is, as it was a good site.

[Traveler Man]

Superb game report, sir! Lovely eye-candy, to be sure. 

It's great to see the Suakin campaign featured. I'll also recommend de Cosson's book for excellent background color and the detailed look at the logistics of it all.

[Zinderneuf]

Cracking good read.

This is exactly the sort of thing that keeps me coming back to the Colonial Board. Since Chamla Valley, I've had a taste for colonial wargames battle reports. I plan to spend my old age in a fez and bath slippers rereading particularly good ones.

This will be one of them, I think.

[thejammedgatling]

Thanks for the second helping of positive comments..I really must get back to finishing my Sudan project (once my WW1 stuff is complete). Looking at the Ethiopia game from Salute has almost got me reaching for my unpainted Camel Corps again..

By the way, Plynkes has done a superb job of collating the reports in one section and I've seen loads I missed or was unaware of...many thanks for doing that! I'd like to see something similar on some of the other interest areas.