battle report 'to the last man'

[DFlynSqrl]

Great report, I really enjoyed reading it.  The limited ammo was a nice touch to the scenario.  I look forward to reading more of yours and Rabbitz table-top adventures. 

[thejammedgatling]

erm yeah im not Aussie either,  Born and Breed English to the core.  

Heavens...I thought you'd been raised by headhunters after they'd stolen you from the mission where you were schooled in the Belgian Congo, before falling into the hands of Malay pirates who you only escaped by taming a shoal of giant shrimp to carry you to safety. It would explain certain behaviour such as the shrunken heads you carry to wargaming.
On second thoughts, growing up near Staines probably accounts for it.

TJG - Next time we play just make sure to let me know who the Emir is before we start.   You know its tradition for your CinC to take the first shot of the game 

I shall be painting my emir in dazzle camouflage and possibly converting my Star Wars AT AT walker as his personal transport. Imagine the call the prayer drifting out of one of those as it pounds the British square to dust...(trails off in maniacal laughter).
Ooops , sorry I'm on the wrong forum page for that.
I might just spike your Krupp gun.

[Paul E]

Superb report. Great pictures and narrative.

Here are some interesting links on the Australians at Suakin.

http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/sudan.asp

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/other/sudan.htm

[postal]

outstanding.

[Gluteus Maximus]

There really should be more poems that combine both cricket and bloody carnage among their themes.

I'm sure there will be once the South Africans have given us "a good dusting" this summer   

[Gluteus Maximus]

I'm pretty certain the Aussies were issued khaki from British stocks so therefore would be indistinguishable from the rest  Not sure whether it was grey or "proper" khaki, but I assume that since grey was worn by troops that didn't get sent over from India, it would be that colour. I'd like to see some evidence either way, if anyone has any.

I don't think they started wearing the famous hat on campaign until the 2nd Boer War, when inevitably everyone else decided it was a jolly good idea and copied them, so there individual appearance was again short-lived 

[thejammedgatling]

Superb report. Great pictures and narrative.

Here are some interesting links on the Australians at Suakin.

http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/sudan.asp

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/other/sudan.htm

Nice links. Thanks very much. A few interesting pics I found:


the arrival of the Australians in the Sudan


Australians out in the desert. Note the 9 pounder and the wide shade hats.



standard dress for the Australians

Gluteus Maximus..it says Khaki here in the war records but who'se to know by these shots?

I think I'll have to do up a platoon!

[Keith]

Top picture looks like first Sudan - the photos look like the second (judging by the majesty of those sunhats and the  dress pattern).
Interesting stuff.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Well, why not do 'em in scarlet, then!  After all your other redcoats look splendid and you have got a contemporary visual reference for them.

Those white trousers would make them stand out from the British, I think  

[Gluteus Maximus]

Top picture looks like first Sudan - the photos look like the second (judging by the majesty of those sunhats and the  dress pattern).
Interesting stuff.

Agreed, the middle photo is 1898-ish, but the bottom one appears to be 1885 to me, with those gaiters and what appears to my tired old eyes to be a Martini-Henry.

I didn't think there were Aussies out there in the second war, so I've checked my "Mahdist Wars Source Book".

It appears the NSW Regiment and NSW Artillery were only present in the 1885 campaign - which raises the question of when and where the middle photo was actually taken  AFAIK, they didn't use the neck shield in the 2nd Boer War, so maybe these chaps were on exercise somewhere?

TJG - this means you can also have a battery of Aussie artillery    Sorry, no idea of the calibre of the guns, but I'd assume whatever the Brits used - and it appears from the middle pic they had 9 pounders later in the century.

[Plynkes]

The New South Wales Artillery Battery at Suakin did indeed have 9pdrs, according to "Fuzzy Wuzzy" by Brian Robson, a book about the two Suakin campaigns.


He also says the Aussies wore 'khaki', but does not go into which of the million colours covered by this loose term it actually was. If they had worn scarlet in action it would almost certainly have been commented upon somewhere, and to my knowledge it isn't.


Edit: The caption for that photo states that it is of the NSW contingent in 1885, and confirms the gun to be a 9pdr RML. I see no reason to disbelieve this information. Neck flaps for helmets were an existing technology in the 1880s, they weren't suddenly invented by Kitchener in 1898!    In fact the book "Fuzzy Wuzzy" shows that very hill with the tents on it in the background in another photo, which I think clears up any doubt once and for all.

[Paul E]

From my information both the photographs are from the Gordon Sudan campaign.

The NSW contingent issued puggarees for their necks and most obviously the special canvass gaiters. It is recorded that many soldiers 'lost' these as soon as possible.

As much as I would love to imagine that these guys Khaki colour was the brown or sandy colour I suspect that it was like all UK issue stuff a shade of grey.

The interesting thing - to me - is that in the group photo some of the guys appear to have grown beards.

The reference to colouring their hats and belts with tobacco juice is interesting. Bet that attracted flies.

I wonder what they are pointing at?

[Paul E]

To clarify, when I say Gordon Sudan Campaign I mean the period not the relief force. 

The NSW contingent was of course  based at Suakin for its period in the Sudan.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Edit: The caption for that photo states that it is of the NSW contingent in 1885, and confirms the gun to be a 9pdr RML. I see no reason to disbelieve this information. Neck flaps for helmets were an existing technology in the 1880s, they weren't suddenly invented by Kitchener in 1898!    In fact the book "Fuzzy Wuzzy" shows that very hill with the tents on it in the background in another photo, which I think clears up any doubt once and for all.

Good point! Strange we never see 1885 period figures with them , though 

I haven't read "Fuzzy Wuzzy" and it's pretty obvious I need to do so ASAP 

[Plynkes]

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.