Khaki took over in the Sudan. British troops wore red coats at Kirbekan and at Ginnis. The Connaught Rangers Maxim battery wore red at Firka, but for the vast majority of troops khaki was the standard fighting kit from 1884 on.
1884-5
Almost all units at Suakin in early 1884 wore a gray khaki uniform. Infantry sometimes had puttees or gaiters, but they also sometimes wore trousers free from such encumbrances. Helmets and belts were either buff or white. Highlanders may have had white spats; puttees were sometimes white (York & Lancs), blue or a darker shade of tan.
The 10th Hussars wore a full khaki uniform, but with brass helmet spikes and chin scales. The 19th Hussars wore a blue coat, blue or khaki trousers, blue puttees or knee-length stockings, and white or khaki helmets. Some officers wore khaki coats and blue trousers. Both cavalry units were mounted on gray Syrian Arab horses, much smaller than their normal mounts, and this should be taken into account when ordering horses for cavalry figures. The Naval Brigade wore a variety of combinations of blue coats, blue or whitetrousers, straw hats, round white hats or white sun helmets. Mounted infantry were either raised locally or in
Egypt and had a full khaki uniform, though some men seem to have worn the trousers of their original unit - there are some shown wearing trews.
On the desert column the camel corps had a special uniform of grayfrock, tan or khaki bedford cord breeches, blue puttees, and white or tan helmets and belts. The 19th Hussars on the Nile and Desert columns were dressed and mounted as at Suakin. All infantry units on the Nile Column worked in their boats wearing gray shirts and regulation blue trousers (Highland units wore trews). The British infantry units at Kirbekan wore red serge coats.
At Suakin in 1885 some units arrived wearing red, but all changed into khaki once they landed, including the Australians who, because of their size were given Guards' uniforms. The Australians, however, did sometimes wear their own long canvas "bushman" gaiters. The Indian regiments also wore khaki, the infantry sometimes wearing gaiters or puttees. The Bengal cavalry had a blue turban with a red kullah and cummerbund, the Sikhs probably had khaki turbans, and the other two infantry units had blue or khaki turbans.
1886-1898
Throughout the 1880s and 1890s the Egyptian Army had a standard uniform of khaki trousers and jacket, blue puttees, red fez with a khaki cover and neck-cloth (Sudanese battalions also had a special plaited straw fez cover). On the march or in battle troops also wore a jersey: brown for the Egyptians and dark blue for the Sudanese. The different battalions were identified by different coloured flashes on the fez covers.
British troops in 1898 wore the regulation khaki field uniform with brown belts and white ammo pouches.
British and Egyptian Forces Sudan 1884-1898
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