IMAGINE YOURSELF... Sergeant Carmichael lowered his binoculars and squinted against the desert sun. He swallowed hard in an attempt to relieve the dryness of his throat. There was no doubt now; he had seen flashes of metal in the low hills to the southwest. Dervishes! Cursing his luck in his very first assignment as leader of a scouting party, he quickly fell his men in and began an orderly march back to camp. Without warning the dirt kicked up all around them, followed by the sound of many gunshots. in amazement, Private Smith exclaimed "I'm hit!" and crumpled to the ground. The thought that Dervish fire was rarely that good crossed the Sergeant's mind. In that broad expanse of desert one place was as good as any other for making a stand so Carmichael turned his men and deployed them in a thin line. He ordered his men to remove the magazine covers from their Lee-Metfords and to prepare for rapid fire. Anxiously he awaited the appearance of the enemy. Suddenly, boldly they came over the top of a slight rise, no more than 300 yards away. "FIRE!" cried Sergeant Carmichael. The heat, the dust, the smell of powder and the constant cracking of the rifles around him overwhelmed the Sergeant's senses. Once more a small band of British soldiers was being attacked by an enemy in overwhelming numbers. Could he hold out like so many of his illustrious predecessors? Carmichael wondered if this would be his first and last chance to lead a patrol. INTRODUCTION For the wargamer a campaign centered on the railway in the Sudan can provide many interesting opportunities for battles, similar perhaps to the one described above. The introduction of the railroad provides a unique opportunity to combine figures and model railroads and come up with a skirmish unlike any other. This article will attempt to provide a background and guidelines for re-creating such a battle. Supply played a critical part in the campaign for the reconquest of the Sudan. just as in any war, victory to a large extent depended on having the materiel of war and men fit enough to use it in the right place at the right time. Supply was especially critical in the Sudan in 1896 because a modern army needed to be supported in an extremely inhospitable climate. The Anglo-Egyptian forces had a supply line one thousand miles long. The river Nile performs excellently as an avenue of supply for most of its length, but is broken by unnavigable cataracts in many critical places. The rushing waters and rocky courses of these cataracts bring to a grinding halt any waterborne system of transport. This forces all goods into a severely limited caravan system at these spots. No caravan could hope to match the Nile in the transport of the volume of supplies needed by the Field Army, so the Sudan Railway was built to carry supplies past the cataracts. This railway played an immense part in the eventual reconquest of the Sudan. DONGOLA The first phase in the building of the Sudan Railway was done in order to support the capture of Dongola (see figure 1). To bypass the second cataract of the river Nile a section of railway needed to be built from Wadi Halfa to Kerma. The Nile is navigable from Kerma south so from there all goods could be rerouted to river craft for transport. In the expeditions of 1885 a railway had been built from Wadi Haifa south to Akasha, but it was subsequently destroyed by Dervishes as far north as Sarras. This serviceable line Nom Wadi Haifa to Sarras formed the start of the new railroad. The line needed to be rebuilt from Sarras to Akasha and a completely new line from Akasha to Kerma needed to be laid. For the construction of tke railway a "Railway Battalion" was formed with about 800 men. It was made up of men from Egypt and the Sudan with no special skills, but with a willingness to work. As time went on the most clever and intelligent of them became the supervisors and specialists. Several Officers of Engineers were given the job of controlling the building of the railway, the chief of which was Lt. E.P. Girouard, a Canadian in English service. Wadi Haifa was soon full of activity as the eight engines and various rolling stock of the old line were prepared for duty. Schools were formed for the instruction of the rail crews and the numerous specialists needed to run a railroad. Shops sprang up to service the locomotives and cars. Everyone from Lord Kitchener on down was suitably anxious concerning the success of the railway. Work began on the laying of rails quickly but progressed pitifully slow as the engines were old and always breaking down, causing many delays. Disaster struck on August 26,1896 when a violent and unexpected rainstorm wiped out 14 miles of rail. Undaunted, the Railway Battalion continued to strive onwards and by the fall of 1896 the line was complete to Kosheh. From Kosheh south the Nile is navigable at high Nile and so supplies started to come down the Wadi Haifa Railway to Kerma, where they were transfered to the river. The first freight to be brought down, logically enough, was one of the new stern wheel gunboats, theZafir, intended for use in the capture of Dongola. Lord Kitchener himself was aboard for the first sailing but the ship, oblivious to the ceremony of which she was the center, broke down after but a few turns of her mighty paddlewheel. It was, however, fixed in time to participate in the battle for Kerma on 18 September. Five days later, in an anticlimactic battle, Dongola was captured. The line from Kosheh to Kerma was begun on 9 October, after the fighting had died down. As the line progressed the Nile fell below its navigable limits. The troops at Kerma and Dongola were kept supplied by camel caravans that led from the railhead to Kerma. These caravans were very limited in size, speed and reliability and the garrisons were twice near starvation. But the railroad pushed forward inexorably and was complete in early May. The garrisons in Kerma and Dongola could now be fully supplied and the southern limit of AngloEgyptian penetration into the Sudan was solidified. RAILHEAD ON THE DESERT RAILWAY. From the collection of Lynn Bodin THE DESERT RAILWAY Once Dongola was taken the advance of the army was halted while those in charge determined the final route to be taken to Omdurman. Eventually it was decided that a new railroad would be built from Wadi Halfa across the Nubian Desert to Abu Harried. Many experts questioned whether a railroad could be built across 200 miles of waterless desert, but Lord Kitchener had made his decision and stubbornly stuck to it. The first rails of the new line were laid January 1, 1897. Work did not commence in earnest until the Dongola railway was finished in May. Lt. Girouard procured 15 new engines and 200 cars from England, and 1500 new workers were trained. Experienced men were brought in as supervisors. The whole operation was modernized and put into high gear. Lord Kitchener took a personal interest in the construction of the railway. He could be found everywhere giving encouragement to the men and using his influence and power to overcome any sticky situations. The Nubian Desert is an area of waterless desolation. It is not a desert of dunes but rather one of scorched and cracked earth. The only shade you'll find there is your own shadow. Into this wasteland went two thin steel rails, three feet six inches apart. The lack of water, as one might imagine, formed the greatest problem for the men of the Railway Battalion. Each supply train had to haul enough water for itself for the trip out and back and water for the 2000 men at Railhead, where the work was. Railhead, located wherever the terminus of the rails might be, was a large canvas and steel town that moved through the desert like a ship across a vast ocean, alone and unsupported except for the twice daily supply trains. Luckily, water was discovered at stations 4 and 6, alleviating much of the water problem and allowing the trains to carry more provisions and material. This speeded up the progress of the railway quite a bit. Up to two and a half miles of track might be laid in a single day. The closer the line came to Abu Harried the more dangerous things became. There was always the chance that the Dervishes might venture forth and attack the workers at Railhead or sneak around and cut the rails behind them. On 20 July work was halted as the line was getting too close to Abu Harried and its garrison of Dervishes. On 7 August Abu Harried was captured by General Hunter, but that is another story. Work was then recommenced on the line. On 1 November Abu Harried was reached amidst the cheers of the garrison. One of the great engineering feats of that century was complete. A railway had been driven across 200 miles of barren and unmapped desert with no disasters or serious setbacks and at a reasonable monetary outlay. it was now possible to concentrate large amounts of men and material within striking distance of Omdurman. Lord Kitchener was closing in and things were looking bad for the dervish forces. ABU HAMED TO ATBARA Soon after the capture of Abu Hamed, Berber was seized. It was decided to extend the railroad southward in support of the troops there. This line progressed at a rate of about a mile per day and was complete June 3, 1989. A TYPICAL SUPPLY TRAIN ON ITS WAY UP TO THE "RAILHEAD" OF THE DESERT RAILWAY. From the London Graphic. During this period many forays across the Nile were made by the Allied forces in search of grain and other foodstuffs. In late February it was discovered that a major Dervish army under the joint commands of Mahmud and Osman Disna was heading north, intent on an attack on the Anglo-Egyptian forces at Fort Atbara. As soon as this was known all available troops were brought south via the railroad and concentrated for the defense of Berber. Thus, at the subsequent battle of Nakhiela on 8 April 1898 the Dervish forces were handily defeated, foreshadowing the outcome of the battle of Omdurman. CONCLUSION AND IDEAS The Sudan Railroad had taken a little less than two years to complete. Its major role in the reconquest of the Sudan is undeniable. It could probably be said that without the railroad Omdurman would never have been taken. For the wargamer the railway provides some interesting and different skirmish opportunities. Wherever the railhead was established there was always an armed guard there to protect it. As the railway approached Kerma, and as it crossed the Nubian Desert, the possibility of attack was very real. A game depicting such an attack could be quite interesting and could allow for the use of a multiplicity of troop types. An attack on station 4 or 6 could be simulated, with the Dervish objective being to poison the well. A small force could attempt to hold out against them while awaiting reinforcements by train. For another scenario, the Dervishes, somewhere in the Nubian Desert, can attempt to cut the rails behind Railhead and be countered by a patrol of some sort. The many foraging expeditions across the Nile whilethe railwaywas going from Abu Hamed to Atbara can be simulated with perhaps a small Anglo-Egyptian force attacking a village defended by a group of Dervishes. For the gamer willing to try anything consider the possibility of an action between Nile rivercraft. A handful of British or Egyptian soldiers in a comandeered dhow can attempt to capture or prevent the delivery of a shipment of grain bound for Dervish forces. The possibilities are endless for a gamer with an open mind. A campaign game can easily be set up with one player controlling a small Anglo-Egyptian force at Railhead and the other player controlling a small tribe of Dervishes intent on making life difficult for the infidels. Such a campaign should probably only cover a span of a couple of weeks. Reinforcements should only be allowed if it looks like one side was given too many troops to start with. For a possible map for a campaign game see figure 2. As far as using an actual model railroad in conjunction with figures the gamer is rather out of luck. 25mm figures correspond to a scale of 1172 and 15mm figures have a scale of 1/120. HO scale is 1/87 while N scale is 1/160. There is a scale known as TT which is 1/120 but it is very rare (of course). The best bet for the gamer is to use the 25mm figures-in conjunction with HO scale. Either the figures or the trains can be modified so asto decrease the apparent scale difference. As long as the eye is not too discriminating things don't look bad and the prospects for exciting and interesting skirmishes increase greatly. BIBLIOGRAPHY ARTHUR, Sir George. Life of Lord Kitchener. Vol. 1. McMillan and Co., Ltd., London, 1920. BARTHORP, Michael. War on the Nile; Britain, Egypt and the Sudan 1882-1898. Blandford Press, Poole, Dorsett, 1984. CHURCHILL, Sir Winston S. Frontiers and Wars. Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1962. MacLAREN, Roy. Canadians on the Nile, 1881-1898. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 1978. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VI No. 3 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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