KASKARA for comments

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Mk4 hollow point bullets from the DumDum factory made their first appearance here... A devastating round.

The order of Battle was as you say ...or put by one account as; ...The battle took place at Kerreri, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Omdurman. Kitchener commanded a force of 8,000 British regulars and a mixed force of 17,000 Sudanese and Egyptian troops. He arrayed his force in an arc around the village of Egeiga, close to the bank of the Nile, where a twelve gunboat flotilla waited in support, facing a wide, flat plain with hills rising to the left and right. The British and Egyptian cavalry were placed on either flank.

Abdullah's followers, calling themselves the Ansar and known to the British as the Dervishes, numbered around 50,000, including some 3,000 cavalry. They were split into five groups—a force of 8,000 under Osman Azrak was arrayed directly opposite the British, in a shallow arc along a mile (1.6 km) of a low ridge leading onto the plain, and the other Mahdist forces were initially concealed from Kitchener's force. Abdullah al-Taashi and 17,000 men were concealed behind the Surgham Hills to the west and rear of Osman Azrak's force, with 20,000 more positioned to the north-west, close to the front behind the Kerreri hills, commanded by Ali-Wad-Helu and Sheikh ed-Din. A final force of around 8,000 was gathered on the slope on the right flank of Azrak's force.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

To help bring the thread back on track...although I have enjoyed the Omdurman episode ... I found a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVw1Ky_21Is worth viewing. The Kaskara.

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

To help bring the thread back on track...although I have enjoyed the Omdurman episode ... I found a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVw1Ky_21Is worth viewing. The Kaskara.

Very interesting Ibrahiim, thank you.

[kronckew]

Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.

around the same time period, the spanish-american war, the battle of san juan hill saw the americans facing the well trained and experienced spanish dug in on the heights, who had ' modern' mausers and maxim (spandau version) machine guns as well as support from breech loading artillery. the american rough riders had inferior krag rifles, and four .30 gatling guns (700rpm), supported by old fashioned bagged black powder cannon. the spanish lost.

Whatever happens, we have got
Teddy Rooseveldt, and they have not.

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not.

around the same time period, the spanish-american war, the battle of san juan hill saw the americans facing the well trained and experienced spanish dug in on the heights, who had ' modern' mausers and maxim (spandau version) machine guns as well as support from breech loading artillery. the american rough riders had inferior krag rifles, and four .30 gatling guns (700rpm), supported by old fashioned bagged black powder cannon. the spanish lost.

Whatever happens, we have got
Teddy Rooseveldt, and they have not.

...well yes indeed to 'quote' that most 'English' of writers and satirists Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc . Oddly enough my daughter's hero is Teddy Roosevelt .
My favourite Sudan inspired verse however is Newbolts :
The sand of the desert is sodden red,—
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; —
The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
'Play up! play up! and play the game! '
...although the reference to the Gatling gun is incorrect , it was a Gardner gun.

[kronckew]

the gardner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_17ij6cntgI

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by kronckew

the gardner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_17ij6cntgI

Nice !