,
Reginald Wingate To counter the expected threat to Sudan, Sirdar
Reginald Wingate gathered the
Darfur Field Force together at Nahud. The commander was British
Lieutenant Colonel Philip Kelly, of the
3rd The King's Own Hussars, on secondment to the
Egyptian Army. The force was composed of • Two companies of mounted infantry, commanded by Major Cobden,
9th Lancers • Five companies from the Camel Corps, commanded by Major Huddleston,
Dorsetshire Regiment • Six companies from the 13th and 14th Battalions, Sudanese Infantry, commanded by Major Bayly,
Royal Welsh Fusiliers and Major Darwell,
Royal Marine Light Infantry • Two companies from the Arab Battalion, commanded by Major Cowan,
Cameron Highlanders • Two companies from the 14th Battalion, Egyptian Infantry • Two
12-pounder artillery batteries, which also included two
Maxim machine-guns, commanded by Major Spinks
Royal Artillery • One Maxim machine gun battery. With medical and other non-combat units, the force amounted to about 2,000 men. Intelligence supported the theory that Dinar was going to invade Sudan, so in March 1916, Wingate ordered Kelly to cross the border and occupy Jebel el Hella and
Um Shanga. The two villages offered the only permanent water supplies that were on the road to
al-Fashir, Dinar's capital. On 16 March, five companies from the Camel Corps and mounted infantry scouts, supported by a
12-pounder artillery battery and a Maxim machine-gun battery, crossed the Darfur frontier and four days later occupied Um Shanga. Their only opposition was from a small observation post which was forced to withdraw. Unexpectedly, upon arrival, the Anglo-Egyptian force found the water supply at Um Shanga scarce. With the main body of his force expected to arrive that evening, having only two days' supply of water with them, Kelly considered withdrawing to Sudan. Instead, he divided his force, forming a fast-moving column, consisting of thirty mounted infantry scouts, 240 men from the Camel Corps, two field guns and eight Maxims, which left for Jebel el Hella at dawn on 22 March. Four days later, on 8 April, the Anglo-Egyptian reconnaissance continued, reaching Abiad early the next day only to find that the Fur troops had left the previous evening. Leaving four Sudanese infantry companies and four field guns behind, the force reconnoitred deeper into Darfur. The garrison left behind at Abiad was attacked on 14 and 15 April, but casualties are not recorded. By the end of the month the lines of communication road was secured, with large detachments of Anglo-Egyptian troops left at Abiad, Um Kedada, Burush, Lugud, Jebel el Hella and Um Shanga. At the same time a system of observation posts was established along the frontier from
Gabr el Dar to
Shebb manned by 260 friendly Darfurians, who were issued with Remington rifles. Another 200 men belonging to the
Kababish tribe occupied
Jebel Meidob, observing the road from Darfur to the Senussi lands in the north.
May advance to contact In May, the Anglo-Egyptian forces started reinforcing their lines of communication and bringing forward supplies to enable them to continue the advance. On 5 May, a force of 500 men attacked the Anglo-Egyptian garrison at Abiad and four days later the
telegraph post east of Abiad was attacked. On 12 May, an RFC reconnaissance aircraft flew over al-Fashir dropping leaflets to the population. The leaflets denounced Dinar and promised that once he was removed there would be religious freedom, justice for all, that the tribal leaders would remain in position if they submitted and there would be an end to repression. By 14 May Kelly had completed his preparations to advance to al-Fashir and had gathered a force at Abiad consisting of sixty mounted infantry scouts, four companies from the Camel Corps with two Maxim machine-guns of their own, eight companies from the 13th and 14th Sudanese Infantry and the Arab Battalion. They were supported by eight field guns, fourteen Maxim machine-guns and a
field hospital. Still suffering from a shortage of water, Kelly divided the force into two columns. "A" Column would be slow moving, while "B" Column would be more mobile. They would rendezvous west of Abiad and from the village of
Meliet, which had a well-known supply of water. Reconnaissance patrols had located a small Fur garrison at Meliet and Kelly made that his first objective. Once Meliet had been captured the Anglo-Egyptians would be well positioned to attack the capital, al-Fashir. Just after 04:00 on 15 May, a small unit of mounted infantry scouts, captured a Fur observation post from Abiad, taking prisoner all bar two of the Fur soldiers, who managed to escape on foot. The slow moving "A" Column left Abiad on 15 May followed by the "B" Column the next day. Both columns reached the rendezvous on 17 May. The same morning an RFC reconnaissance aircraft bombed a force of around 500 Fur troops at Meliat. The next day the columns reached the village, which had been evacuated by the Fur troops, leaving some of their supplies behind. On 19 May, RFC reconnaissance aircraft reported there was no trace of Fur troops within . The Anglo-Egyptian force was exhausted from their cross country march and rested at Meliat.
Battle of Beringia At 05:30 am on 22 May, the Anglo-Egyptian advance continued but the country, mainly of rolling low sand-hills, with plenty of concealed ground and scattered bushes, reduced visibility to just a few hundred yards. From the start, large groups of Fur cameliers and cavalry were observed. Kelly formed an advance guard of the mounted infantry, a camel company and four Maxim machine-guns. At 10:30, the Fur troops were observed in a strong entrenched position around the village of
Beringia. The Fur Army commander,
Ramadan Ali, had established a crescent shaped trench, mostly concealed from the advancing Anglo-Egyptians by a
wadi. Ali's plan was for them advance close enough for him to ambush them with his trench system, believing that his larger force would overrun their artillery and machine-guns before they could cause any serious damage to his troops. The Anglo-Egyptian artillery opened fire on the Fur trenches, driving the Fur troops back. To the Anglo-Egyptian left Fur horsemen were seen gathering and they were also engaged by the artillery at a range of . The Anglo-Egyptians
formed square and advanced , then started digging trenches. The advance guard were ordered to man a higher position to the right front and south-west of the square. To counter a threat from Fur cavalry from his left, Kelly sent a Camel Corps company and a Maxim machine gun section to secure the higher ground there. The Anglo-Egyptian forces were established from Beringia. The main Fur Army position was south of the village, extending for to the east and west in a semi-circle. Kelly's scouts could not get into a position to see all of the Fur Army positions so Kelly made the decision to launch an immediate attack. While he was organising the assault, Huddleston, commanding the Camel Corps company escorting the artillery and machine-guns on the right of the square, exceeded his orders and entered the village. Exiting to the south they came under heavy fire from the Fur defenders and were forced to withdraw, pursued by some of the Fur troops. When they came within range of the Anglo-Egyptian square, their artillery and machine-guns opened fire on their open flank. Seeing this, the remainder of the Fur Army left their trenches and attacked the southern side of the square in strength. The south of the square was manned from left to right by an artillery battery, three infantry companies, another artillery battery, one infantry company and a Maxim section. There was then a gap of around before another infantry company and a Maxim section were positioned facing east. Kelly now reinforced the south of the square with two Maxim sections and a company from the
Arab Battalion. The Fur attack lasted around forty minutes, but it eventually failed and the nearest they got to the square was around . Kelly ordered an infantry counter-attack, supported by his artillery, with the Maxim guns advancing alongside the infantry. The Fur Army broke and the survivors retreated, leaving 231 dead, ninety-six seriously wounded and another 1,000 less seriously wounded behind, from a force of over 3,600. Anglo-Egyptian casualties were four officers wounded, five
other ranks dead and eighteen wounded. At 16:00, Kelly resumed his advance to al-Fashir stopping for the night just short of the capital. A force of 500 cavalry and 300 infantry attacked the Anglo-Egyptian camp at 03:00 on 23 May. Kelly's artillery opened fire with
starshells, lighting up the battleground. The attack was defeated; Fur casualties are not known but the only Anglo-Egyptian casualty was a wounded
gunner. Later that day, at 06:00 the Anglo-Egyptians were just about to break camp, when several hundred Fur troops appeared on their left flank. They were engaged and forced to withdraw by artillery, machine gun fire and aerial bombardment. At 10:00, Kelly and his mounted troops entered the capital, finding it deserted except for some women. Sultan Ali Dinar had left al-Fashir accompanied by 2,000 troops after hearing about the defeat at Beringia. Captured in the city were four artillery pieces, 55,000 rounds of small arms ammunition and 4,000 rifles.
Dibbis and Kulme Sultan Ali Dinar, fled to the
Jebel Marra mountains to the south-west of al-Fashir, with around 2,000 men; Kelly's troops were unable to immediately pursue him, due to a lack of supplies and exhaustion. Dinar approached the Anglo Egyptians offering to discuss surrender terms. Discussions continued until 1 August, when Kelly broke off the talks, as it had become apparent that Dinar was prevaricating. Dinar's followers had started to desert him and at that point he was only left with around 1,000 men. Kelly's troops had occupied
Kebkebia west of al-Fashir. Huddleston, with the Camel Corps troops and men from the 13th Sudanese Infantry, two field guns and four Maxim machine-guns — 200 men in total — were sent to occupy
Dibbis south-west of al-Fashir. They reached Dibbis on 13 October, engaging a Fur force of 150 riflemen and 1,000 men armed with spears, defeating them after a short fight. Following this, Dinar once again approached the Anglo Egyptians to discuss terms, when it appeared Dinar was delaying, Kelly dispatched 100 men from the 13th Sudanese Infantry to reinforce Huddleston. , November 1916 Huddleston discovered Dinar was in hiding at
Kulme to the west. The remaining Fur troops were in a poor condition, hungry and diseased and little resistance was expected to Huddleston's troops. Without waiting for reinforcements Huddleston marched on Kulme. Occupying the village almost unopposed on 3 November, they captured several hundred prisoners and most of Dinar's remaining military stores. Some of his immediate family also surrendered. Dinar, avoiding battle, fled to
Jebel Juba to the south-west of Kulme. Two days later, on 5 November, Huddleston, with 150 men, a field gun and four Maxim machine-guns mounted on captured horses, set off in pursuit. Huddleston reached Dinar's camp on 6 November and opened fire at a range of . The Fur troops fled, followed by Huddleston's force, around from the Fur camp. Huddleston's troops discovered the body of Dinar shot through the head. ==Aftermath==