The invasion of Darfur was the invasion and occupation of the Sultanate of Darfur by the British Empire and the Sultanate of Egypt from 16 March to 6 November 1916. The Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar, had been reinstated by the British after their victory in the Mahdist War but during the First World War refused the customary tribute to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (Sudanese government) and in 1915 favoured the Ottoman Empire.
Reginald Wingate, the sirdar (commander-in-chief of the British-controlled Egyptian Army) organised a force of around 2,000 men (Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Kelly). The force entered Darfur in March 1916, decisively defeated the Fur Army at Beringia and occupied the capital al-Fashir in May.
Ali Dinar had fled to the mountains and his attempts to negotiate surrender were eventually broken off by the British. A small force was sent after him and the Sultan was killed in action in November 1916. Darfur was annexed to the British administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and remained a part of Sudan on its independence.
Background
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Darfur, which means "land of the Fur", was an independent country, located to the west of Sudan and east of what was then French Equatorial Africa. It is comparable in size to France and can be divided into three regions: a semi-arid region in the north, joining the Sahara desert; a central region divided in two by the Jebal Marra volcano, which rises 10,000 ft (3,000 m) above sea level that is surrounded by sand and rock plains to the east and west and a southern region which has a rich alluvial soil and a heavy annual rainfall.
The Sultanate of Darfur was one of the kingdoms across the centre of Africa. In 1874, it was invaded by its Islamic neighbours from the south, which resulted in the country being annexed by Egypt and joined with Turco-Egyptian Sudan (by this point under Ango-Egyptian control). This lasted until the Mahdist War (1881–1899), when Anglo-Egyptian suzerainty was temporarily curtailed by the forces of Muhammad Ahmad, until Anglo-Egyptian control of the region was re-established following the battle of Omdurman on 2 September 1898. In 1899, Ali Dinar became the sultan of Darfur with the approval of the Sirdar, Lord Kitchener, on the condition that he paid an annual tribute to the British. Relations between Dinar and the Anglo-Egyptians were assisted by the Inspector-General, Rudolf Carl von Slatin, who had knowledge of the Darfur region and its people.
The status quo remained until disputes started over Darfur's western boundary and who had "overlordship" over its frontier districts. The British believed the delay in resolving these disputes, along with anti-government propaganda, led to a change in Dinar's attitude towards them. Their beliefs were not helped by Dinar's refusal to allow Europeans to enter Darfur. Dinar's domestic policies caused internal unrest among the Arab portion of the population who were generally against him or in the case of the Rizeigat tribe from the south-west Darfur, "openly hostile".
On hearing the news of war between the British Empire and Ottoman Empire, Dinar became more defiant and in April 1915 renounced his allegiance to the government of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, declaring himself pro-Ottoman and making contact with them via the Senussi. Darfur had a population of just under 1,000,000 people, controlled by what was described as a "slave army" of about 10,000 men. By December, affairs had deteriorated to such an extent that a small unit from the Egyptian Camel Corps was dispatched to protect trade at Nahud, and at the same time act as a warning against Dinar's proposed offensive against the Rizeigats. Dinar countered the deployment of the Camel Corps detachment by moving forty cavalry and ninety infantry to reinforce Jebel el Hella. By then the British believed he was preparing for an invasion of Sudan.
During these events, Darfurian forces, following the Ottoman declaration of jihad, made incursions into French Chad, threatened British Borno (Northern Nigeria), and attempted to incite a rebellion in Kordofan (British Sudan).
Invasion
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.
Jebel el Hella
Kelly's flying column faced only slight opposition from Fur scouts until they reached a position 4 mi (6.4 km) from Jebel el Hella. There, a force of 800 Fur horsemen tried to surround them and were only stopped by Anglo-Egyptian machine gun fire. Advancing a further 2 mi (3.2 km) the flying column located a large concentration of Fur troops in a wooded valley, where they engaged with artillery and machine-guns. Having forced the Fur troops to disperse, the column reached Jebel el Hella at 14:15 and secured its wells. A small reconnaissance party was dispatched by Kelly to check on the wells at Lugud two mi (3.2 km) away, which were occupied in strength, when the remainder of Kelly's force arrived on 26 March. During their advance, the Anglo-Egyptian casualties were described as "insignificant" while twenty of the Fur forces were dead or wounded. With the occupation of Jebel el Hella complete, the Anglo-Egyptians had secured one of the invasion routes into Sudan. The main Fur Army was now located in the capital of al-Fashir and was estimated to consist of 4,000 to 6,000 riflemen with adequate supplies of ammunition. Their equipment ranged from older muzzle loader weapons, Martini–Henry and Remington rifles and shotguns, to spears, shields and chain mail. They were supported by an unknown number of auxiliary troops armed only with spears. At the same time Dinar was concentrating his troops from other regions in the capital. Those in contact with the Anglo-Egyptian forces and some small number of reinforcements were instead grouped at Burush and Kedada.
Supply problems
Wingate believed that Dinar would avoid a large battle in the provinces, but would instead gather his troops at al-Fashir, until the rainy period started, which would benefit their style of guerrilla fighting and raids on the Anglo-Egyptian column and their lines of communication. Kelly's immediate concern was providing water and other supplies to his troops. The Anglo-Egyptian expedition coincided with a period of no rainfall and once all the native food supplies had been used, their nearest supply point was the railhead at El Obeid 300 mi (480 km) to the west. To overcome some of their supply problems, Wingate started construction of a road suitable for trucks, which he had obtained to supplement his camel transport. The road would stretch from the rail line at Rahad to Taweisha then on to the capital of al-Fashir, about 460 mi (740 km). Once completed, a journey on the road by vehicles, from the rail line to the capital, would take four days. General Sir Archibald Murray, commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, fighting the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, arranged for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) to send a flight of four aeroplanes, 15-pounder field guns and ammunition, wireless sets and light transport vehicles, to assist the expedition.
April reconnaissance
In early April, Anglo-Egyptian reconnaissance patrols located small numbers of Fur troops at Burush, Um Eisheishat and Um Kedda. To the south, the Fur troops deployed at Taweisha were withdrawn to Tulu. Kelly ordered a large reconnaissance force to head west to Abiad. They had three objectives, to find water for their men and animals, disperse any Fur troops at Burush and Um Kedada and deny the Fur forces the water at Abiad. The route between Nahud and al-Fashir was also to be secured. On 3 April, the Anglo-Egyptian force, consisting of two mounted infantry companies, four gund, six Maxim machine-guns and the 13th Sudanese Battalion, reached Burush by noon, forcing out a Fur cavalry unit. The next day they continued their advance towards Um Kedada. This time they met a Fur force of 700 men, some entrenched in front of the wells. The Anglo-Egyptian field guns opened fire on them forcing them to withdraw.
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.
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 3 mi (4.8 km) 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 40 mi (64 km) west of Abiad and 28 mi (45 km) 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.