Sudan Gallery

Battle of Abu Klea, 17 January 1885

Battle of Abu Klea, 17 January 1885. Oil on canvas signed and dated lower left: 'W B Wollen 1896', by William Barns Wollen (1857-1936), 1896. In a race against time to relieve General Gordon, besieged at Khartoum, a relief column under General Sir Garnet Wolseley set out from Cairo in October 1884. Realising that his infantry, travelling in boats up the Nile, might not reach Khartoum in time to save Gordon, Wolseley detached a Desert Column to travel overland by a faster but more dangerous route. On 17 Jan 1885 this Column, commanded by General Herbert Stewart, was attacked by the Mahdists at Abu Klea. The resulting battle was later described by Winston Churchill as 'the most savage and bloody action ever fought in the Soudan by British troops'. The British square broke and was closed only after desperate hand-to-hand fighting. The British suffered 168 casualties, the Mahdists about 1100. The Column finally reached Khartoum on 28 January, two days after the town had fallen. Date: 1885

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

20048684

SUDAN Scarification Dinka initiation into manhood. Scarring ceremony in which each boy has six horizontal lines cut into his forehead any sign of weakness brings dishonour. Practice now carried out less often

© eye ubiquitous / hutchison

Africa, Children, Ethnic, Festivals

Sudan Dinka man tending maize and other crops

Sudan
Dinka man tending maize and other crops
©Hutchison Picture Library / Sarah Errington
65 Brighton Rd, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 6RE

© Hutchison Picture Library / Sarah Errington

Agriculture, Dinka Man Tending Maize And Other Crops, Sudan