Casualties at the Action of Kirbekan.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| General Staff | 1 | - | - | - |
| 38th S. Staffs | 1 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
| 42nd Royal Highlanders | 1 | 2 | 4 | 21 |
Suakin, 1885.[11]
This honour, which commemorates a short campaign in the Eastern Soudan, is borne by the
5th Lancers.
20th Hussars.
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Scots Guards.
Royal Berkshires.
Shropshire Light Infantry.
9th Hodson's Horse.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
15th Ludhiana Sikhs.
17th (Loyal Regiment).
128th Pioneers.
Whilst the Mahdi himself was conducting his successful campaign against General Gordon at Khartoum, one of his Lieutenants, Osman Digna, a slave merchant of Suakin, was pursuing a no less successful career at Suakin, on the coast of the Red Sea. On two occasions Egyptian armies had been worsted by him, and in the month of December, 1883, a British officer, Colonel Valentine Baker, was routed by an inferior body of tribesmen in an endeavour to relieve the Egyptian fort at Tokar. Of his force of 3,700 men, no less than 2,375 were killed, including 11 British officers. In the spring of 1884 Major-General Sir Gerald Graham was despatched to Suakin to teach Osman Digna a much-needed lesson, and in the month of February Sir Gerald inflicted two severe defeats on the tribesmen at El-Teb and Tamai. A medal and clasp were granted for these services, but they have not been recorded on the list of battle honours of the army.
When the withdrawal from the Nile was decided on, instructions were despatched to Sir Gerald Graham at Suakin to prepare for an advance on Berber from Suakin. His force was brought up to a strength of 13,000 men, including a contingent from New South Wales and a brigade from India. This force was distributed as under:
Commander-in-Chief: Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Graham, V.C., K.C.B.
Cavalry Brigade—Major-General Sir Henry Ewart, K.C.B.: The 5th Lancers, 20th Hussars, and 9th (Hodson's Horse).
Brigade of Guards—Major-General Lyon Fremantle: A battalion of each of the three regiments—the Grenadiers, the Coldstream and the Scots Guards—and the Australian contingent.