Sudan Defence Force Armoured Vehicles and a Vickers Apprentice to a REME Brigadier

One of the pictures that grabbed my attention when looking in the UK official Abyssinian Campaign publication was a picture of an armoured vehicle with an odd registration number, a structure above an open turret, and a radiator cover that looked a bit like it is from a 1920 Pattern Rolls-Royce armoured car.

The picture is not too high a resolution but there is enough to make out a few details and to grab my interest. It turns out that the vehicle is from the Sudan Defence Force contingent operating in the campaign.

A copy of the picture appears in W E Crosskill's book "The Two Thousand Mile War" which I recently acquired. Sadly not much information re the cars or the SDF.

The Sudan Defence Force was formed after unrest in the 1920's, at which point Sudan was separated from Egypt and its own armed forces created under British control. The SDF inherited two 1914 pattern Rolls-Royces from No 3 Armoured Car Company, Tank Corps that had originally been part of the Duke of Westminsters armoured car quadron during WW1. The cars had likely been involved in the 1916 Tara Rescue.

It appears that 45 of the armoured vehicles were constructed during the 1930s by Charles Gordon Stewart, then responsible for Motor Transport in the Sudan Defence Force.

The cars don't have wheel arches/fenders but do appear to have storage at the rear, an open top turret fitted with a Vickers .303 inch machine gun and a Boys .5inch anti-tank rifle. The Boys rifle only came into service in 1937 so probably not part of Stewart's development.

Together with a number of Sudan Defence Force Scout Cars, the armoured cars appear from about 2minutes 5 seconds onwards in a film clip hosted by the Imperial War Museum, reference WPN 283.

Having participated in the Abyssinian campsign, the some of the cars were moved to Kufra to take over  garrison duties from the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).

LRDG commanding officer Guy Prendergast had previously served with the SDFs No 2 MMG Company and had learnt to fly in the Sudan.

A couple of photos that feature the armoured cars appear in a 1964 album prepared for the President of Sudan and former member of the Sudan Defence Force Ibrahim Abbood, available to view at the UK National Archives in Kew, reference CO 1069/15.

An inside view of the turret can be seen on the Imperial War Museum website where there are several SDF and Sudan related photos, films etc

IWM ref E 3764 1941 photo inside an SDF armoured car turret

Charles Stewart Gordon (1891-1964) was born in London to parents from Ireland, his father an engineer. In the 1911 census of Ireland he is at the house of an uncle (James Stewart, age 60) and two aunts (Rachel age 59 and Rebecca age 57) at Northland Road, Derry. The record transcription gives his occupation as : 

"Engineers Apprentice at Vickors Sons and Mariens Ltd (at Barrow in furnise] at present in Turner Shop"

which should say "Engineers Apprentice at Vickers, Sons and Maxim Ltd (at Barrow in Furness) at present in Turner Shop".

The most surprising snippet for me in looking into the background of Charles Gordon was that another uncle, Reverend Harvey Stewart (1859-1939) was rector at St Stephen's Parochial Hall during the Easter Rising in Ireland. Never expected to find any Easter Rising link on this bit of work.

Charles Stewart started the First World War as a Private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Transferred to the Army Service Corps and later commissioned into the Army Service Corps. He would be in Turkey in the 1921 census. Seconded to Sudan in 1927, he was there until 1937.  On return to the UK, he transferred to the RAOC, with whom he stayed until the creation of REME where he became a Brigadier. Quite a remarkable progression.

There is an exceptional photograph album of Stewarts that was donated to the REME Museum at Lyenham that is worth a look if you are interested in interwar vehicles and/or the Sudan. 

The Bodleian Library has a good copy of  "Tales of the Sudan Defence Force" by John Orlebar, carrying the same picture as used on the cover of the Abyssian Campaign publication.

For general interest in the Sudan, the archive at Durham University is the place to go. Check their Special Collections site. 

MilitaryArchive.ie - Release 20 now live

 Good to see another batch of records released by the Military Archives team. Another excellent job.

The offical details of the release are at 

Military Archives Release 20 

with a list of names available at

Release 20 Names and addresses

plus there is a brief synopsis of some interesting bits at :

Release 20 Highlights Part 1

Good to see some names with addresses in Harold's Cross and one person with a Knocklong address. Will have to delve into them soon.

Interesting to see a bit re John Pidgeon. His father Sylvester died a few months after being wounded at the Bachelors Walk massacre. His sister Eileen died just before his father (she wasn't injured at Bachelors Walk).

There is mention of a Hugh Mehlhorns father (Dresden born Viktor Hugo Mehlhorn aka Peter, 1869-1954) being interned in Odlcastle. This was used as an internment camp for people living in Ireland who were born in Germany, Austria etc and deemed "Enemy Aliens".

A couple of Mehlhorn references in Poor Law Guardian minutes :

Graphic - Answers

Having posted the following graphic on Twitter and BlueSky on the 26th July, time for the anwers.

1. The first image, The Asgard Legacy, is a reference to the yacht The Asgard that sailed into Howth on the 26th July 1914 with a consignment of arms and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers.

2. Gladiator was the name of the German tug that carried the arms and ammunition out to sea and from which the Asgard and Kelpie were loaded.

3. Riddle of the Sands was a reference to the owner of the Asgard, Erkine Childers.

4. Aces High was a reference to Asgard crew member Gordon Strachy Shephard. A member of the British Army/Royal Flying Corps, Shephard would be in France the following month as war broke out on the continent. He would be killed in a flying accident in January 1918 and would be the highest ranking member of the RFC to die during the war.

5. The Festival of Remembrance image is a reference to crew member Mary Spring-Rice. Her relative Cecil Spring-Rice wrote the words that would be used in I Vow to Thee My Country, regularly used at the annual UK Festival of Remembrance. 

The words not used in the song :

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.

appear to be apt for the Asgards and its crews exploits (and the other boats and crews involved).

Collen Brothers, Clanwilliam Place, Dublin

A well know photograph that many in Ireland and those that study the Easter Rising would recognise instantly. The burnt out remains of Clanwilliam House, held by Irish Volunteers against Sherwood Foresters.

At the far end, generally ignored, sits a small building housing the offices of Collen Brothers, a building company operating in Dublin and Portadown. They would submit a claim to the 1916 Property Losses Committee for damage to the houses sitting between their office and Clanwilliam House, as well as damage to their depot in the East Wall area of Dublin.

The Property Losses Committee records have been digitized by the National Archives of Ireland but the site is currently down for maintenance.

The Collen Brothers lost a son/employee during the first day of the landing at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli a few months before the Rising :

William Stewart Collen, killed August 1915

The landings at Suvla Bay would be followed by intense fighting around Hill 60 and Scimitar Hill as attempts were made to join up the position at Suvla Bay with that of Anzac Cove.

In the early 1950s the company constructed a terrace at the Canal End of Croke Park - looking across to what had been dubbed "Hill 60", a terrace that had acquired the name of the Gallipoli hill. The Hill 60 "terrace" was a simple mound and in wet weather it took on the look of a WW1 battlefield - the name wasn't meant as a compliment or as a remembrance of events in Gallipoli. Today much of what was Hill 60 forms part of Dineen Hill 16 and the Cusack Stand.

GAA photograph of the mound after Bloody Sunday, 1920

UCC stylised map of Croke Park, Bloody Sunday 1920

The Collen Brother archives were acquired by Trinity College, Dublin who have made some photographs and information available online. Amongst the snippets - if a location in Ireland has a Bailey bridge installed post WW2 nearby, it was probably put there as a result of Collen Brothers.

Collen Brothers archive on Google Culture

At least two cousins of William Stewart Collen from Portadown were also killed during the war :

John Collen was killed in 1916 while serving with the Royal Flying Corps

https://menbehindtheglass.co.uk/the-men/john-collen

Thomas Graham Shillington was killed in 1917

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/140473/thomas-graham-shillington/

Thomas Shillington's Victoria Cross winning cousin Geoffrey Cather was killed in 1916

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1542737/geoffrey-st-george-shillington-cather/

In the newspaper clipping mentioning the death of Wiliam Collen, the wounding of Captain Robert Stevenson of Dungannon is mentioned. The following blog entry mentions that Stevenson was saved by the Machine Gun Sections Rangetaker, Private David Barras Smith. Smith appears to have been killed on the 27th August 1916 :

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/685569/david-barrass-smith/

A video on YouTube gives a background to the life of Captain Stevenson, including distribution of guns from the Ulster Volunteer Force Larne gun running operation. Sadly Collen doesn't get a mention in the small piece touching on Suvla Bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55vw0tGVC7o

Robie Uniacke (1906 - 1942)

When Arthur John Bather (subject of a previous blog entry) returned to Egypt to take up his post with the Egytian Frontier Administration, the officer he replaced was Robie Dennis Woodgate Uniacke (1906-1942), another member of the Royal Tank Corps.

Uniacke was another Sandhurst graduate, leaving a few years after Bather, and gazetted 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Tank Corps in February 1926. Promoted to Lieutenant in September 1927, he was seconded to the Foreign Office in September 1929.  In December 1934, he was awarded the Order of the Nile in recognition of his service with the Egyptian Frontier Administration ahead of his being returned to normal duties with the Royal Tank Corps in May 1935. Promoted to Captain in September 1936 and appointed an Adjutant in 1939 (not sure of what unit or where stationed).

Yet to find his subsequent promotions. As at January 1940, he appears to be near Bovington as a Captain as he is recorded as the script writer for a pantomime at Blandford.

Uniacke returned to Egypt at some point during the war and would be killed while commanding 5 Royal Tank Regiment in June 1942 (Battle of Gazala?). He is buried in Libya.

It's not clear when he got to Egypt

Phoenix Park, Dublin - Magazine Fort opens for visitors

Good to hear that the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park in Dublin has undergone renovation and is now open for visitors

RTE : Magazine Fort opens to the public/0727/1585210-magazine-fort/

Office of Public Works Tours

The Military Archives have a number of documents available online worth a look in their collection of maps, plans and drawings :

Map of Phoenix Park

Outline of Magazine Fort 1851

Outline of Magazine Fort 1851 (2)

Magazine Fort drainage 1902

plus

Interwar aerial photographs of the Magazine Fort

Howth Landing 26th July 1914 and Kilcoole Landing 2nd August 1914

On display at the National Museum in Dublin in its own building is the yacht Asgard, having undergone major conservation work. An excellent, free exhibit to head to if you are in Dublin on top of all the other excellent displays at Collins Barracks.

Originally owned by Erskine and Mary/Molly Childers (a wedding present from Molly's father) it was one of several boats used to transport guns and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers in 1914.

The crew of the Asgard for the  trip were :

Erskine Childers
Molly Childers
Mary Rice Spring
Gordon Strachy Shephard (aka "Mr Gordon"), a British soldier.
Patrick McGinley
Charles Duggan

Mary Rice Spring kept a diary of the voyage and this is available to read online at :

Diary of the Asgard

The Asgard entered Howth harbour with its cargo of 1500 rifles and 29000 rounds of ammunition in daylight on the 26th July 1914.  Remarkably, the Irish Volunteers had only been formed the previous November and it was quite a job putting the money, contacts and plans together in that time. The daylight landing was a deliberate propaganda coup.

As part of the same operation, a second landing took place at Kilcoole, County Wicklow. 600 rifles and 20000 rounds of ammunition had been loaded onto a boat called the Kelpie on 12th July 1914 from the tug Gladiator. The Asgard was loaded the same day just after the Kelpie - the original plan was that they would take half each. Kelpie was full; Asgard was seriously overloaded with the extra cargo. On the 24th July off the coast of Wales, the Kelpie cargo was transferred to a larger boat, the Chotah. Assisting in the landing at Kilcoole was the Nugget, a small trawler from Howth. 

Unlike the Howth landing, the Kilcoole landing in the early hours of 2nd August 1914 was a much more secretive operation, taking place during darkness and avoiding the interference by the British that resulted in the deaths at Bachelors Walk following the Howth landing.

Though there were two landings, all the rifles landed are generally referred to as "Howth Mausers".

Aboard The Kelpie

Connor O'Brien (owner)

Kitty O'Brien

Diarmuid Coffey

Thomas Fitzsimons

George Cahill

Aboard The Chotah

Sir Thomas Myles (owner)

James Creed Meredith

Thomas Fitzsimons (transferred from Kelpie)

George Cahill (transferred from Kelpie)

Hervey de Montmorency

Aboard The Nugget

James McLoughlin (Skipper)

Nicholas McLoughlion (crew)

William McLoughlin (crew)

Michael Moore (crew)

Edward Moore (stowaway)

Frank Daly (IRB)

Luke Kenny (IRB)

Sean Tobin (IRB)

The rifles transported by the above boats were Mauser M1871, single shot, black powder weapons firing an 11mm round - surplus that had been acquired by arms dealer Moritz Magnus. 

Ian McCollum (aka "Gun Jesus") has a fairly watchable video re the Howth Mauser giving some background to the Childers etc, showing the workings of the rifle, and discussing the hash made of attaching bayonets, while Mae at C&R Arsenal gives a very quick demo in her video firing this beast of a rifle.

The weapons were being stored in Liege, Belgium at the time of their acquistion by the Irish Volunteers and as part of their ruse, their purchase was earmarked as being for Mexico. They were to be exported via Hamburg where there was the possibility of being impounded by German customs officials. The weapons were not being sent to Ireland at the behest of the German government.

Further Reading

Two very readble publications on the operations :

A set that is generally good reads re Mauser rifles

but not so good on the Howth Mausers