Troopships and their History by Col H C B Rogers OBE

Published by Seeley, Service & Co Ltd in 1963.

 I must than C. Nelson for advising me of the existence of this book.

Two years later there was trouble in the Sudan where the fanatical forces of the Mahdi were attacking the Egyptian garrisons. A series of disasters culminated in the assassination of General Gordon at Khartoum. Twenty-five of the B.I.'s ships were eventually employed in transporting troops to the Red Sea port of Suakim, and they included the first of a very famous name in trooping, the Nevasa. The P & 0 had been called on at the start of the trouble to make emergency arrangements for the movement of troops from Cairo to Suakim. Two eastbound ships were held at Port Said, workmen were rushed on board, and as they sailed through the Suez Canal their accommodation was modified to receive 1,600 soldiers who were being sent by rail from Cairo to Suez.

The 10th Hussars were the first British troops to disembark at Suakim. On 6th February 1884 the regiment embarked at Bombay on board the troopship Jumna, commanded by Captain Uvedale Singleton, R.N. The 'Tenth' at any rate liked the Jumna, for it is recorded that there was considerable enthusiasm in the regiment at finding itself embarking in the same ship which had brought it out to India eleven years before.

M-I Battery, Royal Artillery, was also embarked at Bombay, and then the Jumna sailed down the coast to Vingorla to take on board the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers. The ship then left for Aden. Approaching Aden she was intercepted by the despatch vessel Amberwitch and directed to call at the port for orders. The ship entered the harbour and the troops learned that they were to take on board camp equipment and to disembark at Suakim, a prospect of active service which was received with delight.

Owing to quarantine regulations no one was allowed ashore or on board the ship. The troops, therefore, had to do all the loading and coaling. The coaling was done exclusively by the 10th Hussars, and it may well have been the only occasion in history when a troopship has been coaled by soldier passengers.

Since the troops had been embarked for England all ranks were accompanied by their families, and the wives spent the few days between Aden and Suakim in making useful articles for the campaign. On 18th February the Jumna arrived at Suakim, and the following day the 10th Hussars disembarked. On 20th M-I Battery landed, but The Royal Irish Fusiliers remained for the time being on board the Jumna.

The 'Tenth', having been equipped with horses from the Egyptian Gendarmerie, now re-embarked on board the small transports Zag-a-Zig and Hodeida which were to carry them four hours steaming south of Suakim to the harbour of Trinkitat. There they were to join an expedition for the relief of the garrison of Tokar, some twenty miles inland.

In the meantime The Royal Irish Fusiliers had disembarked at Suakim, and had been joined by the 1st Battalion The York and Lancaster Regiment.

The force advancing from Trinkitat encountered the enemy in a position on the rising ground overlooking the wells of El Teb. The subsequent action, in which the enemy suffered a crushing defeat, could be seen by the married families from the deck of the Jumna. This must have been a harrowing experience for the wives of the 10th Hussars, though Admiral Sir William Hewitt, who visited the Regiment after the battle, sent a signal from his flagship to the Jumna giving the names of all those whom he had seen uninjured.

On the return of the 'Tenth' to Trinkitat, the officers gave a dinner to the General and staff, and to the Captain and officers of the Jumna, who were invited over from Suakim for the occasion. The ship, which the 'Tenth' regarded as their home during these operations, kindly supplied tables, chairs, tableware and even the cook for the occasion.

The day after the battle of El Teb the families had been transferred to the Serapis and departed for England; no doubt to the relief of their menfolk, for wives and warfare are not a satisfactory mixture.

Exactly a month after the Serapis had sailed the operations came to an end, and the 10th Hussars, M-I Battery, The York and Lancasters and The Royal Irish Fusiliers, embarked once more on the Jumna.

There was a pleasant sequel to the voyage, for at the first regimental dinner after their return the Commanding Officer of the 10th Hussars presented to the officers' mess a picture of H.M.S. Jumna, as a memento of all they owed to the ship and its company.

Some of the Union and Castle ships were chartered as transports for the campaign, and of these the 3,000-ton Arab of 1879 became headquarters ship at Suakim; a function which was to become common enough in the Second World War, but which was unusual in these early days.

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