![]() Infantrymen of the NSW contingent to the Sudan, after their return to Australia. ORIGINAL HELD IN SPECIAL PRINT COLLECTION. GROUP OF OFFICERS AND MEN AT VICTORIA BARRACKS, PRIOR TO THE DEPARTURE OF THE SUDAN CONTINGENT. It finally disembarked at the Red Sea port of Suakin on 29 March and joined the Nile Field Force of Lord Wolseley and was allocated to the Brigade of Guards who called them Walers and were surprised that they were “white-skinned”! They quickly changed into khaki drab from the scarlet and blue of the times but retained their single shot artini-Henry rifles with saw-toothed bayonets. The two troopships ,Iberia and Australasian pulled out on 3 March, just 15 days after the force was accepted. At Bathurst, some 2000 persons gathered at the railway station to farewell their 14 volunteers and a reported 200,000 cheered themselves hoarse at Circular Quay. There was no security of troop movements in those days. The force included an infantry battalion made up largely from volunteers from the First NSW Regiment. The following day, the Colony of New South Wales offered up a contingent to serve alongside British forces. In February 1885, news was received in Sydney of the death of General Charles Gordon at Khartoum during the Dervish revolt. ![]()
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