Return to Website

HaT Forum

A forum to discuss HaT products, ETS, uniformology, modeling, painting, and other essentials associated with HaT products.

HaT Forum
This Forum is Locked
Author
Comment
Camel cover

I've been looking through internet images & my few books & I can't decide whether the various camel corps, fighting the Mahdi & the Khalifa, used their camels as cover when they fought dismounted.

The HaT sets come, of course, with firing soldiers on foot as well as matching kneeling camels. Were the beasts kept in the middle of a square of fighting British &/or Egyptians or did they provide an ersatz rampant?


donald

Re: Camel cover

I dont think so though its tempting, camels are apparantly pretty docile under fire and difficult to kill(according to an FFL officer) but even so..
You may find this article interesting:

http://savageandsoldier.com/sudan/DesertColumn.html



Re: Camel cover

ZEREBA AT ABU-KLEA

"A stone breastwork was rapidly thrown up in the
fading daylight by the Guards Camel Regiment on the
plateau in front of that on which the camels had been
halted and tied down. It was about fifteen feet higher
than the latter and divided from it by a narrow depression
in which the horses of the Hussars were picketed.

A breastwork of camel saddles and boxes was also
immediately constructed on the right face with wire
entanglements in front. The left face was defended only
by a few straggling mimosa branches over which the
Engineers stretched a single wire to represent an entanglement.
The front breastwork was held by the Heavies, who
lay two deep behind it with the Guards in their rear ; the
right left face by Company G of the Royal Sussex, with
only one man to every four feet of ground allotted to
the detachment. Another company of this regiment
occupied a hill in rear of the zereba during the night.
The right front was defended by the Mounted Infantry.
The three screw guns were placed at the right front
corner."

From: "Too late for Gordon and Khartoum" 1885 pg220

https://archive.org/details/toolateforgordon00macd