THE SOUDAN CONTINGENT

Gisborne Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1706, 23 March 1906, Page 3

THE SOUDAN CONTINGENT

March 3-d was tbo twenty first anniversary of tho departure from Oiroular Quay, Sydney, of the transports Iberia ond Australasian with tho Now South Wales conlingtjnt for tho Soudan, 11 It was no joke,” writes ex-Sorgeant 0. R Poole, 11 to be one of the little orowd of Australians who went to their baptism of war on the burning plains of Southern I Egypt. Discipline, and that of a kind to whioh but few of them were acoustomod, was strict, but impartial, and there were i no pickings to bo obtained on tho desert. I Of loot, so beloved by Tommy Atkins, I there was none. Fortunately, disease was I conspicuous by its absenoe, and there were but few oasua'ties. Still, some 20 of I those who sailed never roturned, though sickness and not battle was the oauso of these deaths. Three woro wounded, and

the results of the expedition may be said to have been achieved somewhat oheaply. By th f s expedition, New South Wales laid tho foundation for the erection of that superstructure whioh bar been cemented in later years by the Australian blood spilt ' further south on tbo same great continent. One name only needs to be mentioned hero, but that name should be, and is, wri’ten deep in the hearts of every man who belonged to the contingent. Godb from among us, William Bede Dailey still remains fixed in the hearts of tboeo who knew ond loved him, and who regard his astion in offering the services of our troops as one of the most opportune events in New South Wales hislo.-y.”