A scarce Battle of Tamaai casualty awarded to Private W. Lock, 24th Company, Royal Marines who was killed in action on 13th March 1884 at the Battle of Tamaai, 1 of just over 100 British casualties in the action against 10,000 men of Osman Digna's Hadendoa tribe.
Egypt Medal 1882-1889, undated reverse, 1 Clasp: Tamaai; (W. LOCK. PTE. R.M.)
Condition: edge-bruise at 6 o’clock, lightly toned, Very Fine
Private William Lock, 24th Company, Royal Marines saw service in Egypt during the Egyptian War and was present during the Battle of Tamaai on 13th March 1884, where he was killed in action.
A subsequent newspaper article stating that a fund amounting to £388 had been raised at Cairo for the widows and children of the non-commissioned officers and men who lost their lives during the late Soudan expedition, and the board ordered to assemble to apportion the fund having with the approval of the Lieutenant-General Commanding in Egypt divided it into one share for each widow and a quarter share for each child, the sum of £73 4s 5d has been allotted to the Royal Marines for distribution as follows: Royal Marine Artillery, widow of Gunner Thomas Tustin, £26 12s; Royal Marine Light Infantry (Plymouth Division), widow and three children of 24th company Private William Lock, £46 12s 5d. These amounts have been forwarded for payment accordingly.
The Battle of Tamai (or Tamanieh) took place on 13 March 1884 between a British force under Sir Gerald Graham and a Mahdist Sudanese army led by Osman Digna.
Despite his earlier victory at El Teb, Graham realised that Osman Digna's force was far from broken and that he still enjoyed support among the local population. Accordingly, a second expedition departed from Suakin on 10 March in order to defeat the Mahdists definitively.
The force was composed of the same units that had fought at El Teb: 4,500 men, with 22 guns and 6 machine guns. The Mahdists had roughly 10,000 men, most of them belonging to Osman Digna's Hadendoa tribe (known to British soldiers as "Fuzzy Wuzzies" for their unique hair)
