The superb Abu Klea Distinguished Conduct Medal group to Trooper Sergeant Major, later Sergeant Major William Beale, 19th Hussars who seeing service in the Egyptian War of 1882 would be present during the Suakin operations which lasted from 19th February to 26th March 1884, present in action at the Battle of El Teb on 29th February 1884, and the Battle of Tamaai on 13th March 1884, and then was present during the operations along the Nile in the attempt to relief General Gordon at Khartoum prior to 7th March 1885 including at the Battle of Abu Klea on 17th January 1885. His recommendation for the Distinguished Conduct Medal submitted to the Queen on 7th November 1885 was noted as for being in recognition of gallant conduct during the recent operations in the Soudan, while another source gives the citation as for ‘having been conspicuous on many occasions with the Desert Column and for his coolness and gallantry in reconnoitring in front of the column in the Soudan Campaign’. Beale would be discharged on 31st August 1891 having previously been described by his commanding officer as a man of irreproachable character, he would be awarded a Meritorious Service Medal on 15th November 1892 with an annuity of £15, and died as a pensioner on 11th September 1898.
Group of 3: Distinguished Conduct Medal, VR,; (TP. SGT. MAJ. W. BEALE, 19th HUSRS. JAN & FEB. 1885) Egypt and Sudan Medal 1882-1889, dated 1882 reverse; 4 Clasps: Suakin 1884, El-Teb-Tamaii, The Nile 1884-85, Abu Klea; (1021 TP. SGT. MAJ. W. BEALE. 19TH HUSSARS.) Meritorious Service Medal, VR, (SGT. MAJ. W.C. BEALE. 19/HUSSARS).
Condition: contact wear and pitting, Nearly Very Fine or Better
William Charles Beale was born at Ramsgate, Kent in February 1842, and attested for the 19th Hussars at Canterbury on 13th January 1870, just one month short of his eighteenth birthday. He rose rapidly through the ranks to become Sergeant in March 1877 and Troop Sergeant-Major in September 1880. He re-engaged to complete 21 years in December 1881 and would subsequently be present during the Egyptian War of 1882 where he would be present during the Suakin operations which lasted from 19th February to 26th March 1884, present in action at the Battle of El Teb on 29th February 1884, and the Battle of Tamaai on 13th March 1884, and then was present during the operations along the Nile in the attempt to relief General Gordon at Khartoum prior to 7th March 1885 including at the Battle of Abu Klea on 17th January 1885.
Appointed Regimental Sergeant-Major in April 1885, the recommendation submitted to the Queen on 7th November 1885: ‘in recognition of gallant conduct during the recent operations in the Soudan.’
Another source gives the citation for Beale’s award ‘Having been conspicuous on many occasions with the Desert Column and for his coolness and gallantry in reconnoitring in front of the column in the Soudan Campaign.’
The Battle of Abu Klea began when the Desert Column arrived on the salient overlooking the wadi of Abu Klea not long before sunset, and Stewart decided not to attack that night. The British built a defensive position (or zariba), but were sniped at from the high ground around them by Mahdist rifle-units – mainly soldiers from southern Sudan – all night. They took several casualties. At first light Stewart ordered them to form a square, which they achieved with perfect discipline, though still under fire from enemy snipers. The square moved slowly towards the wells along the side of the wadi, over very difficult, undulating, rocky ground. Suddenly the square was ambushed by a huge Mahdist force that had been concealing itself in the wadi. The British guns were on the leading face of the square, and the Naval Brigade, with their Gardner machine gun, at the rear left hand corner, nearest the wadi. Several officers and men of HMS Alexandra were killed at the battle. As the British halted to repel the Mahdist force, a gap opened up towards the rear left corner of the square. This was caused when Captain Lord Charles Beresford RN, commanding the Naval Brigade, ordered the Gardner gun to be run out on the left flank of the infantry square to provide covering fire. Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby then gave an impromptu order for the Heavy Camel Regiment to wheel out of the square in support of the Gardner gun. The gun had been tested and found very reliable in Britain, but had not been tested in a desert with loose sand getting into its mechanism. It fired seventy rounds and then jammed, and as the crew tried to clear it they were cut down in a rush by the Dervishes. Out of the forty men in the Naval contingent, Lieutenants Alfred Piggott and Rudolph de Lisle were killed along with Chief Boatswain's Mate Bill (Billy) Rhodes and five other seamen and seven more were wounded. Beresford was 'scratched' on the left hand by a spear as he managed to duck under the gun. The weight of the rush pushed the sailors back into the face of the square. Several Dervishes got inside the square, but found the interior full of camels and could not proceed. The troops in the rear ranks faced about and opened fire into the press of men and camels behind them, and were able to drive the Dervishes out of the square and compel them to retreat from the field.
The battle was short, lasting barely fifteen minutes from start to finish. Casualties for the British were nine officers and 65 other ranks killed and over a hundred wounded. The Mahdists lost 1,100 dead during the fifteen minutes of fighting, made all the worse by only 3,000–5,000 of the Dervish force being engaged. Among the Dervish dead was Musa wad Helu, one of the Mahdist chiefs. British national hero Colonel F. G. Burnaby of the Royal Horse Guards was killed by a spear to the throat. Frank Rhodes (brother of Cecil) distinguished himself when several horses were shot under him during the engagement, earning him a Distinguished Service Order. Gunner Alfred Smith fought bravely to save his officer, Lieutenant Guthrie, and was awarded a VC. Another action happened two days later at Abu Kru (the Battle of El Gubat) and the advance rescue force leader Major General Sir Herbert Stewart was mortally wounded by Remington rifle fire by the Mahdists that night. He knew it was a mortal wound, and he transferred command to an inexperienced leader, Brigadier General Sir Charles Wilson (the column's intelligence officer). Wilson was slow to organize his forces, and in tarrying another day, it was he who was the cause of that advance detachment's delay.
A report in The Times newspaper says that Burnaby "fell while reforming a broken British square" (this being one of only two recorded cases of a British square 'breaking' in the 19th century).
Later described by his commanding officer, Colonel French in February 1889 as a man of ‘irreproachable character’, Sergeant-Major Beale took his final discharge on 31st August 1891 and would be awarded his Meritorious Service Medal on 15th November 1892 with an Annuity of £15. He would die as a pensioner on 11th September 1898.