Sudan Defence Force The Sudan Defence Force ( SDF ) was a British Army unit formed in 1925 , as its name indicates , to maintain the borders of the Sudan under the British administration . During the Second World War , it also served beyond the Sudan in the East African Campaign and in the Western Desert Campaign . Composition . The Sudan Defence Force consisted of a number of battalions , misleadingly styled ' Corps ' , which had a set area of operations : In peacetime , the SDF comprised approximately 4 , 500 regular Sudanese soldiers . During the Second World War , the SDF expanded greatly to counter the threat from the four neighbouring Italian territories : to the north - west , Libya , and to the east , Eritrea and the newly conquered Abyssinia ( Ethiopia ) . To accommodate the extra numbers , a new war - service battalion was formed , the Sudanese Frontier Force . In wartime , the SDF grew to as many as 20 , 000 men . There were also two regiments of irregular special forces : Background . The British did not garrison the Empire exclusively with British troops ; almost every territory had a local militia or an indigenous regiment . Prior to 1925 , the garrison of the Sudan comprised a British battalion around the capital , and battalions of the Egyptian Army , both Egyptian and Sudanese , in the regional capitals . British Military involvement in the Sudan goes back to the days of General Herbert Kitchener and General Gordon who were sent by London to defend British interests in the country . In 1895 Kitchener led the march to Khartoum in charge of the Anglo - Egyptian Expeditionary Force . A force composed of British , Egyptian and Sudanese troops . As a young Army officer Winston Churchill saw military service in the Sudan . The Sudan had been a territory loosely administered by Egypt , but in the 1880s it had fallen to the forces of the Mahdi . From 1885 to 1898 it was ruled , de facto , by the Mahdi and his successor the Khalifa ( literally ' Successor ' ) . Following the defeat of the Mahdists at the Battle of Omdurman , the Sudan was reorganised as an Anglo - Egyptian Condominium . The Head of the Egyptian Army was the Governor - General and there was still a large garrison , as the territory was huge and the remoter parts , such as Darfur , were not pacified until 1916 . In 1925 , the Governor - General Sir Lee Stack was assassinated , by an Egyptian nationalist , on a visit to Cairo . Sudanese soldiers in Khartoum mutinied , the Egyptian Army garrison of the Sudan was therefore deemed unreliable and the Egyptian battalions were sent home . The Sudanese battalions disbanded , 140 British officers were transferred from the Egyptian army and a Sudanese force was formed under the first Kaid Lewa Huddleston who had previously been acting Sirdar ( Commander - in - Chief ) of the Egyptian army . The structure of the new force of about 6 , 000 troops was slightly different : a little looser and more territorial , to give a better esprit de corps and sense of responsibility in each ' Corps ' for its own territory . Unlike the old battalions , with anonymous numbers , the names of the four main corps were Camel Corps , Eastern Arab Corps , Western Arab Corps and Equatorial Corps . These were intended to give a distinct , and regional , identity , like English county regiments . Recruitment in each Corps reflected the local ethnicities . These corps were supported by artillery , engineer , armoured car and machine - gun units , medical , signals and transport services . However , some continuity was maintained . The Egypt ruler , the Khedive , or Viceroy , had been , nominally , a subject of the Ottoman Sultan and so the SDF continued Egyptian titles , which in turn continued Ottoman titles . The result was that British officers in the Sudan were called Bimbashi not Major , or an Arabic equivalent , and Kaimakam . Turkish expressions extended beyond the rank structure , too . Inter - war years . The main duties of the SDF were internal security : assisting the police in the event of unrest or natural disaster . In such a vast country , companies could be detached on garrison duties far from the actual Corps headquarters . In the mid to late 1930s , the SDF was used to counter the aggressive actions of Italian military forces under Marshal Italo Balbo based in Italian North Africa ( " Africa Settentrionale Italiana " , or ASI ) Libya . In December 1933 , the Italians probed various positions in the Jebel Uweinat area along the poorly defined border between the Kingdom of Egypt , the Sudan , and ASI . Responding to the Italian probes in the area , the SDF was ordered to occupy the Merga oasis and then the area around the Karkur Marr spring . The Italian conquest of Ethiopia led to a reorganisation and an increase in scope of the force . By June 1940 the SDF comprised twenty - one companies — including five ( later six ) Motor Machine Gun Companies — totalling 4 , 500 men . Second World War . As part of the Anglo - Egyptian " Condominium , " the Sudan was at war with the Axis from the time Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany . Initially the war was limited to Europe and so the Sudan Defence Force had little to do other than preparation work should the land war reach Africa . From 10 June 1940 , when Fascist Italy declared war on Britain and France , the SDF was involved in the East African Campaign . At first , the SDF went on the defensive against attacks into the Sudan by forces of the Italian Royal Army ( " Regio Esercito " ) and the Italian Royal Air Force ( " Regia Aeronautica " ) based in Italian East Africa ( " Africa Orientale Italiana " , or AOI ) . The Italians occupied the railway junction at Kassala , the small fort at Gallabat , and the villages of Ghezzan , Kurmuk , and Dumbode on the Blue Nile . In the first days of August , an Italian force of irregular Eritreans raided as far north as Port Sudan . The Sudan Defence Force fought on the " Northern Front " during the East African Campaign under the overall command of Lieutenant - General William Platt . In October 1940 , three motor machine - gun companies from the SDF were part of " Gazelle Force " , a mobile reconnaissance and fighting force commanded by Colonel Frank Messervy . The Frontier battalion from the SDF was part of Gideon Force commanded by Major Orde Wingate . In January 1941 , during the British and Commonwealth offensive into the AOI , the SDF took part in the successful invasion of Eritrea . During this invasion , the SDF contributed machine gun companies , howitzer batteries , and other forces ( including some homemade armoured cars ) . The SDF also played an active role during the Western Desert Campaign along the Sudanese border with ASI in North Africa . The SDF was used to supply the Free French and then the Long Range Desert Group ( LRDG ) garrisons of the former Italian Fort Taj at the Kufra oasis in southeastern Libya . In March 1941 , French and LRDG forces had wrested control of the fort from the Italians during the Battle of Kufra . SDF convoys of 3 - ton trucks had to make a round trip of about 1 , 300 miles to keep the garrisons at Kufra supplied with petrol , food , and other vital supplies . The overall scarcity of petrol meant that LRDG patrols could do little more than guard Kufra against attacks from the north . They were unable to raid northwards from Kufra . In February 1941 , the situation was somewhat improved when twenty 10 - ton trucks were added to the convoys . Ultimately the SDF took over the garrison duties at the oasis from the LRDG . The SDF provided the garrison for Jalo Oasis . British Military Intelligence in Cairo worked very closely with the SDF and used them in numerous operations during the North African campaign in WWII . In 1942 on instructions from London , British Military Intelligence , Cairo and elements of the Sudan Defence Force were involved with countering Operation Salaam , the infiltration of German Brandenburger commandos into Egypt . Together with British intelligence agents , members of the SDF were ordered to intercept and capture the German intelligence ( " Abwehr " ) commandos and their Hungarian guide , desert explorer László Almásy . Even after the Tunisian Campaign had ended in Allied victory , SDF patrols were busy thwarting German efforts to land agents behind the lines . The Germans continued attempts to make contact with Arab rebels . On 15 May 1943 , a four - engine aircraft with German markings attempted to land at El Mukaram only to be engaged and shot up by a SDF patrol . The aircraft was able to take off and make good its escape , but it did so with casualties and flying on two engines . By the end of the war , the SDF was an experienced military force with about 70 Sudanese officers . Gradually Sudanese officers were appointed to replace British officers in the years that preceded independence . Departure . In March 1954 British Troops in the Sudan consisted of one battalion stationed in Khartoum , reporting ultimately to the Governor - General . The Governor - General ' s military commander was the Major - General Commanding British Troops in the Sudan , who was also Commandant of the Sudan Defence Force . In this post from 1950 onward was Major General Reginald ' Cully ' Scoons . The last British troops , 1st Battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment , left the country on 16 August 1955 . Ibrahim Aboud was Commander of the SDF in 1949 and Assistant Commander in Chief in 1954 . He was appointed Commander in Chief of the Sudanese armed forces at independence . Aboud later served as Prime Minister of Sudan from 1958 - 1964 and as President in 1964 . One source wrote that Sudan was " the one African Country south of the Sahara to emerge from the colonial period with a military establishment possessing the attributes of an independent national army . " British officers . Most of the officers of the SDF were British Army officers on secondment for a few years . The attraction was independence of command , sporting ( game - hunting ) opportunities in leisure hours and local promotion ( 1 rank ) . On the outbreak of war , many young men of the Sudan Political Service , the administrative service for the Condominium , were allowed to join up . These men included :