Egypt and Sudan

Egypt and Sudan, a pair to a driver on the projected Suakin to Berber Railway; Suakin, on the Red Sea, to Berber; Egypt and Sudan medal, 1882-1889, clasp, Suakin 1885 (Engine Driver G Rawlinson); Khedive's Star, 1884-6. Very fine. (2)

Believed to be an employee of Messrs. Lucas & Aird, who were contracted to build a railway from Suakin, on the Red Sea, to Berber, near Khartoum, a distance of about 200 miles. In the end the army withdrew after only 20 miles of track had been built, and this mostly by the Sappers, whilst the cost to the British Government was £865,000. The medal count for the Lucas and Aird workforce was for 475 employees. In all, the Company was represented by some 30 different types of employees including, as well as Engine Drivers, Blacksmiths, Boilermakers, Carpenters, Cashiers, Clerks, Cooks, Firemen, Foremen, Guards, Pipelayers, Platelayers, Ropemakers, Roperunners, Storekeepers and Traffic Managers. Several locomotives that had been built specially for this contract were subsequently put to work on the Chattenden & Upnor Railway in Kent.