BATTLE OF TOFREK FOUGHT NEAR SUAKIN MARCH 22nd 1885

Excerpt:On their own showing it is indeed evident that not one Special who reported not one editor who commented on the events of the 22nd was in the slightest degree aware what the defensive dis positions of the troops really were or whether any preparations were made for the eventuality of an attack at all; the natural inference being that none existed. Of the fact especially that two-thirds of the whole F orce - practically the entire Indian Contingent - were under arms throughout the day nothing was known. The Rallying Square composed until about two o''clock of all the British troops not engaged in fatigue duty fared little better; in the Daily News 1 it masquerades as forty Royal Marines engaged in wood-cutting who form a small square and kill a hundred rebels; in other cases it is two companies of the Berks caught dining lunching or engaged in other avocations who also improvise a square and perform wonders. In every instance it receives prominence merely as a chance incident standing out in relief against a background of disorder and confusion. That the story is a mere burlesque of one of the stated military dispositions of the day is never once recognised.