I became interested in this part of history as a young boy of about twelve. A short story and the print below was included in a “Boys Own Annual” which each year was always one of my most cherished gifts.

The annual told the story of the rescue of the crew of the Tara by the Duke of Westminster’s Rolls Royce armoured cars. For more detail click here.

The above illustration was originally from ‘Deeds that Thrill the Empire’ (a two volume work that was originally published immediately after the war). The original caption for this reads:

“On March 17^th 1916, information was received that a number of shipwrecked men, who had been landed on the Cyrenica Coast of North Africa, were being held as prisoners by the Senussi at Bir Hakim, seventy miles from Sollum. At 3a.m. therefore, nine of the Duke of Westminster’s armoured cars, twenty six other cars and ten motor ambulances left for Bir Hakim guided by Captain Royle of the Egyptian Coast Guard service and two natives. On their arrival the prisoners were not there, and another forty miles were traversed before the camp was reached. On seeing the cars, the Senussi guards fled, but were pursued and killed, and the prisoners, numbering ninety-one, were rescued and brought back to Sollum. Most of them were survivors from the ‘Tara’ which had been sunk by a German submarine. The Germans had handed them over to the Turks and Arabs, who treated them barbarously.”

Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi was the third-generation supreme leader of the Senussi Order .

The Senussi were a religious order stretching across the breadth of North Africa.  They were led by the Grand Senussi, and had taken a leading role in resisting the Italian invasion of Libya from 1911, and before that French colonisation.  The Ottoman and German governments hoped to use their religious affiliations (the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was also the Caliph, or leader of Islam) and anti-colonial leanings to encourage them to attack the British in Egypt from their bases in Libya.  The Ottomans and Germans provided them with gold, machine guns, artillery, and the specialist troops to operate them, and officers to act as advisors, but the Grand Senussi was reluctant.  Finally, on 5 November 1915 the Germans forced their hand, when the submarine U-35 sank the British patrol vessel HMS Tara.  Over 90 survivors were picked up by the submarine and handed over to the Senussi.  The U-35 then bombarded the Egyptian Coastguard base at Sollum on the Libyan border, forcing hostilities to open between the British and Senussi.

Over the next few weeks, the Senussi pushed the British and Egyptians out of Sollum, Sidi Barani and Baqbaq.  The British feared that the Senussi would stir up a rebellion among their followers, who were scattered throughout Egypt.  Although this did not happen, some members of the Egyptian paramilitary border force – the Coastguard – did desert and join the Senussi.  The British forces in Egypt were fully engaged in the campaign in Gallipoli, and so the Western Frontier Force that was formed to meet the threat was made up from odd garrison units and depot troops left behind.  This scratch force, including a unit of armoured cars, pushed west to attack the Senussi, and set up a main base at Marsa Matruh.

The Western Frontier Force’s first two actions went badly as British columns were ambushed near Wadi Senab on 11 December and Wadi Hasheifat on 13 December 1915. In both cases the Senussi – born and bred desert fighters – hit the columns hard from rough ground and inflicted serious casualties. When the British slowly fought their way clear of the ambushes and counter-attacked, the Senussi resisted until the British got too close and then melted back into the desert.

Only on Christmas Day 1915 did the British get a clear victory, when at dawn they attacked and captured a Senussi camp at Jebel Medwa, near Wadi Majid. Although most of the Senussi tribesmen escaped, their camp was captured along with large amounts of valuable stores and equipment. After being reinforced with a brigade of South African troops, a much more convincing victory followed on 23 January 1916, when the British routed a major Senussi force and captured their camp in a very hard-fought action at Halazin.

The Senussi on the coast had been defeated, but they still held many of the large oases in the Western Desert, including Siwa, Bahariya and Farafra.  The British began to isolate these forces, using a combination of blockhouses and fences (as they had used in South Africa against the Boers), and active and aggressive patrols in the desert.  Camel troops and armoured cars travelled through the empty wastelands between the oases, intercepting Senussi supply columns.  The British worked with the Italians, who were still fighting the Senussi in Libya, to cut off their supplies and support.  It was a slow business, but most of the Senussi forces began to be starved out, and in October and November 1916 almost all of the oases were abandoned by the Senussi and reoccupied by the British.  Soon, only the force at Siwa, under the personnel command of the Grand Senussi, remained.

In early February 1917, a strong force of armoured cars was sent to Siwa, attacking at dawn on 3 February.  In fighting over two days, the Senussi forces were routed, and the Grand Senussi fled back into Libya.  The Senussi signed a peace treaty with Britain and Italy in April 1917.

Much of this Information was obtained from the book below and the Away From The Western Front Website.

I thought I had written a review on this one but I cannot find it!

Why this story and why now?

Well, during Covid lockdown I came across a book on the campaign of Dunsterforce written for “Setting the East Ablaze” wargaming rules, and in its epilogue it mentioned that their next project was going to be on the Senussi War. Now some three years later this one arrived from Caliver books.

I have set up several totally politically incorrect participation games on the “Rescue of the Tara” for a select group and have posted on them previously. Here and here.

The Senussi’s Little Miniature War 1915 – 1917 includes not only this scenario but fourteen others as well that cover all aspects of the campaign.

The book is full of eye candy, excellent maps table set ups and detailed forces for each scenario. There are a number of appendices that cove Wargaming the Senussi Campaign, figure conversion for various sets of rules, a list of the maximum figures required for each scenario, and is packed full of historical information.

I am totally biased and really like this one so no rating!