In October 1918, Turkey finally sued for peace. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire had controlled a large swathe of Northern Africa, part of the Balkans and much of the Mediterranean. Now it was in ruins. The victorious Allied Powers occupied Constantinople. Then they proceeded to carve up the Middle East. In the postwar period, politicians in London and Paris effectively redrew the maps of Mesopotamia, Iraq and Palestine. The borders they created would be disputed for generations and remain a flashpoint for conflict today.

By the end of the war, the Australian Light Horse had fought against Ottoman forces throughout much of that empire’s territory – in Egypt, Sinai and Palestine. Anzac troops had charged the wells of Beersheba, stormed the forts of Damascus, and taken the ancient city of Jerusalem. They expected to be sent home when the war was over. Instead they were ordered to stay on and charged with the ‘unhappy work’ of suppressing an Arab uprising in Egypt.1

Ordered to stay: James Ferguson’s body on the verandah of the 3rd Light Horse Field Hospital, adorned with wreaths from the local British population in Zagazig. P01668.011 courtesy Australian War Memorial.

Unhappy work: James was buried in the European Cemetery in Zagazig and later reinterred in the Tel-el-Kebir Commonwealth War Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery is pictured here in the interwar years. Courtesy the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Even before the war, Egypt had been declared a British protectorate. At the gateway of the Suez Canal, it held the shipping lines that linked Empire and the dominions. Cairo had been occupied by thousands of troops, Egyptian assets had been seized, Egyptian industry mobilised for the war effort. By 1919, most of the local population had tired of England’s war. Arab nationalists now demanded their independence.

The Egyptian uprising began in Cairo and spread quickly through the countryside. All across the Middle East, nationalist movements vowed to end foreign rule and cast aside the shackles of colonialism.

James Ferguson of the 8th Light Horse was one of the Australian troops ordered to put down the rebellion. A Gallipoli veteran, he’d been hardened by years in the desert and seen much of the worst fighting in Palestine.

We don’t know what this farmer from the outskirts of Perth thought of Egyptian nationalism. We don’t know if he believed that this country, or his own, was ready for independence. Nor can we assume his belief in the British Empire – once strong enough that he enlisted – survived the brutal campaigns of the desert.

We do know he was ill. James Ferguson was suffering from malaria when he was deployed to Tel-el-Kebir, and his isolated sentry post stood little chance against a sea of angry protestors.

On the night of 19 March 1919, several hundred rebels cut telegraph lines and burnt British flags. They tore railway lines from the ground and heaved them into the canal, attacking anyone who opposed them.

James Ferguson was one of four men stationed on a hill overlooking the railway line and canal. Their vulnerable position blocked the rebels’ way into the town. Trooper Ferguson and his comrades fled as the protesters advanced – four men had no chance of stopping such a large and determined force. A few escaped, but James was not so lucky. He was found ‘terribly battered about’ the next morning and died without regaining consciousness. 2

Trooper Ferguson’s death was avenged with ferocious resolution. Assembled like riot troops, British, Indian, New Zealand and Australian infantry quickly ‘taught the natives a lesson’. The rebellion was suppressed, its leaders imprisoned, and hundreds of protestors lost their lives. Egypt was taken back by its colonial rulers.

Like a generation of the bereaved, James’ parents were told their son died for democracy, for freedom, even for the rights of small nations. But Trooper Ferguson really died to safeguard the Empire’s interests – and decades more of colonial rule in Egypt.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING: This story draws on the service dossier of James Ferguson NAA: B2455 FERGUSON J M; 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment diary AWM 4/10/15; and contemporary newspaper reports. For further reading on the Egyptian uprising of 1919, see Harry Gullett, ‘Appendix – The Egyptian Rebellion in 1919, Volume VII – The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918’, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, 10th edition (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1941); and Michael Hough, Gallipoli to Tripoli: History of the Tenth Light Horse Regiment 1914–1918 (Victoria Park: Hesperia Press, 2012); and the Australian History-International Explorer Guide for Egypt and Lebanon, ahieg.com.au.

1 Harry Gullett, ‘Appendix – The Egyptian Rebellion in 1919, Volume VII - The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918’ (10th edition), Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1941), p. 793.

2 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment unit diary, March 1919 AWM4/10/15.