Jamaica to Sudan

This first book in Allan A. Murray's Series, 'Their World War', is the story of one man's service for his country during the Victorian Wars of the late 1800s. William Owen served as a soldier in the British Army for 15 years and one month, his battalion - the 2nd Battalion, 6th (Royal 1st Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot - garrisoned numerous parts of the British Empire. Notably, Owen's service included being in Jamaica during the suppression of the Morant Bay Rebellion, a bloody event that reverberated all the way to Westminster. For Owen, it would have been a truly shocking experience with hundreds of unarmed civilians being slaughtered in just a few days. This no doubt was a contributor to Owen leaving the British Army soon after and turning his back on the United Kingdom, where he was born. By the mid-1880s, Owen was living half-a-world away with his family in the self-governing British Colony of New South Wales. In 1885, Owen still had a desire to serve. He was swept up in the wave of Imperial fervour following the death of Major-General Gordon at Khartoum, and again enlisted. William Owen was one of 770 volunteers selected for the New South Wales Contingent and sent to the Sudan to fight the Mahdists. Because of his earlier British Army service, he was made a Corporal in the New South Wales Infantry at the age of 44. Owen therefore served in the first expeditionary contingent to be dispatched from the Australian continent. The unit served adequately given the limited demands placed upon it but there was criticism of the leadership of its Officers. This story depicts a man with a desire for adventure who through his service also exhibited great loyalty in testing times. Owen's service also provides a catalyst for re-thinking the nature of the precedent set by the deployment of the New South Wales Contingent.