Alfred Smith

The Royal Artillery Gunner Who Saved an Officer at Abu Klea In the chaos of the Battle of Abu Klea, with the British square under attack and an artillery officer suddenly exposed to an enemy spear, one gunner reached for the weapon closest to him. It was not a rifle or a sword. Gunner Alfred Smith seized a gun handspike and fought at close quarters to save his officer's life. That extraordinary act on 17 January 1885 earned Smith the Victoria Cross, placing the Royal Artillery gunner among the most remarkable British soldiers of the Sudan Campaign. VC and GC Association Alfred Smith was born at Barking, Essex, in 1860. On 23 August 1878 he enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, initially serving as a gunner with 10th Battery, 10th Brigade on Guernsey. In April 1882 his battery became 1st Battery, 1st Brigade, Southern Division, the unit with which his name would become permanently associated. The battery moved to Malta in August 1882 and then to Egypt in February 1884, bringing Smith into the imperial campaigns that would eventually carry him deep into the Sudan. VC and GC Association By early 1885 the British expedition attempting to reach Khartoum was pushing across the desert toward the Nile. On 17 January 1885, Major General Sir Herbert Stewart's Desert Column met a large Mahdist force at the wells of Abu Klea. The fighting became exceptionally fierce when part of the British square was penetrated. During the confusion, Lieutenant Guthrie of the Royal Artillery was left with his gun in a dangerously exposed position. It was here that Alfred Smith's few decisive seconds of action became part of Victoria Cross history. VC and GC Association According to the official Victoria Cross citation published in The London Gazette on 12 May 1885, an enemy fighter rushed at Lieutenant Guthrie with a spear while the officer was occupied with his gun and had no weapon ready. Smith intervened and, in the Gazette's words, "with a gun handspike warded off the thrust." That gave Guthrie enough time to draw his sword. When the attacker then attempted to strike Guthrie with a long knife, Smith intervened for a second time. Guthrie was wounded in the thigh, but before another attack could be made, Smith killed the assailant with the handspike. The citation recorded that Smith had, for the time being, saved his officer's life, although Lieutenant Guthrie later died from his wound. VC and GC Association What makes Smith's Victoria Cross action so compelling is its immediacy. There was no carefully prepared assault and no time to wait for orders. An officer was in mortal danger, and Smith reacted with whatever was available. The official recognition followed swiftly. His Victoria Cross was gazetted in London Gazette issue 25469, page 2156, and Smith was invested with the decoration on 3 August 1885 by General Sir Frederick C. A. Stephenson, General Officer Commanding in Egypt. VC and GC Association Smith's service in Egypt and the Sudan is also preserved through his campaign awards. He received the Egypt Medal 1882–89, carrying the clasps "The Nile 1884–85" and "Abu Klea", together with the Khedive's Star. These are not merely medals associated with the campaign in general. Smith's surviving Egypt Medal is specifically named "23641 GUN: A. SMITH. V.C. 1 / SO: DIV: R.A.", directly connecting the medal to the Victoria Cross gunner and his Royal Artillery service. His Khedive's Star is unnamed, in keeping with the normal form of issue. The two original campaign awards were sold at auction in September 2025, while Smith's original Victoria Cross remains associated with the Royal Artillery collection. Victoria Cross Smith did not remain a career soldier for decades after Abu Klea. On 4 December 1889 he transferred to the Army Reserve, and in civilian life he worked as an engine driver at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. The contrast is striking. A man whose courage had been formally recognised with Britain's highest decoration for battlefield gallantry returned to an industrial working life in Woolwich, carrying with him the memory of a few violent moments in the Sudan that had secured his place in military history. VC and GC Association Alfred Smith died on 6 January 1932 at Plumstead, London, and was buried in Plumstead Cemetery, Section N, Grave 885. His connection with the Royal Artillery endured after his death. In 1986 a replacement headstone was erected with the involvement of 176 (Abu Klea) Battery, Royal Artillery, preserving the association between Smith, his regiment and the battle where his courage had been tested. VC and GC Association More than a century after Abu Klea, Gunner Alfred Smith VC remains remembered not because he held high rank or commanded an army, but because at the critical instant he acted. Armed only with an artillery handspike, he put himself between a fellow soldier and an attacker. His Victoria Cross, Egypt Medal with The Nile 1884–85 and Abu Klea clasps, and Khedive's Star preserve the official record of that service, but the enduring centre of his story is the deed itself: one gunner, one endangered officer and a decision made in seconds that entered the history of the Victoria Cross.