On 8th January 1882, Britain and France signed a treaty supporting the Khédive of Egypt, Tewfiq Pasha. The Khédive was facing a rebellion led by nationalist army officers under the command of Ahmad 'Urabi Pasha Al-Misri, commonly known as Arabi Pasha. In late February, Tewfiq was forced to allow nationalists into high governmental positions. During April and May squadrons of French and British naval ships sailed to the Egyptian coast, and on 25th May, the Anglo-French alliance gave an ultimatum that forced the nationalist government to resign. The British and French naval presence at Alexandria precipitated riots on 11th June in which some 50 Europeans were killed.
Four days later, as William Gill arrived back in London, Thomas George Baring, earl of Northbrook and first lord of the admiralty, was gathering intelligence about the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai desert. The aim was to secure the Suez Canal by enlisting the support of the local Sheikhs in the increasingly likely event of an anti-European rebellion in Egypt. Northbrook immediately recruited Captain Gill for his knowledge of the Bedouins.
From Gill and Colonel Bradford, Northbrook learned that the leading authority on the Bedouins was an orientalist, Professor Edward Henry Palmer. He was the ideal man, having an extraordinary knowledge of Arabic and its dialects, and a thorough understanding of Arab thinking and lifestyles. He also knew the Sinai peninsular from earlier exploration and survey work there. On behalf of the admiralty, William Gill visited Edward Palmer on 24th June 1882 and asked him to provide whatever information he could about the character, power and possible movements of the Sinai Arabs. Palmer volunteered to travel from Gaza to Suez to ascertain the mood of the Bedouins, and to act as principal interpreter to Admiral Sir William Hewett, who was commanding naval operations in the Red Sea. Professor Palmer left London on 30th June, the cover story being that he was going east for his health, having recently been ill. Another tale suggested he was going as a correspondent for one of the major British newspapers. Palmer arrived at Alexandria on 6th July and started his expedition three days later at Jaffa. On 11th July the British fleet bombarded Alexandria (the French declining further military involvement) and Palmer left Jaffa the following day. Two days later he set out through the desert from Gaza for Suez. On the outbreak of hostilities, William Gill was himself asked to go to Egypt. He was appointed Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General and Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-Master-General but his real mission was to assist in the Intelligence Department run by Admiral Hoskins, who was in charge of the British ships at Port Said (Bur Sa'id). Captain Gill received his orders on 19th July, eight days after the bombardment of Alexandria, and ‘at once joyfully accepted the employment.' He left England on 21st July and arrived at Alexandria six days later.
Edward Palmer reached Suez five days before Gill, after a difficult journey from El-Arish. The meeting Palmer had arranged with the Sheikhs was to take place 60 miles to the east of Suez, at An-Nackl, a fort in the Desert of the Wanderings. Lieutenant Charrington, Admiral Hewett's flag-lieutenant, would accompany Palmer, to show the Sheikhs that the professor was acting on behalf of the British government.
During his expedition, Palmer had been introduced to Meter abu Sofieh, who posed as the head Sheikh of the Lehewats occupying the country east of Suez. But the Lehewats did not live in that area and Meter was not a Sheikh. Palmer had been duped by the man and Gill was right to suspect the professor of taking an unrealistically rosy view of the level of Bedouin support.
Next day, Monday 7th August, Meter called on Professor Palmer and in the evening was presented to the Admiral and the British Consul. The following afternoon, Palmer received from the ‘Euryalus' a black leather bag containing £3,000 in gold sovereigns. The party was now ready to leave and comprised Palmer, Charrington, Gill, Gill's dragoman Khalil Attik (who had accompanied him in North Africa), a cook called Bâkhor Hassûn who was supposedly a Moslem but actually a Jew, Meter abu Sofieh and his nephew, Salameh ibn Ayed. That evening they set off from Suez by boat and travelled a few miles to a place near Ayun Mûsa (Moses Wells) where they camped for the night.
The party, all dressed in Arab clothing, rose before sunrise next morning, Wednesday 9th August. They were joined by seven camel drivers and their animals, hired the previous evening. In all, there were 16 camels, two belonging to Meter and his nephew, ten of Palmer's and four belonging to the camel drivers. Soon after sunrise the party set out. At one stage Meter left them and went back to Ayun Mûsa to hire another camel driver. After ten miles the party stopped for lunch and was joined by a pair of Bedouins: one, Salem ibn Subheh, joined the party, while the other rode off. The expedition travelled another eight miles after lunch, camped for the night in Wadi Kahalin, and were joined by three Bedouins on foot. (A wadi is a steep-sided and usually dry water course.) In the morning, the three Bedouins and two camels were missing. This seems to have been a deliberate attempt engineered by Salem ibn Subheh to delay the expedition. Retrieving the camels involved Salem leading the drivers in a 20 mile chase and delayed Palmer's advance party at Wadi Kahalin until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They reached Wadi Sudr two hours later and continued their journey into the night.The advance party travelled lightly. Meter abu Sofieh was on one of Palmer's camels with two wooden boxes of Captain Gill's and the small kitchen tent. Professor Palmer and Salameh ibn Ayed (Meter's nephew) followed on Meter's dromedary, with a despatch box and the bag containing the £3,000. Next came Captain Gill on Salameh's dromedary with two bags of clothing. This was followed by Lieutenant Charrington on a camel belonging to one of the drivers, with some clothes and food. Bringing up the rear was Khalil Attik on one of Palmer's camels. The baggage train, comprising 11 camels, nine Arabs and the Jewish cook, left an hour after Palmer's party and, as arranged, stopped for the night a couple of hours later near 'Ain abu Jerad. Palmer's advance party kept going and some time after midnight reached a place called Mahârib where the path ran on a spur of a small hill. Suddenly, from both sides of the spur, a gang of about 25 Bedouins opened fire. Palmer's party fired back but neither side did much damage. As soon as the firing started, Meter abu Sofieh ran away up the wadi towards his own desert camp nearby. His nephew Salameh ibn Ayed rode off in the opposite direction, back down the wadi whence the party had come, taking the money and the despatch box. Salameh may have had orders from Palmer to take it to Suez. But although he rode right past the baggage train, he failed to alert them. The Bedouins quickly disarmed what was left of Palmer's party and stripped them to their underwear. The four prisoners, Palmer, Charrington, Gill and Khalil Attik, were taken to a nearby hollow in the rocks, while most of the Bedouins chased after Salameh ibn Ayed and the money. The pursuing Bedouins soon reached the support party at 'Ain abu Jerad, looted it and captured the Jewish cook. Meanwhile, Meter abu Sofieh returned to the scene of the attack with his four sons and several other Bedouins, ostensibly to rescue the Christians. But by the time they were brought up to his camels, the attackers had also returned. Rather than fight, Meter said he wanted to negotiate. Palmer offered everything the party had in exchange for their lives, and told the Bedouins that Meter had all the money. But Meter, having got the money, made little effort to negotiate and soon rode off. It seems the Bedouins were under orders of some kind to kill the Christians and so decided to murder them, along with Gill's trusty dragoman Khalil Attik and Bâkhor Hassûn, the cook.
It was Friday 11th August 1882. The five prisoners, stripped almost naked in the heat of the sun, were made to walk in front of their captors over a mile of rough ground to the Wadi Sudr ravine. Then they were forced to climb down the cliff to some flat ground on the edge of a gully. There they were stood in a row facing the gully, a Bedouin with a gun behind each. The execution was intended to be simultaneous, the bodies falling into the gully. But before the signal to fire was given, one of the Bedouins shot Professor Palmer. In the confusion, the other four prisoners made a break for it. Khalil Attik dashed desperately down the edge of the gulley but was overtaken and killed. Captain Gill, Lieutenant Charrington and Bâkhor Hassûn tried to scramble down the 60 foot cliff to the Wadi but were shot and apparently finished off by sword. William Gill seems to have got the furthest, reaching the bottom of the cliff before he was killed.
Two days later, at Tel-el-Kebir, the British army defeated the Egyptian nationalists, and on 15th August occupied Cairo.
The remains of Gill, Charrington and Palmer were recovered after the war by the efforts of Sir Charles (then Colonel) Warren, and now lie in St Paul's Cathedral.
Four days later, as William Gill arrived back in London, Thomas George Baring, earl of Northbrook and first lord of the admiralty, was gathering intelligence about the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai desert. The aim was to secure the Suez Canal by enlisting the support of the local Sheikhs in the increasingly likely event of an anti-European rebellion in Egypt. Northbrook immediately recruited Captain Gill for his knowledge of the Bedouins.
From Gill and Colonel Bradford, Northbrook learned that the leading authority on the Bedouins was an orientalist, Professor Edward Henry Palmer. He was the ideal man, having an extraordinary knowledge of Arabic and its dialects, and a thorough understanding of Arab thinking and lifestyles. He also knew the Sinai peninsular from earlier exploration and survey work there. On behalf of the admiralty, William Gill visited Edward Palmer on 24th June 1882 and asked him to provide whatever information he could about the character, power and possible movements of the Sinai Arabs. Palmer volunteered to travel from Gaza to Suez to ascertain the mood of the Bedouins, and to act as principal interpreter to Admiral Sir William Hewett, who was commanding naval operations in the Red Sea. Professor Palmer left London on 30th June, the cover story being that he was going east for his health, having recently been ill. Another tale suggested he was going as a correspondent for one of the major British newspapers. Palmer arrived at Alexandria on 6th July and started his expedition three days later at Jaffa. On 11th July the British fleet bombarded Alexandria (the French declining further military involvement) and Palmer left Jaffa the following day. Two days later he set out through the desert from Gaza for Suez. On the outbreak of hostilities, William Gill was himself asked to go to Egypt. He was appointed Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General and Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-Master-General but his real mission was to assist in the Intelligence Department run by Admiral Hoskins, who was in charge of the British ships at Port Said (Bur Sa'id). Captain Gill received his orders on 19th July, eight days after the bombardment of Alexandria, and ‘at once joyfully accepted the employment.' He left England on 21st July and arrived at Alexandria six days later.
Edward Palmer reached Suez five days before Gill, after a difficult journey from El-Arish. The meeting Palmer had arranged with the Sheikhs was to take place 60 miles to the east of Suez, at An-Nackl, a fort in the Desert of the Wanderings. Lieutenant Charrington, Admiral Hewett's flag-lieutenant, would accompany Palmer, to show the Sheikhs that the professor was acting on behalf of the British government.
During his expedition, Palmer had been introduced to Meter abu Sofieh, who posed as the head Sheikh of the Lehewats occupying the country east of Suez. But the Lehewats did not live in that area and Meter was not a Sheikh. Palmer had been duped by the man and Gill was right to suspect the professor of taking an unrealistically rosy view of the level of Bedouin support.
Next day, Monday 7th August, Meter called on Professor Palmer and in the evening was presented to the Admiral and the British Consul. The following afternoon, Palmer received from the ‘Euryalus' a black leather bag containing £3,000 in gold sovereigns. The party was now ready to leave and comprised Palmer, Charrington, Gill, Gill's dragoman Khalil Attik (who had accompanied him in North Africa), a cook called Bâkhor Hassûn who was supposedly a Moslem but actually a Jew, Meter abu Sofieh and his nephew, Salameh ibn Ayed. That evening they set off from Suez by boat and travelled a few miles to a place near Ayun Mûsa (Moses Wells) where they camped for the night.
The party, all dressed in Arab clothing, rose before sunrise next morning, Wednesday 9th August. They were joined by seven camel drivers and their animals, hired the previous evening. In all, there were 16 camels, two belonging to Meter and his nephew, ten of Palmer's and four belonging to the camel drivers. Soon after sunrise the party set out. At one stage Meter left them and went back to Ayun Mûsa to hire another camel driver. After ten miles the party stopped for lunch and was joined by a pair of Bedouins: one, Salem ibn Subheh, joined the party, while the other rode off. The expedition travelled another eight miles after lunch, camped for the night in Wadi Kahalin, and were joined by three Bedouins on foot. (A wadi is a steep-sided and usually dry water course.) In the morning, the three Bedouins and two camels were missing. This seems to have been a deliberate attempt engineered by Salem ibn Subheh to delay the expedition. Retrieving the camels involved Salem leading the drivers in a 20 mile chase and delayed Palmer's advance party at Wadi Kahalin until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They reached Wadi Sudr two hours later and continued their journey into the night.The advance party travelled lightly. Meter abu Sofieh was on one of Palmer's camels with two wooden boxes of Captain Gill's and the small kitchen tent. Professor Palmer and Salameh ibn Ayed (Meter's nephew) followed on Meter's dromedary, with a despatch box and the bag containing the £3,000. Next came Captain Gill on Salameh's dromedary with two bags of clothing. This was followed by Lieutenant Charrington on a camel belonging to one of the drivers, with some clothes and food. Bringing up the rear was Khalil Attik on one of Palmer's camels. The baggage train, comprising 11 camels, nine Arabs and the Jewish cook, left an hour after Palmer's party and, as arranged, stopped for the night a couple of hours later near 'Ain abu Jerad. Palmer's advance party kept going and some time after midnight reached a place called Mahârib where the path ran on a spur of a small hill. Suddenly, from both sides of the spur, a gang of about 25 Bedouins opened fire. Palmer's party fired back but neither side did much damage. As soon as the firing started, Meter abu Sofieh ran away up the wadi towards his own desert camp nearby. His nephew Salameh ibn Ayed rode off in the opposite direction, back down the wadi whence the party had come, taking the money and the despatch box. Salameh may have had orders from Palmer to take it to Suez. But although he rode right past the baggage train, he failed to alert them. The Bedouins quickly disarmed what was left of Palmer's party and stripped them to their underwear. The four prisoners, Palmer, Charrington, Gill and Khalil Attik, were taken to a nearby hollow in the rocks, while most of the Bedouins chased after Salameh ibn Ayed and the money. The pursuing Bedouins soon reached the support party at 'Ain abu Jerad, looted it and captured the Jewish cook. Meanwhile, Meter abu Sofieh returned to the scene of the attack with his four sons and several other Bedouins, ostensibly to rescue the Christians. But by the time they were brought up to his camels, the attackers had also returned. Rather than fight, Meter said he wanted to negotiate. Palmer offered everything the party had in exchange for their lives, and told the Bedouins that Meter had all the money. But Meter, having got the money, made little effort to negotiate and soon rode off. It seems the Bedouins were under orders of some kind to kill the Christians and so decided to murder them, along with Gill's trusty dragoman Khalil Attik and Bâkhor Hassûn, the cook.
It was Friday 11th August 1882. The five prisoners, stripped almost naked in the heat of the sun, were made to walk in front of their captors over a mile of rough ground to the Wadi Sudr ravine. Then they were forced to climb down the cliff to some flat ground on the edge of a gully. There they were stood in a row facing the gully, a Bedouin with a gun behind each. The execution was intended to be simultaneous, the bodies falling into the gully. But before the signal to fire was given, one of the Bedouins shot Professor Palmer. In the confusion, the other four prisoners made a break for it. Khalil Attik dashed desperately down the edge of the gulley but was overtaken and killed. Captain Gill, Lieutenant Charrington and Bâkhor Hassûn tried to scramble down the 60 foot cliff to the Wadi but were shot and apparently finished off by sword. William Gill seems to have got the furthest, reaching the bottom of the cliff before he was killed.
Two days later, at Tel-el-Kebir, the British army defeated the Egyptian nationalists, and on 15th August occupied Cairo.
The remains of Gill, Charrington and Palmer were recovered after the war by the efforts of Sir Charles (then Colonel) Warren, and now lie in St Paul's Cathedral.
On 8th January 1882, Britain and France signed a treaty supporting the Khédive of Egypt, Tewfiq Pasha. The Khédive was facing a rebellion led by nationalist army officers under the command of Ahmad 'Urabi Pasha Al-Misri, commonly known as Arabi Pasha. In late February, Tewfiq was forced to allow nationalists into high governmental positions. During April and May squadrons of French and British naval ships sailed to the Egyptian coast, and on 25th May, the Anglo-French alliance gave an ultimatum that forced the nationalist government to resign. The British and French naval presence at Alexandria precipitated riots on 11th June in which some 50 Europeans were killed.
Four days later, as William Gill arrived back in London, Thomas George Baring, earl of Northbrook and first lord of the admiralty, was gathering intelligence about the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai desert. The aim was to secure the Suez Canal by enlisting the support of the local Sheikhs in the increasingly likely event of an anti-European rebellion in Egypt. Northbrook immediately recruited Captain Gill for his knowledge of the Bedouins.
From Gill and Colonel Bradford, Northbrook learned that the leading authority on the Bedouins was an orientalist, Professor Edward Henry Palmer. He was the ideal man, having an extraordinary knowledge of Arabic and its dialects, and a thorough understanding of Arab thinking and lifestyles. He also knew the Sinai peninsular from earlier exploration and survey work there. On behalf of the admiralty, William Gill visited Edward Palmer on 24th June 1882 and asked him to provide whatever information he could about the character, power and possible movements of the Sinai Arabs. Palmer volunteered to travel from Gaza to Suez to ascertain the mood of the Bedouins, and to act as principal interpreter to Admiral Sir William Hewett, who was commanding naval operations in the Red Sea. Professor Palmer left London on 30th June, the cover story being that he was going east for his health, having recently been ill. Another tale suggested he was going as a correspondent for one of the major British newspapers. Palmer arrived at Alexandria on 6th July and started his expedition three days later at Jaffa. On 11th July the British fleet bombarded Alexandria (the French declining further military involvement) and Palmer left Jaffa the following day. Two days later he set out through the desert from Gaza for Suez. On the outbreak of hostilities, William Gill was himself asked to go to Egypt. He was appointed Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General and Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-Master-General but his real mission was to assist in the Intelligence Department run by Admiral Hoskins, who was in charge of the British ships at Port Said (Bur Sa'id). Captain Gill received his orders on 19th July, eight days after the bombardment of Alexandria, and ‘at once joyfully accepted the employment.' He left England on 21st July and arrived at Alexandria six days later.
Edward Palmer reached Suez five days before Gill, after a difficult journey from El-Arish. The meeting Palmer had arranged with the Sheikhs was to take place 60 miles to the east of Suez, at An-Nackl, a fort in the Desert of the Wanderings. Lieutenant Charrington, Admiral Hewett's flag-lieutenant, would accompany Palmer, to show the Sheikhs that the professor was acting on behalf of the British government.
During his expedition, Palmer had been introduced to Meter abu Sofieh, who posed as the head Sheikh of the Lehewats occupying the country east of Suez. But the Lehewats did not live in that area and Meter was not a Sheikh. Palmer had been duped by the man and Gill was right to suspect the professor of taking an unrealistically rosy view of the level of Bedouin support.
Next day, Monday 7th August, Meter called on Professor Palmer and in the evening was presented to the Admiral and the British Consul. The following afternoon, Palmer received from the ‘Euryalus' a black leather bag containing £3,000 in gold sovereigns. The party was now ready to leave and comprised Palmer, Charrington, Gill, Gill's dragoman Khalil Attik (who had accompanied him in North Africa), a cook called Bâkhor Hassûn who was supposedly a Moslem but actually a Jew, Meter abu Sofieh and his nephew, Salameh ibn Ayed. That evening they set off from Suez by boat and travelled a few miles to a place near Ayun Mûsa (Moses Wells) where they camped for the night.
The party, all dressed in Arab clothing, rose before sunrise next morning, Wednesday 9th August. They were joined by seven camel drivers and their animals, hired the previous evening. In all, there were 16 camels, two belonging to Meter and his nephew, ten of Palmer's and four belonging to the camel drivers. Soon after sunrise the party set out. At one stage Meter left them and went back to Ayun Mûsa to hire another camel driver. After ten miles the party stopped for lunch and was joined by a pair of Bedouins: one, Salem ibn Subheh, joined the party, while the other rode off. The expedition travelled another eight miles after lunch, camped for the night in Wadi Kahalin, and were joined by three Bedouins on foot. (A wadi is a steep-sided and usually dry water course.) In the morning, the three Bedouins and two camels were missing. This seems to have been a deliberate attempt engineered by Salem ibn Subheh to delay the expedition. Retrieving the camels involved Salem leading the drivers in a 20 mile chase and delayed Palmer's advance party at Wadi Kahalin until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They reached Wadi Sudr two hours later and continued their journey into the night.The advance party travelled lightly. Meter abu Sofieh was on one of Palmer's camels with two wooden boxes of Captain Gill's and the small kitchen tent. Professor Palmer and Salameh ibn Ayed (Meter's nephew) followed on Meter's dromedary, with a despatch box and the bag containing the £3,000. Next came Captain Gill on Salameh's dromedary with two bags of clothing. This was followed by Lieutenant Charrington on a camel belonging to one of the drivers, with some clothes and food. Bringing up the rear was Khalil Attik on one of Palmer's camels. The baggage train, comprising 11 camels, nine Arabs and the Jewish cook, left an hour after Palmer's party and, as arranged, stopped for the night a couple of hours later near 'Ain abu Jerad. Palmer's advance party kept going and some time after midnight reached a place called Mahârib where the path ran on a spur of a small hill. Suddenly, from both sides of the spur, a gang of about 25 Bedouins opened fire. Palmer's party fired back but neither side did much damage. As soon as the firing started, Meter abu Sofieh ran away up the wadi towards his own desert camp nearby. His nephew Salameh ibn Ayed rode off in the opposite direction, back down the wadi whence the party had come, taking the money and the despatch box. Salameh may have had orders from Palmer to take it to Suez. But although he rode right past the baggage train, he failed to alert them. The Bedouins quickly disarmed what was left of Palmer's party and stripped them to their underwear. The four prisoners, Palmer, Charrington, Gill and Khalil Attik, were taken to a nearby hollow in the rocks, while most of the Bedouins chased after Salameh ibn Ayed and the money. The pursuing Bedouins soon reached the support party at 'Ain abu Jerad, looted it and captured the Jewish cook. Meanwhile, Meter abu Sofieh returned to the scene of the attack with his four sons and several other Bedouins, ostensibly to rescue the Christians. But by the time they were brought up to his camels, the attackers had also returned. Rather than fight, Meter said he wanted to negotiate. Palmer offered everything the party had in exchange for their lives, and told the Bedouins that Meter had all the money. But Meter, having got the money, made little effort to negotiate and soon rode off. It seems the Bedouins were under orders of some kind to kill the Christians and so decided to murder them, along with Gill's trusty dragoman Khalil Attik and Bâkhor Hassûn, the cook.
It was Friday 11th August 1882. The five prisoners, stripped almost naked in the heat of the sun, were made to walk in front of their captors over a mile of rough ground to the Wadi Sudr ravine. Then they were forced to climb down the cliff to some flat ground on the edge of a gully. There they were stood in a row facing the gully, a Bedouin with a gun behind each. The execution was intended to be simultaneous, the bodies falling into the gully. But before the signal to fire was given, one of the Bedouins shot Professor Palmer. In the confusion, the other four prisoners made a break for it. Khalil Attik dashed desperately down the edge of the gulley but was overtaken and killed. Captain Gill, Lieutenant Charrington and Bâkhor Hassûn tried to scramble down the 60 foot cliff to the Wadi but were shot and apparently finished off by sword. William Gill seems to have got the furthest, reaching the bottom of the cliff before he was killed.
Two days later, at Tel-el-Kebir, the British army defeated the Egyptian nationalists, and on 15th August occupied Cairo.
The remains of Gill, Charrington and Palmer were recovered after the war by the efforts of Sir Charles (then Colonel) Warren, and now lie in St Paul's Cathedral.
Four days later, as William Gill arrived back in London, Thomas George Baring, earl of Northbrook and first lord of the admiralty, was gathering intelligence about the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai desert. The aim was to secure the Suez Canal by enlisting the support of the local Sheikhs in the increasingly likely event of an anti-European rebellion in Egypt. Northbrook immediately recruited Captain Gill for his knowledge of the Bedouins.
From Gill and Colonel Bradford, Northbrook learned that the leading authority on the Bedouins was an orientalist, Professor Edward Henry Palmer. He was the ideal man, having an extraordinary knowledge of Arabic and its dialects, and a thorough understanding of Arab thinking and lifestyles. He also knew the Sinai peninsular from earlier exploration and survey work there. On behalf of the admiralty, William Gill visited Edward Palmer on 24th June 1882 and asked him to provide whatever information he could about the character, power and possible movements of the Sinai Arabs. Palmer volunteered to travel from Gaza to Suez to ascertain the mood of the Bedouins, and to act as principal interpreter to Admiral Sir William Hewett, who was commanding naval operations in the Red Sea. Professor Palmer left London on 30th June, the cover story being that he was going east for his health, having recently been ill. Another tale suggested he was going as a correspondent for one of the major British newspapers. Palmer arrived at Alexandria on 6th July and started his expedition three days later at Jaffa. On 11th July the British fleet bombarded Alexandria (the French declining further military involvement) and Palmer left Jaffa the following day. Two days later he set out through the desert from Gaza for Suez. On the outbreak of hostilities, William Gill was himself asked to go to Egypt. He was appointed Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General and Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-Master-General but his real mission was to assist in the Intelligence Department run by Admiral Hoskins, who was in charge of the British ships at Port Said (Bur Sa'id). Captain Gill received his orders on 19th July, eight days after the bombardment of Alexandria, and ‘at once joyfully accepted the employment.' He left England on 21st July and arrived at Alexandria six days later.
Edward Palmer reached Suez five days before Gill, after a difficult journey from El-Arish. The meeting Palmer had arranged with the Sheikhs was to take place 60 miles to the east of Suez, at An-Nackl, a fort in the Desert of the Wanderings. Lieutenant Charrington, Admiral Hewett's flag-lieutenant, would accompany Palmer, to show the Sheikhs that the professor was acting on behalf of the British government.
During his expedition, Palmer had been introduced to Meter abu Sofieh, who posed as the head Sheikh of the Lehewats occupying the country east of Suez. But the Lehewats did not live in that area and Meter was not a Sheikh. Palmer had been duped by the man and Gill was right to suspect the professor of taking an unrealistically rosy view of the level of Bedouin support.
Next day, Monday 7th August, Meter called on Professor Palmer and in the evening was presented to the Admiral and the British Consul. The following afternoon, Palmer received from the ‘Euryalus' a black leather bag containing £3,000 in gold sovereigns. The party was now ready to leave and comprised Palmer, Charrington, Gill, Gill's dragoman Khalil Attik (who had accompanied him in North Africa), a cook called Bâkhor Hassûn who was supposedly a Moslem but actually a Jew, Meter abu Sofieh and his nephew, Salameh ibn Ayed. That evening they set off from Suez by boat and travelled a few miles to a place near Ayun Mûsa (Moses Wells) where they camped for the night.
The party, all dressed in Arab clothing, rose before sunrise next morning, Wednesday 9th August. They were joined by seven camel drivers and their animals, hired the previous evening. In all, there were 16 camels, two belonging to Meter and his nephew, ten of Palmer's and four belonging to the camel drivers. Soon after sunrise the party set out. At one stage Meter left them and went back to Ayun Mûsa to hire another camel driver. After ten miles the party stopped for lunch and was joined by a pair of Bedouins: one, Salem ibn Subheh, joined the party, while the other rode off. The expedition travelled another eight miles after lunch, camped for the night in Wadi Kahalin, and were joined by three Bedouins on foot. (A wadi is a steep-sided and usually dry water course.) In the morning, the three Bedouins and two camels were missing. This seems to have been a deliberate attempt engineered by Salem ibn Subheh to delay the expedition. Retrieving the camels involved Salem leading the drivers in a 20 mile chase and delayed Palmer's advance party at Wadi Kahalin until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They reached Wadi Sudr two hours later and continued their journey into the night.The advance party travelled lightly. Meter abu Sofieh was on one of Palmer's camels with two wooden boxes of Captain Gill's and the small kitchen tent. Professor Palmer and Salameh ibn Ayed (Meter's nephew) followed on Meter's dromedary, with a despatch box and the bag containing the £3,000. Next came Captain Gill on Salameh's dromedary with two bags of clothing. This was followed by Lieutenant Charrington on a camel belonging to one of the drivers, with some clothes and food. Bringing up the rear was Khalil Attik on one of Palmer's camels. The baggage train, comprising 11 camels, nine Arabs and the Jewish cook, left an hour after Palmer's party and, as arranged, stopped for the night a couple of hours later near 'Ain abu Jerad. Palmer's advance party kept going and some time after midnight reached a place called Mahârib where the path ran on a spur of a small hill. Suddenly, from both sides of the spur, a gang of about 25 Bedouins opened fire. Palmer's party fired back but neither side did much damage. As soon as the firing started, Meter abu Sofieh ran away up the wadi towards his own desert camp nearby. His nephew Salameh ibn Ayed rode off in the opposite direction, back down the wadi whence the party had come, taking the money and the despatch box. Salameh may have had orders from Palmer to take it to Suez. But although he rode right past the baggage train, he failed to alert them. The Bedouins quickly disarmed what was left of Palmer's party and stripped them to their underwear. The four prisoners, Palmer, Charrington, Gill and Khalil Attik, were taken to a nearby hollow in the rocks, while most of the Bedouins chased after Salameh ibn Ayed and the money. The pursuing Bedouins soon reached the support party at 'Ain abu Jerad, looted it and captured the Jewish cook. Meanwhile, Meter abu Sofieh returned to the scene of the attack with his four sons and several other Bedouins, ostensibly to rescue the Christians. But by the time they were brought up to his camels, the attackers had also returned. Rather than fight, Meter said he wanted to negotiate. Palmer offered everything the party had in exchange for their lives, and told the Bedouins that Meter had all the money. But Meter, having got the money, made little effort to negotiate and soon rode off. It seems the Bedouins were under orders of some kind to kill the Christians and so decided to murder them, along with Gill's trusty dragoman Khalil Attik and Bâkhor Hassûn, the cook.
It was Friday 11th August 1882. The five prisoners, stripped almost naked in the heat of the sun, were made to walk in front of their captors over a mile of rough ground to the Wadi Sudr ravine. Then they were forced to climb down the cliff to some flat ground on the edge of a gully. There they were stood in a row facing the gully, a Bedouin with a gun behind each. The execution was intended to be simultaneous, the bodies falling into the gully. But before the signal to fire was given, one of the Bedouins shot Professor Palmer. In the confusion, the other four prisoners made a break for it. Khalil Attik dashed desperately down the edge of the gulley but was overtaken and killed. Captain Gill, Lieutenant Charrington and Bâkhor Hassûn tried to scramble down the 60 foot cliff to the Wadi but were shot and apparently finished off by sword. William Gill seems to have got the furthest, reaching the bottom of the cliff before he was killed.
Two days later, at Tel-el-Kebir, the British army defeated the Egyptian nationalists, and on 15th August occupied Cairo.
The remains of Gill, Charrington and Palmer were recovered after the war by the efforts of Sir Charles (then Colonel) Warren, and now lie in St Paul's Cathedral.
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