Background
In early March 1919, demonstrations in Cairo initiated an outburst of rioting against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan, which within a few days spread through all the lower provinces and extended to upper Egypt. The situation was exacerbated by the local civil service's declaration of a general strike and the rapid suspension of railway and telegraph services. The revolution led, in 1922, to Great Britain's recognition of Egyptian independence as the Kingdom of Egypt. Britain, however, refused to recognise Egyptian sovereignty over Sudan, or to withdraw its forces from the Suez Canal Zone.
In the absence of a large British force in Egypt, elements of the Australian Mounted Division (under British Major General Henry Hodgson) and ANZAC Mounted Division (under New Zealand Major General Edward Chaytor), then awaiting embarkation to Australia following the Armistice, were instructed to restore order. Within a month of the uprising order had been restored and principal political agitators imprisoned. The flexibility and mobility of the ANZAC forces involved were principal factors in the suppression of the rioting.