The Nile Voyageurs were a force of Canadian volunteers who served in the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

with British forces as part of the

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan af ...

from 1884 to 1885. Though they were civilian volunteers, serving as boatmen for the British Army, they can be considered Canada’s first overseas contingent of war volunteers. 16 voyageurs died on active service during the campaign, and as Canada’s first overseas casualties they are commemorated in the Book of Remembrance in Ottawa.

References

{{Canada-hist-stub People from the British Empire