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{{Short description|Somali coast commander-in-chief}}
{{for|the British scientist and broadcaster|Richard Corfield (scientist)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
[[File:Battle of Dul Madoba - Corfield distributing arms in Burao Fort.webp|thumb|Corfield (left, in helmet)]]
[[File:Memorial_plaque_for_Richard_Corfield.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial plaque for Richard Corfield at St Lawrence's church, [[Heanor]], England.]]
'''Richard Conyngham Corfield''' (27 April 1882 – 9 August 1913) was a British colonial police officer who saw service in [[South Africa]], [[Nigeria]], [[India]], [[Kenya]] and [[Somalia]] in the early 20th century.

==Early life==
Corfield was born in [[Heanor]], [[Derbyshire]], the eldest of three children of the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of Heanor, Conyngham William George Corfield and Henrietta, née Edwards. Corfield was only six years old when his father died. He first attended a dame school. In 1892 he attended Spurlings Preparatory School and then in 1896 went to [[Marlborough College]].<ref name="Corfield">{{cite book |title=The Corfields: A history of the Corfields from 1180 to the present day |first=Justin J |last=Corfield |date=1993 |publisher=J.J. Corfield |isbn=0-646-14333-6}}</ref>

==Early career==
After leaving school, Corfield worked for a shipping company in [[Liverpool]], the [[Harrison Line|T. & J. Harrison Line]], run by an uncle, Thomas Fenwick Harrison. Soon after starting work the [[Second Boer War|Anglo-Boer]] war broke out in [[South Africa]]. Corfield immediately joined the Volunteers camped on [[Salisbury Plain]], but later enlisted in the Baden Powell Police, sailing for [[Africa]] in December 1900. In June 1902, he was recommended for a commission, but this was rejected due to his youth.<ref name="Corfield"/>

In 1905, Corfield returned to England, applied for the post of Political Officer in [[Somaliland]], and became one of only six Europeans posted to the interior of the country. There the rightful emir of Somalis Muslims [[Las Anod#Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan|Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan]],<ref name="scr">{{cite book |last1=Omar |first1=Mohamed |title=The Scramble in the Horn of Africa |date=2001 |page=402 |quote=This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Sayyid speaks in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta}}</ref> called "the [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan|Mad Mullah]]", was inciting local people to defend themselves against the British invaders. By 1910, he had not been beaten.<ref name="Corfield"/>

In May 1910 Corfield again returned to England, but by September he was on his way to [[Nigeria]] where the British were already in conflict with [[Muslim]] inhabitants from the north part of the country. He saw action at [[Ganawari]] and other skirmishes.<ref name="Corfield"/>

Further trouble was brewing in British Somaliland, and a [[Somaliland Camel Corps|Somaliland Camel Constabulary]] was formed to serve as a police force in the interior. [[Horace Byatt]], the Governor of [[British Somaliland]], offered the command of the new Camel Constabulary to Corfield, who accepted the opportunity to return to the [[Horn of Africa]].<ref name="Corfield"/>[[File:Engelse kameelruiters - English camel troopers.jpg|thumb|right|British camel troopers in 1913, between [[Berbera]] and [[Odweyne]] in [[British Somaliland]].]]

==Return to Somaliland and death==
The Camel Constabulary took to the field in December 1912 and Corfield was authorised to punish those opposing British rule. However, he was instructed to avoid a direct confrontation with Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.<ref name="Corfield"/> By mid-1913 finding these instructions restrictive and irksome, on the afternoon of 8 August 1913 he decided to attack the [[Dervish State|Dervish army]] close to [[Dul Madoba]].<ref name="Corfield"/>

Dul Madoba is a ridge some {{convert|25|mi}} southeast of [[Burao]] in what was then British Somaliland. On 8 August 1913, fleeing [[Dhulbahante]] tribesmen sought refuge with Corfield, who was stationed at [[Beer, Togdheer|Ber]] with the Camel Constabulary. The Dhulbahante informed him that the Dervish raided their settlements and captured their camel herds.<ref>{{cite book |last=Laurence |first=M. |year=2003 |title=Heart of a Stranger |location=Canada |publisher=[[University of Alberta Press]] |pages=44–45}}</ref> Corfield took that as an excuse to wage war and set out to punish the Dervish and return the looted Dhulbahante livestock. The battle took place on 9 August 1913. On one side 110 members of the [[Somaliland Camel Corps|Camel Constabulary]] of [[British Somaliland]] and 300 British allied [[Dhulbahante]] tribesmen all under the command of Colonel [[Richard Corfield of Somaliland|Richard Corfield]] faced some 2750 well-armed [[Dervish]] followers of [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]], nicknamed by the British as the ''Mad Mullah''. Thirty-six of the Constabulary including Corfield were killed in action and 21 were wounded. Many of the Dervish were also killed or wounded.<ref>{{cite book |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9MVBAAAQBAJ&q=corfield&pg=PA131 |title=Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland: Betrayal and Redemption 1899-1921 |page=156 |isbn=978-1-78346-380-0 |last=Irons |first=Roy |date=4 November 2013 |publisher=Pen and Sword}}</ref>

==References==
{{more footnotes|date=February 2016}}
* {{cite magazine |url=|last=Bartholet |first=Jeffrey |title=It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |date=12 October 2009 |pages=43–47 |via=)}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxUUAAAAIAAJ |author-link=Francis Prevost |last=Battersby |first=H. F. Prevost |title=Richard Corfield of Somaliland |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Edward Arnold (publisher)|Edward Arnold]] |year=1914 |asin=B000WFUQT8 |access-date=23 March 2023 |via=[[Google Books]]}}

===Notes===
{{Commons category}}
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corfield, Richard}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:British colonial police officers]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Somalia]]
[[Category:British expatriates in South Africa]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:British expatriates in British Kenya]]
[[Category:British expatriates in British Nigeria]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:British police officers killed in the line of duty]]
[[Category:People educated at Marlborough College]]
[[Category:People from Heanor]]

Richard Corfield - Revision history

imported>Julipero at 01:56, 16 June 2025