British Expedition to Abyssinia the sailors were not permitted to aid in his liberation. Kirkham died in captivity in 1876. The success of the expedition led to the institution of a battle honour, Abyssinia, which was awarded to units of the British Indian Army that had participated in the campaign. The units that participated from the campaign belonged, with the exception of the Madras Sappers, to the Bengal and Bombay Presidency Armies. British Expedition to Abyssinia The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire.
HMS Abyssinia (1870) HMS Abyssinia (1870) HMS "Abyssinia" was a breastwork monitor ordered, designed and built by J & W Dudgeon specifically for the Bombay Marine for the defence of the harbour at Bombay. She was designed by Sir Edward Reed, and was a smaller version of, and hence a half-sister to, the s and . It was intended that "Abyssinia" and "Magdala" would serve in mutual support on the same station. Given that the stipulated naval requirement was for two ships for the coastal defence of the Bombay area, the India Office were pressed by the Board of Admiralty and the Chief