On January 25, 1952, at the height of tensions between Egyptians and their British overseers, who had ruled or administered the country for 70 years, Brig. Kenneth Exham ordered police officers in Ismailia to hand over their weapons and vacate the city’s two police stations. When the officers disobeyed the order, a massacre ensued, leaving 50 dead and 80 wounded. The event became the spark that ignited the revolution bringing an end to the monarchy on July 23 that same year.
