No.27
Colonel Fred Burnaby was a Household Cavalry officer and famed as an adventurer. He was also, at 6ft 4in and 20 stone, a giant.
Born in Bradford on March 3, 1842, he sought war wherever he could, travelling across Europe and Asia in search of the chance to prove himself. He participated in the 1884 Suakin Expedition, first as a civilian adventurer and then attached as an intelligence officer, where he was wounded and earned further notoriety for using a shotgun in clearing out the defenders at El Teb.
In 1885, he joined the Desert Column led by Brigadier Herbert Stewart, which was attempting to relieve General Gordon in Khartoum. Short of water and harassed by the Dervishes, they set off on January 17 for the Abu Klea Wells. Captain Charles Beresford, Naval Brigade, wrote: “Sir Herbert and Colonel Burnaby were riding on high ground. I saw the general’s bugler drop beside him, and, running up, implored them both to dismount – but they would not. I had hardly returned to my place when I heard another bullet strike, and saw Burnaby’s horse fall. I went to help, and as I picked him up, he said a curious thing: ‘I’m not in luck today, Charlie!’” As they advanced in a cumbersome square across the r…
