Battle Story: Omdurman 1898 by William Wright

Battle Story: Omdurman 1898 by William Wright

The battle took place at Kerreri, 11km north of Omdurman in the Sudan. Kitchener commanded a force of 8,000 British regulars and a mixed force of 17,000 Sudanese and Egyptian soldiers. He arrayed his force in an arc around the village of Egeiga close to the bank of the Nile, where a gunboat flotilla waited in support, facing a wide, flat plain with hills rising to the left and right. The British and Egyptian cavalry were placed on either flank. Al-Taashi's followers, known as Ansar and sometimes referred to as Dervishes, numbered around 50,000, including some 3,000 cavalry. In a few hours and at a loss of less than 400 officers and men killed and wounded, the Anglo-Egyptian army defeated the 50,000 brave tribesmen who charged their enemy, regardless of the hail of Maxim bullets, many of them armed only with spears, swords and ancient chainmail armour. In concise detail, with orders of battle, maps and over fifty images, the author shows how Omdurman was a superb example of tactics in warfare. First-hand accounts from both sides help the reader to understand all the horrors and glory of that day including the famous charge of the 21st Lancers, often called the last great cavalry charge of the British Army. This was arguably the height of British Empire military dominance.

William Wright is the author of A Tidy Little War: The British Invasion of Egypt 1882 and a former chairman of the Victorian Military Society. Formerly employed in the media and public relations, he is now semi-retired and spends much of his time visiting colonial battlefield in Africa and New Zealand, amongst others.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780752468723
ISBN 10	0752468723
Title	Battle Story: Omdurman 1898
Author	William Wright
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	The History Press Ltd
Year published	2012-09-01
Number of pages	160
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.