Charge of 21st Lancers at Battle of Omdurman

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Published 2024-01-11
   • What Happened At  The Battle of Omdur...   Charge of the 21st Lancers at the battle of Omdurman in 1898 was one of the last great cavalry charges by the British army.
Amongst the men charging the Mahdists was a young Winston Churchill.

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The Battle of Omdurman
   • What Happened At  The Battle of Omdur...  

This is the story of Winston Churchill's cavalry charge with the 21st Lancers at the battle of Omdurman.

What should have been a routine cavalry charge against infantry was instead an ambush.
Waiting for the 400 British were over 2,000 Mahdist warriors.

In two frantic minutes of fighting, nearly a fifth of the men with Churchill were killed or wounded as were third of their horses.
Three Victoria Crosses were earned for acts of bravery as soldiers desperately went to the aid of their unseated comrades.


When was the Battle of Omdurman? 2nd September 1898
Where was the Battle of Omdurman? Sudan
Who fought the battle of Omdurman? The battle was between the supporters of the Mahdi's successor (the Khalifa) and a British-Egyptian army under General Herbert Kitchener.
What were the casualties in the charge of the 21st lancers? they had lost 21 men dead and 50 wounded.
119 (nearly a third of their horses) were also killed our injured.
Mahdist loses are not known.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Invasion of Sudan
1:37 Young Winston
2:49 21st Lancers
4:08 March on Omdurman
5:09 Battle of Omdurman
6:06 Charge of the 21st Lancers
8:59 Ambush
11:21 Churchill Fighting
13:33 Casualties
15:18 The Legendary Charge
16:24 Survivor's stories

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My name is Chris Green and I love to share stories from British history. Not just because they are interesting but because, good or bad, they have shaped the world we live in today.

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All Comments (21)
  • @hilts6475
    "You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life."
  • My late dad served in the 17th/21st Lancers during WW2 in the British Reconnaissance Corps. He never spoke about his war years but would happily regale us with tales of the history of his regiment.
  • Sit Winston got around didnt he. Its amazing the men of that era and all of the traveling they did. Most of us cant even get out of our own home town. Another great story Chris.
  • @billmccarthy9689
    Watched this open mouthed. Brilliant episode. The more I hear about Winston the greater my admiration for him. A fantastic Briton Thanks Chris.
  • @jon9021
    My wife and I members of the Sir Winston Churchill Society here in Calgary.
  • @EstOptimusNobis
    I read Winston Churchill's book the River War, many moons ago. Wonderful video on this fantastic time between the old world gallantry, and the oncoming industrial machine. What a life those men lived!
  • @Alex-pu5lz
    Once again, thank you for all the work you put into making these videos! I especially like that you mentioned what happened to the participants later in life.
  • Thanks Chris. Yet another enthralling episode.! Showing the many facets to Churchills personality.! I read his Headmaster wrote on his report card, when he was a 10yr old pupil at Ascot, that ‘he has no ambition’.!! Oops.!!
  • Well done, Chris. As a boy of 13, I, along with my mother and sister, were visiting my grandmother in Worcester for the summer. We lived in Florida so this trip to the UK was my first time traveling outside the US. We took many day trips aboard the “Midland Red” motor coaches to fascinating places. One such trip was to a town called Woodstock. Long story short, we were walking along in front of an official looking building when there was a clammer of people just ahead. There were a couple of men in suits and a couple of police officers. One man was pushing an older gentleman in a wheelchair. I remember my gran saying “it’s Winnie”! Everyone lined up and he was pushed along towards a car. He shook each of our hands. I didn’t know what or who a “Winnie” was until later in my life and what an opportunity and privilege that trip truly meant. I’m almost 76 now, but this event has been one that continues to amaze. Thank you for your marvelous gift of bringing history to life.
  • That's a brave british gentleman for sure. One who knew war from being at this charge ! And of course he's the most famous and important Englishman second only to Alfred the Great. Thank you Chris, do you know what Mauser he used? My 2 grand aunt from Sachsen Coburg met him shortly in London before WW I, my mother told me. British hussars wore lances? Thank you very much for that perfect piece of english history Chris! God's Blessings from Northern Germany Ludwig
  • @larsporsena7115
    I’m amazed by the fact that those VC recipients lifted wounded on to their horses. That would take no small amount of arm strength.
  • @cameronbrown9080
    Thank you so much for the video today and what a fantastic one it was
  • @tomasburns6406
    Your videos are awesome! This 24 year old history lover can’t get enough of your content!! KEEP IT COMING! Don’t usually leave ppl comments, but I feel you probably deserve to know how much you help me enjoy history!
  • @hotmechanic222
    Another great video, keep up the good work, loving every upload!!
  • @stigg333
    That was a great story of some very great men! Happy New Year to you and thanks for the video.