CHURCHILL, Winston S.

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The Vedette. The Regimental Magazine of the 21st (E. of I.) Lancers (Published Quarterly). First edition. Churchill charged with the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and a lengthy narrative in this number makes extensive use of Churchill's despatches in the Morning Post. We have traced only one other copy, held at the Queen's Royal Lancers Archive and Museum.Omdurman is often cited as the last great cavalry charge in British military history. "Churchill, who shot and killed at least three of the enemy with his Mauser pistol, was cool and courageous but lucky to survive a bout of hand-to-hand fighting in which 22 British officers and men were killed" (ODNB). Churchill widely publicized his role in the charge, reporting on it in his Morning Post submissions and elaborating in The River War and My Early Life. The episode became central to the legend of Churchill as a young man of action.Covering 17 pages of this number, the narrative - "Our Baptism" - also quotes 8 lines from Churchill's description of the opposing sides as seen from the top of Signal Hill: "There seemed a superior strength in the solid [British and Egyptian] Battalions, whose lines were so straight that they might have been drawn by a ruler" (p. 6). He is identified in the list of officers who served with "A" Squadron, which was commanded by the author of the narrative, Major, later Major-General, Harry Finn (1852-1924). Finn acknowledges his use of Churchill's despatches in the concluding paragraph on page 18.This co

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