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Not that Fred was merely a great big hunk of muscle and party games. The man was noted for his jovial spirit, and his quick brain, with seven languages under his belt, and an insatiable appetite for travelling the world. It was the latter which sparked a series of best-selling books, all about his adventures abroad. He was also the first man to make a hot-air balloon trip from England to France,
It was the kind of belief that will make a man embark on a 1,000-mile journey into Central Asia, accompanied by a dwarf, named Nazar. And not even the Russian empire, who tried to block Burnaby’s trek, could stop him.
And so it was that, on November 30th, 1875, Burnaby departed from London’s Victoria Station, heading straight to St Petersburg, then south-east to the frontier city of Orenburg, followed by a quick schlep over the steppes and deserts of Russian-controlled Central Asia before making it to Khiva, the small caravan city seized by the Tsar’s army two years earlier.
Burnaby’s subsequent account of his journey, A Ride To Khiva, became a sensation, and saw Queen Victoria inviting Fred to dinner. This was a journey, after all, that would challenge The Revenant in the never-say-die stakes.
At the time, the fierce Muhammad Ahmad had declared holy war in the Sudan, setting out to drive the Egyptians and the British out of his country and convert the world to Islam. He was nicknamed the Mahdi, “the expected one”, and he’s regarded now as the 19th-century Osama bin Laden.
Not that the holy war was over. Refused permission to join another battle in the Sudan – having upset one too many superiors for disobeying orders – Burnaby disobeyed this order and, whilst on leave, sailed to Africa and joined British forces advancing to Khartoum. Welcomed by General Wolseley, Fred was quickly on the frontline, and it was at a dusty watering hole called Abu Klea that his luck finally ran

Fred Burnaby by James Jacques Tissot, oil on panel, 1870
e was, by his own admission, a stubborn kind of fella.
“I have, unfortunately for my own interests, from my earlier childhood had what my old nurse used to call a most ‘contradictorious spirit’,” is how the man himself put it.
Without that spirit though, Fred Burnaby might not have had such an incredible life.

Elizabeth as a teenager
2 comments
Article should read Royal Horse Guards commonly know as The Blues and Royals and I understand he only ever spent two weeks honeymooning in Greystones.
No V C….?