John Pollock - Kitchener: The Road to Omdurman and Saviour of the Nation

JOHN POLLOCK was born in London and comes from a well-known legal family. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After war service in the Coldstream Guards and two years teaching history and divinity at Wellington College, he was rector of a country parish until he became a full-time writer in 1958. His many biographies have sold widely. They include Wesley, Shaftesbury, Wilberforce and, Gorden, who was Kitcheners hero. Books by John Pollock have been translated into fourteen languages. In 1999 an American university founded an annual international John Pollock Award for Christian Biography. He and his wife have travelled widely in the course of research and live in Devonshire.

By the same author

Gordon: The Man Behind the Legend
Wilberforce
Jesus the Master
Paul the Apostle
Hudson Taylor and Maria
John Wesley
George Whitefield
Newton: The Liberator
Shaftesbury: The Reformer
Billy Graham
Way to Glory: Havelock of Lucknow
Fear No Foe: A Brothers Story

and other books

KITCHENER

comprising

The Road to Omdurman

and

Saviour of the Nation

JOHN POLLOCK

ROBINSON
London

Constable & Robinson Ltd

5556 Russell Square

London WC1B 4HP

www.constablerobinson.com

The Road to Omdurman first published in the UK by

Constable and Company Ltd 1998

Copyright John Pollock 1998

This combined edition first published in the UK by Constable,
an imprint of Constable and Robinson Ltd, 2001

This paperback edition first published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2002

Copyright John Pollock 2001, 2002

The right of John Pollock to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
data for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-84119-462-X
eISBN 978-1-47211-334-4

Printed and bound in the EU

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover: Kitchener poster courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London

VOLUME I: THE ROAD TO OMDURMAN

Photographs snapped on the Omdurman Campaign by Captain the Hon. Edward Loch,

Grenadier Guards, afterwards Major-General 2nd Lord Loch (Sir Hugh Stucley, Bt)
Wingate interrogates Mahmud; Friendlies ready for action; Sudan Military Railway: Gunboat sections; Early morning toilet; The Memorial Service for Gordon; A Lancer and a Grenadier hold Gordons telescope; Father Brindle, DSO, the best loved man in the Expedition.

VOLUME II: SAVIOUR OF THE NATION

Frank Maxwell and his bride (Mrs R. Lambert)

Oswald Fitzgerald and William Birdwood (Earl Kitchener)

At Mona Vale Camp, Tasmania (Tasmanian Museum)

Kitchener with wounded soldiers at Broome (Earl Kitchener)

The nephews: Toby (Commander H. F. C. Kitchener, RNZ, afterwards Viscount Broome) (Mrs Julian Kitchener-Fellowes)
Hal (Captain H. H. Kitchener, RFC) (Mrs Peter Hall)

Both volumes in this combined edition are based mainly on the very extensive Kitchener Papers now in the Public Record Office. They were deposited in 1959 by the Field Marshals great-nephew, the 3rd Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and of Broome. I am most grateful to Lord Kitchener for allowing me unrestricted use of this material, which is his copyright, and for his great encouragement and the provision of material not in the PRO.

The Kitchener family made the research and writing a delightful experience. In addition to Lord Kitchener, I particularly wish to thank Lady Kenya Tatton-Brown; the Hon. Mrs Charles Kitchener and her daughter and son-in-law, Emma and Julian Kitchener-Fellowes. Julian most kindly read the book in typescript and made excellent suggestions. Mrs Peter Hall, granddaughter of General Sir Walter Kitchener, the Field Marshals youngest brother, let me copy her valuable collection of letters, loaned me books and pictures and helped in other ways. Mrs Harriet King, great-granddaughter of their sister, Millie Parker, let me copy Kitcheners letters to her. Mrs Ralph Toynbee (ne Monins) shared childhood memories of her cousin, the Field Marshal. Mr John Chevallier-Guild and his mother, Mrs Cyril Chevallier-Guild, showed us round their moated manor where Fanny Kitchener (ne Chevallier) was born and brought up.

The Royal Archives continued to be a mine of fresh material, and I gratefully acknowledge the gracious permission of Her Majesty The Queen to quote from the journals of Queen Victoria, King George V and Queen Mary and from letters written by them and King Edward VII, and to make use of other material in the Royal Archives and of material not in the Royal Archives but of which the copyright belongs to Her Majesty. I thank Mr Oliver Everett CVO, Librarian at Windsor Castle, and the Registrar, Lady de Bellaigue, LVO, and her assistants, whose welcome and efficiency made my research for both volumes a great pleasure.

The Royal Engineers, Kitcheners Corps, have been very helpful and generous, and I thank warmly the Secretary of the Institute, Colonel M. R. Cooper, his predecessor, Colonel J. Nowers and Dr John Rhodes and their staff.

For permission to quote or use copyright material (manuscript or printed) I thank the Marquess of Salisbury (and his archivist, Mr Robin Harcourt-Williams, FSA), Lord Birdwood, Lord Gainford, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst, Sir Hugh Stucley, Bt., General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC, Mr Duncan H. Doolittle, Mr Archie Hunter, Mrs R. Lambert, Mr Henry Keown-Boyd, Mr Philip Mallet, Mr Richard Marker, Mr Kenneth Rose, CBE, Colonel A. H. W. Sandes, Mr Charles Sebag-Montefiore (Magnus Papers), Magdalene College, Cambridge (Inge Papers), Pembroke College, Cambridge (Storrs Papers), the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund and Scholars Association, and the National Army Museum (and Dr Peter B. Boyden, Head of Archives). I have not been able to trace all copyright owners and apologize to any not contacted.

I have been very grateful for advice and encouragement from Dr George H. Cassar, author of Kitchener: Architect of Victory, and other fine studies of the First World War. Readers who wish to delve deeper into incidents and strategies will find Dr Cassars books most valuable.

Miss Mary H. Raitt of Washington DC kindly researched for me in the National Archives and the Library of Congress, and I thank her warmly.

Whilst writing both volumes, I have had the help of many people and would like to thank especially: Lady Anne Bentinck, Miss Constance Biddulph, Mr Peter Basset-Smith, Mr Richard Butler-Stoney, OBE, Mr Julian Byng, Sir Howard Colvin, Mr John DArcy, Colonel G. S. H. Dicker, CBE, TD, the Reverend Alan Duke (Rector of Barham, Kent), Mr Hugo von Dumreicher, Lady Dunboyne, the late Mr Peregrine Fellowes, Mr Otto Fisher, Brigadier Denis FitzGerald, DSO, OBE, Desmond FitzGerald, knight of Glin, Mr David Gordon, Mr Jeff Gibbons (Private Secretary to the Lord Advocate), Miss H. H. Harper, Professor Cameron Hazlehurst, Mr John Hussey, Colonel Victor Humphreys, OBE, Sir Peter Laurence, KCMG, MC, Mr Iain MacKenzie (Admiralty Library), Mr F. R. Maloney, Mrs Peter MacKinnon, Sir John and Lady Mogg, and Brigadier Nigel Mogg, Mr Nigel Nicolson, MBE, the Diocesan Archivist of Nottingham (the Rev. Father A. P. Nolan), Mrs Lindsay Phillips, Mr Timothy Price, Sir Godfrey Ralli, Bt., Sir Maurice Renshaw, Bt., Lord Richardson, LVO, FRCP, Mr John N. Ross, Mr Trevor Royle, the Reverend Canon Michael Saward, Lady Soames, DBE, Mr R. C. Stanley Baker, Mr Richard Taylor and his daughter, Mrs Deborah Hinsch, Colonel John Walker, Mr David C. C. Watson, Mrs Janet Winchester, Mr Allan Woodliffe and Mr Philip Zeigler, CBE.