The news of Khartoum’s catastrophic fall reached London on 5 February 1885, sending ripples of shock and grief through the British establishment and public alike.
Major-General Charles Gordon, the valiant yet doomed commander, had perished in the Sudanese capital after months of desperate resistance against the Mahdist forces.
The revelation that the city had succumbed just days before a relief expedition arrived only exacerbated the national outcry, fuelling criticism of Prime Minister William Gladstone’s government for its delayed response.
The grim tidings plunged Britain into mourning, with newspapers decrying the tragic loss of both an imperial stronghold and one of the empire’s most enigmatic military figures.
