This letter was only discovered recently and do not appear in the posthumously published memoir Roddy Owen … (London, 1897) compiled by his sister.
It was one of the last he wrote while serving in the Dongola Campaign which was part of the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of the Sudan. At this time he’d been “placed in command of the Alighat Arabs with orders to patrol the left flank. He started south from Ambigol, crossing the Desert to Sarras in three days, and arranging an elaborate system of patrols” (Bovill). The follow- ing three weeks were spent patrolling between Ambigol, Sarras and Akasheh.
The letter was written not long after his promotion as he states that he’s no longer with the Camel Corps. Amid a description of his life on patrol, and the Arabs under his command, he adds that, “Gleichen had been called to Suakin just arrived here for a look at Akasheh before leaving …” (Bovill).
Edward “Roddy” Owen combined a successful career in horse racing (he won the 1892 Grand National) with military action in the West African Jebu War. He saw action in Uganda during the Unyoro War, Chitral and the Afghan frontier, and finally Dongola.
After Chitral, Owen travelled to Egypt. At this time Kitchener was “preparing the last stages of the advance which, two years later, brought him and the Regiment to Khartoum … In June, Owen was present at the Battle of Firkeh, where, after a daring night march, Kitchener’s Egyptian and Sudanese regiments won a complete victory over the Dervishes—an omen of things to come. But then all progress was temporarily stopped by a series of misfortunes. Violent storms swept the desert, turning every gully into a torrent, and tearing away miles of the precious railway. Worse still, cholera struck the army, and the death rate began to rise steadily … Owen was himself smitten by cholera; he died on July 11th, 1896, and his Arab followers buried him that night in a desert grave beside the River Nile. His memory is still cherished in the Regiment. He was not a typical regimental officer … but he was typical of generations of high-spirited, audacious individualists whose contribution to the Army, and the nation, has been invaluable” (Eastwood).
Writing of her brother shortly after his death, Mai Bovill notes that “[h]is life only lasted forty years, and in that short time he gained reputation, not only as one of the most successful riders of his day, but also, from the time he gave up racing and took seriously to his profession, as a soldier.”
An important survival from a charismatic member of the XXth Lancashire Fusiliers.
Bovill, M., ‘Roddy Owen’ … (London, 1897), p.240; Eastwood, J., “The Lancashire Connection” accessed 12 April 2025.
