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One day in 1996, Jennifer Anderson\u2019s mother Edna produced a Khedive\u2019s Sudan Medal<\/a> from her handbag. It had been awarded to Jennifer\u2019s grandfather.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cSeeing the medal for the first time sparked my interest in family history,\u201d Jennifer explains. \u201cIt marked Arthur George Randle\u2019s service in one of Britain\u2019s most famous campaigns.\u201d<\/p> On 2 September 1898, the Battle of Omdurman was raging near Khartoum in Sudan. British and Egyptian forces were attempting to regain control from the Mahdist Islamic State. They were outnumbered two to one by 50,000 Ansar warriors, known to the British as \u2018Dervishes\u2019.\u00a0<\/p> Towards the end of the battle, Major-General Herbert Kitchener ordered the 21st Lancers, a British light cavalry regiment, to ride around the battlefield and prevent the Ansar from fleeing into Omdurman. The 447-strong regiment came under fire from what seemed to be 250 assailants.\u00a0<\/p> As they galloped through clouds of dust, the Lancers realised far too late that they were heading straight into a deep khor<\/em> \u2013 a dried-up riverbed \u2013 that was filled with thousands of enemy soldiers.\u00a0<\/p> Leaping into the abyss was a 23-year-old lieutenant named Winston Churchill, who wrote vivid dispatches about the ensuing carnage. Among those riding alongside him was Arthur Randle, who managed to breach the khor<\/em> unscathed to join comrades on the other side opening fire.\u00a0<\/p> During the battle, an estimated 10,000 Ansar warriors were killed while the Anglo-Egyptian army suffered approximately 50 casualties. The Mahdist State was vanquished, and Britain and Egypt re-established their rule over Sudan.\u00a0<\/p> Queen Victoria awarded the regiment the title \u201821st (Empress of India\u2019s) Lancers\u2019, and all who fought received the Khedive\u2019s Sudan Medal with the Khartoum clasp. The Lancers\u2019 bravery became f\u00eated, and was depicted in Richard Attenborough\u2019s film Young Winston<\/em> (1972). \u201cArthur never spoke of the horrors of war, but he told his children that he charged at Omdurman.<\/p> \u201cI never met my grandfather, but I\u2019ve built a picture of his life. He was born into a working-class family in 1870 in Rise Carr, Darlington. He enlisted as a private in the 4th Dragoon Guards at the age of only 15, and transferred to the 21st Hussars who went to India<\/a>. The regiment became the 21st Lancers and was sent to Egypt and Sudan, where they fought at Omdurman.\u201d<\/p> Arthur was later posted to Dublin<\/a>, where he met Sarah Jane Donnelly (n\u00e9e Langford). \u201cSarah was an impoverished widow with two children whom she\u2019d had to place in a charitable school so that she could work.<\/p> \u201cArthur rode to the rescue in 1902 when he married Sarah and adopted<\/a> the children. The family moved to London and four more children were born, including my mother Edna.\u201d<\/p> During his military career, Arthur played the French horn in his regimental band. He retired from the armed forces in 1909 after 23 years of service. His musical talent won him a place in orchestras in West End theatres and at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.<\/p>