Supported by Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust
An exhibition at the Buckinghamshire County Museum, Church Street, Aylesbury, HP20 2QP to commemorate the centenary of the last great British cavalry charge at El Mughar, Palestine on 13 November 1917.
James Prinsep Beadle was commissioned to paint the charge at El Mughar for the United Services Club in Pall Mall.
Never previously exhibited outside of the building, which now houses the Institute of Directors, Beadle’s painting depicts ‘B’ Squadron of the 1/1st Royal Bucks Hussars leading the charge against the Ottoman Turkish defenders.
Men of the 1/1st Royal Bucks Hussars pictured after the charge
This exhibition brings together Beadle’s painting, on loan from the Crown Commissioners; Thomas Cantrell Dugdale’s painting of the same charge; and other unique artefacts and images, to commemorate the service of men from Buckinghamshire in Palestine.
It is one of the forgotten campaigns of the First World War, yet one that left a profound legacy in shaping the modern Middle East. The action at El Mughar occurred eleven days after Lord Rothschild, a former officer in the Royal Bucks Hussars, received the letter known to history as the ‘Balfour Declaration’, promising a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Four days after El Mughar, Lord Rothschild’s cousin, Major Evelyn de Rothschild of the 1/1st Royal Bucks Hussars, died of the wounds he received in the charge.
The exhibition will be open from 31 October 2017 to Friday 5 January 2018. Opening hours Tuesday to Saturday 1000-1700. Admission free.
Further information from:
Professor Ian Beckett, Secretary to the Trustees of the Bucks Military Museum Trust at i.beckett@kent.ac.uk
Bucks County Museum
Tel: 01296 331441
museum@buckscountymuseum.org
