Siege of Khartoum support of the Mahdi, and cut the Egyptian traffic on the Nile and the telegraph to Cairo. Communications were not entirely cut, as runners could still get through, but the siege had begun and Khartoum could only rely on its own food stores, which could last five or six months. On 16 March an abortive sortie from Khartoum was launched, which led to the death of 200 Egyptian troops as the combined forces besieging Khartoum grew to over 30,000 men. Through the months of April, May, June, and July, Gordon and the garrison dealt with being cut off as food
Khartoum (film) mm Cinerama in premiere engagements. A novelization of the film's screenplay was written by Alan Caillou. The film had its Royal World Premiere at the Casino Cinerama Theatre, in the West End of London, on 9 June 1966, in the presence of H.R.H. Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and the Earl of Snowdon. "Khartoum" earned Robert Ardrey an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. The film also earned Ralph Richardson a BAFTA Award nomination for Best British Actor. In 1883, in the Sudan, a force of 10,000 poorly trained Egyptians under the command of British Col. William "Billy" Hicks (Edward