Siege of Khartoum population of Khartoum was about 34,000. Gordon's plight excited great concern in the British press, and even Queen Victoria intervened on his behalf. The government ordered him to return, but Gordon refused, saying he was honour-bound to defend the city. By July 1884, Gladstone reluctantly agreed to send an expedition to Khartoum. The expedition, led by Sir Garnet Wolseley, took several months to organise and only entered Sudan in January 1885, but by then the situation of the Egyptian garrison and civilians had become desperate, with food supplies running low, many inhabitants dying of hunger and the defenders' morale at
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