Sudanese spear, 1898 (c)

Narrow, double edged, leaf-shaped blade.

This spear, and two others, were reputedly recovered by Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Colonel Sir) Hugh Bateman Protheroe-Smith (1882-1961), 21st Lancers, during the 2nd Sudan War (1896-1898).

Protheroe-Smith, formerly of the Dorsetshire Regiment, is recorded as having charged with 'B' Squadron, 21st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman, on the 2 September 1898. He later served in the Boer War (1899-1902). After retiring from the Army, he served as Chief Constable of Cornwall from 1909 to 1935 and was knighted in 1928. A newspaper report in 1961 records that Sir Winston Churchill, who also participated in the charge at Omdurman, sent a wreath of carnations and chrysanthemums to Protheroe-Smith's funeral.