One of the things that historians object to about Tony Richardson's Charge of the Light Brigade is how it appropriates real people and turns them into comic turns - and none was more sorely treated than Fanny Duberly who is depicted as an empty-headed Cardigan groupie when the truth was quite the opposite. But don't take my word for it - read this great article -'She wanted to cause a stir - and she did' and read her Journal Kept During the Russian War.
I quite agree. If I had been a Duberly family descendent, I would have been sorely tempted to have horsewhipped Richardson. Fanny deserves enormous respect, especially for the way she stuck by Henry and for her pluck and stamina in facing up to the enormous challenges posed to a lady in the Indian Mutiny Campaign that followed.
ReplyDeleteBill Curtis
Vice President
Crimean War Research Society
July 25, 2010