Charles Lendy Dies at Tati

Three weeks later, Captain Charles Lendy arrived at Tati by the Shashi River and checked into Edwards Tati Hotel. That night, after scoffing down three pints of grog and grand-grousing a memorable repast, Maxim Lendy collapsed. He was carried to his hotel room where during the night he died. The medical examiner's diagnosis was bowel inflammation, which touched off rumors that both Raaff and Lendy had died at the hand of Doctor Jameson.

Major Patrick Forbes arrived in London in a state of complete disgrace. While crossing the Umzingwane River where it joined with the Limpopo, Pat Forbes allowed his wounded brother, Eustace, to drown in the rapids. His loss of reputation and prestige was total. The deaths of Allan Wilson, Pieter Raaff and Charley Lendy and the contempt accorded Patrick Forbes meant that the horrifying capabilities of the Maxim machine gun would remain unrecognized until the Battle of Omdurman in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. No foreign observer was in Matabele Land to witness the Devil's Paintbrush in action.


Extract from:

"Burnham: King of Scouts" by Peter van Wyk

Background to Lendy Memorial