January 25 - Ethiopian War. Colonel Robert Alexander Dunn, VC, accidentally shoots himself to death while marching from the coast to Magdala. Anyone confirm? Any further info?
Colonel Dunn was one of my Charge of the Light Brigade soldiers ... I have a little more info on him if you'd like it and also a picture of his grave ! Unfortunately Colonel Dunn’s life was cut short during a hunting trip near Senafe. The circumstances surrounding his death are a mystery; the only thing that we really know is that he was shot in the chest with both barrels of his rifle. Did his servant kill him, was it a suicide, an accident, or was he murdered by a fellow officer? By 1885 all of these theories had made their rounds. Did he really drop his rifle while trying to uncork a brandy flask, as the official records indicate, or was he murdered by a member of his regiment, since Dunn was known to have had romantic affairs with the wives of other officers? What adds to the mystery is that Dunn’s body wasn’t returned to either Canada or England. Buried in Senafe in 1868, Dunn’s grave site was forgotten until the dying days of the Second World War, when in 1945 it was found by a British officer with the Eritrean Mounted Police. Evidently the Italians who were at war with both Canada and Britain had cared for Dunn’s grave over the years. And while officially Dunn’s burial site has been cared for since 1982 by the British Commonwealth war graves commission, it wasn’t until late 2000 when a British officer attached to the Canadian army accidentally came across Dunn’s grave as part of an advance team for Canadian and Dutch peacekeepers moving into Senafe.
I don't know if you know this already but ..... Forgotten in Canada, the only evidence of Alexander Dunn is a marker in Toronto’s Clarence Square near Spadina Avenue and King Street. Born in York (Toronto) on September 15, 1833, Alexander Dunn was the son of The Hon. John Henry Dunn, Receiver-General of Upper Canada (Ontario). Born into a privileged family, Dunn attended one of Canada’s elite private boy’s schools, Upper Canada College, *where his medals and portrait are still on display. Dunn’s sword and field-chair are at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa PLAQUE #106 Location: On the NW corner of Clarence Square Park, east side of Spadina Ave. south of King St. W. Historical Plaques of Toronto His grave (in present day Eritrea) had been neglected for many years but was repaired in 2001 by a group of Canadian Forces engineers from CFB Gagetown. *For over 50 years his medals were on display in the main foyer of his old school, Upper Canada College, in Toronto. In 1977, due to a number of recent thefts and "losses" of Victoria Cross medals the school replaced the VC with a copy and moved the original to their bank safety deposit box. Burial - Military Cemetery Senafe, Eritrea Civilization.ca - Media
