George MacDonald Fraser Dead

[Jon Skagfeld]

My first reading of Fraser was "Flashman at the Charge".

In this tale, Fraser tells just exactly how the Charge came to be...

In the Crimea, Flashman and his mess mates were drinking up a storm of rough Algerian wine.

Next morning, perched beside Lord Raglan (Cadogan?) on a hilltop, the Russian heavies in sight to the right and the Light Brigade arrayed to the left, Flashman's innards reacted violently to the after effects of that Algerian wine.

Raising one cheek from the saddle, he loosed off a mighty blast of flatulence.

Cadogan's horse, startled by the noise, reared up. Cadogan momentarily lost control of his horse's reins and in so doing dropped his upraised sword in the recognized signal for troops to advance to attack.

The rest is history, but our hero came out of it unscathed.