In his day Fred Burnaby was as familiar to the British public as a television star. An officer in one of the most prestigious British regiments, The Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), he by no means confined his prowess to the parade ground. This giant of over six feet four, reputed to be the strongest man in the Army, looked for action wherever it was to be found. His freelance adventures took him to Spain during the Carlist war, to interview General Gordon for The Times in darkest Africa, to the mysterious city of Khiva in Central Asia, across Turkey on horseback and across the English Channel in a balloon. His thirst for adventure also took him into the political arena, where he stood as Tory candidate (with Lord Randolph Churchill) in the Radical stronghold of Birmingham, and later became a co-founder of the Primrose League. He fought these battles with the ferocity he had learnt in the field. But such a joyous open-handed life had its undercurrent of tragedy, Burnaby suffered from a bad liver, he married a consumptive wife and certain "indiscretions" brought him unpopularity with the senior officers of his regiment, who sent him to Coventry. In considerable unhappiness he made his way to Egypt (against orders) and attached himself to Wolseley's Camel Corps on their way to attempt the relief of Gordon at Khartoum. His death fighting the "fuzzywuzzies" was a fitting end to a strange career. Fred Burnaby has been described as "a thoroughly English type of man, the robust, conservative, aristocratic soldier, opaque in intellect but indomitable in muscle. . . who takes his stand, with a sort of physical tenacity, upon the faith that, by the eternal fitness of things, England must be the longest-armed power in the world". The 'True Blue' neatly exposes his classic Anglo-Saxon attitude.