Williams Gill’s Walking Stick: Buy The Weapon That Murdered A British Spy

WHO wants to buy William Gill’s walking stick? Gill was the multi-millionaire British explorer and spy bludgeoned to death in the Sinai desert with his… walking stick. It’s not often you get the chance to buy a murder weapon on the open market. And here is the opportunity to buy the stick wielded by Bedouin tribesmen to murder Gill in 1883 whilst he was gathering secret intelligence for the British government. The stick is valued at around £400, any blood and gore included…

The legend:

He was sent, disguised as an Arab, to cut the telegraph lines from Constantinople to Alexandria. His cover was blown…

It was Friday 11th August 1882. The five prisoners, stripped almost naked in the heat of the sun, were made to walk in front of their captors over a mile of rough ground to the Wadi Sudr ravine. Then they were forced to climb down the cliff to some flat ground on the edge of a gully. There they were stood in a row facing the gully, a Bedouin with a gun behind each. The execution was intended to be simultaneous, the bodies falling into the gully. But before the signal to fire was given, one of the Bedouins shot Professor Palmer. In the confusion, the other four prisoners made a break for it. Khalil Attik dashed desperately down the edge of the gulley but was overtaken and killed. Captain Gill, Lieutenant Charrington and Bâkhor Hassûn tried to scramble down the 60 foot cliff to the Wadi but were shot and apparently finished off by sword. William Gill seems to have got the furthest, reaching the bottom of the cliff before he was killed.

As they say in diplomacy- talk softy and carry a bloody big stick…

Anorak

Posted: 27th, September 2010 | In: The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink