Place Name
Named after General Charles George Gordon’s mission in Sudan to evacuate Egyptians in 1883. Sudan was under Egyptian rule at the time and Egypt was a British protectorate. When he arrived in Khartoum Gordon decided to disobey his orders to remove the garrison and civilians and instead tried to defend the city from the oncoming Mahdist forces, who were trying to throw off Egyptian rule. Gordon’s aggressive policies won favour among the British public but were not supported by William Gladstone’s government. He was killed when Khartoum was overrun by the Sudanese on January 26, 1885. When the British forces arrived to relieve the garrison, Gordon was already dead but became a national hero for his bravery.
