The Charge of The Light Brigade (1936 Film) - Inaccuracies

Inaccuracies

The film originally featured the Siege of Cawnpore during the Sepoy Rebellion. When someone pointed out that the Sepoy Rebellion took place three years after the Battle of Balaclava (Balaklava), the name of Cawnpore was hastily changed to Chukoti, and the rebellion was turned into a fictional uprising led by the fictional Surat Khan, the leader of the fictional country of Suristan, a vaguely Turkish country. Suristan is in fact an ancient Persian name for Syria. Niven comments on the change in his autobiography.

The reason for the Charge of the Light Brigade was shown in the film as being because the 27th Lancers changed the direction of the manoeuvre so as to invade the Russian camp to kill Surat Khan. It was actually as a result of a dispute between Lord Cardigan and Lord Raglan. Moreover, the Battle of Balaclava (Balaklava) did not result in the fall of Sebastopol, as is erroneously stated in the film.

Finally, the 27th Lancers are fictional as well. The 17th Lancers, 8th and 11th Hussars, and the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons made the real charge. A "27th Lancers" were not a part of the British Army until 1941.

Note: The film maker was well aware of the historical inaccuracy of the film and was very open about it. In fact, at the very beginning of the film there is a disclaimer about the historical veracity of the film.