Fanny Duberly Frances Isabella ( " Fanny " ) Duberly ( 27 September 1829 – January 1903 ) was an English soldier ’ s wife who published a journal of her experiences on campaign in the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Her husband , Captain Henry Duberly , was paymaster to the 8th Royal Irish Hussars , part of the British light cavalry that took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade . Duberley ' s journal of her time in the Crimea was published as " Journal Kept During the Russian War . " It not only includes eye - witness accounts , but is also a record of gossip and rumours circulating in the British Army . Early history . Born Frances Isabella Locke in 1829 , the daughter of Wadham Locke , a Wiltshire banker , Duberly has been described as " a splendid rider , witty , ambitious , daring , lively , loquacious and gregarious . " She seemed to possess the physical requirements and tough attitude required of her surroundings , saying that she " was awoke by the reveille at half - past two ; rose , packed our bedding and tent , got a stale egg and a mouthful of brandy , and was in my saddle by half - past five . " After the death of her mother in 1838 , she moved to live with her eldest brother ( also Wadham Locke ) at Ashton Gifford House in Wiltshire . She left Ashton Gifford on her marriage in 1845 , which took place shortly after her brother had married for a second time . Crimea . Duberly travelled with her husband to the Crimea in 1854 and stayed with him throughout his time there , despite the protests of commanders such as Lord Lucan . As the only officer ' s wife at the front , she was a centre of attention . She was told of planned attacks ahead of time , giving her the opportunity to be in a good position to witness them . Such was the case at the Battle of Balaclava , where her journey from camp to meet up with Henry and watch the battle took her quite close to the enemy . Though her husband survived the day ( being away on staff duties ) , many of her friends did not : " Even my closed eyelids were filled with the ruddy glare of blood . " Being so close to the front line in one of the first " modern " wars , Mrs Duberly differed from many of her compatriots back home in comprehending the reality of war . When her husband asked if she wanted to view the aftermath of the Battle of Inkerman , she told him she could not as " the thought of it made me shutter [ sic ] and turn sick . " Duberly ’ s adventures did not always sit well with society . She was pointedly snubbed at the Royal review of her husband ’ s regiment after the war . The journal she published after the war had originally been intended to have a dedication to Queen Victoria , but this was refused , much to her dismay . Nonetheless she was popular with the troops ( who nicknamed her " Mrs . Jubilee " ) and many people in England . Her published journal met with some success and prints of a photo of her taken by Roger Fenton sold quite well . India . Duberly again accompanied her husband when the 8th Hussars were sent to India in 1856 . She stayed with him throughout the final months of the Sepoy Mutiny . She was adamant about accompanying the troops on campaign and told her sister that she would " stain my face and hands and adopt the Hindoo caftan and turban , " refusing to stay behind . At Gwalior in 1858 , while watching the start of a cavalry charge , her horse ran after the rest and , instead of holding back , she told her husband " I must go ! " and galloped away . Married life . The Duberlys had no children . She was a great friend and supporter of her husband , who never seemed to be jealous of his wife as the centre of attention in the all - male environment of the British Army in the field . She described her husband as " a friend I am obliged to support . " He was ill when the time came to go ashore in the Crimea and she told her sister that " Lord Cardigan intends him to land with the troops , but I don ’ t intend him to do so . " The Duberlys had their differences of opinion on the nature of military service . When orders came from Lucan that she must be put ashore at Constantinople , she wrote that " Henry looks upon the order as a soldier ; I as a woman , and laugh at it . " Later life . The Duberlys returned to England in 1864 . She retained her campaign memories but , when asked to reminisce about what she had witnessed , she replied that " those days are best forgotten . " Nevertheless , she retained her adventurous spirit and complained to a nephew in 1896 that " I cannot stand dullness for long , and life gets duller and duller as one gets older . " She died at Cheltenham in 1903 , aged 73 . Fiction . Fanny Duberly was played by Jill Bennett in the 1968 film " The Charge of the Light Brigade " . In this , she was wrongly depicted as having a sexual relationship with Cardigan , played by Trevor Howard . She featured in two books about Harry Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser : " Flash for Freedom ! " and " Flashman at the Charge " . In both of these , particularly the former , she is a target for Flashman ' s lust but he fails in his attempted seduction of her . Fraser introduces her , still Fanny Locke , as " a damned handsome eighteen with the shape of a well - developed matron . " He remarks on her prettiness , fair hair and blue eyes as well as complimenting her on her riding skills : " she could ride , that girl . " Flashman desires to have sex with her , opportunity allowing , and laments not being able to do so or at least to " give her tits a squeeze . " Fraser has Flashman jealous of Duberly ' s husband , describing him in Flashman ' s words as a " muff " who , when on guard duty , sits outside the room " like a blasted water bailiff . " Mrs Duberly is mentioned in " Queen Victoria ' s Bomb " by Ronald Clark ( 1967 ) . The story consists of the memoirs of Professor Franklin Huxtable whose invention of an ultimate weapon in the 1850s was supposed to make warfare impossible . The bomb is trialled in a remote part of India and resulted in the vaporising some unfortunate horses whose shadows were left as a permanent record burnt on the landscape .