In January 1896, he received a letter from Herbert Kitchener, who wrote that he wanted him to serve under his command in Egypt, which served as a measure of Townshend's fame that a general would ask a mere captain not even under his command to take charge of one of his battalions.
في يناير 1896، تلقى رسالة من هربرت كيتشنر، الذي كتب أنه يريد منه أن يخدم تحت قيادته في مصر، والذي كان بمثابة مقياس للشهرة تاونشند أن الجنرال سيطلب من مجرد قائد لا حتى تحت قيادته.