Annual Fatal Battle of Maiwand Commemoration
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At left, Catherine Gatchell toasts Arthur Conan Doyle as Laura Bottoms and Eric Fite listen. Above, Jim Perry shows why he is unanimously chosen as having the best Victorian outfit.
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Brandi Blankenship, Jane Langston, Catherine Gatchell, Laura Bottoms, Mike McKeon, Nancy Laughrey, Jim Perry and Dean Clark hear Brooks Williamson praise John H. Watson and Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Afghanistan Perceivers commemorate the Fatal Battle of Maiwand each year because that is where and when Dr. John H. Watson is injured by a Jezail bullet on 27 July 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. That injury ultimately leads a sick, broke and broken Watson to return to London, where he meets Sherlock Holmes a little more than five months later.
Eleven Perceivers attended the 2025 event on 24th July at Brothers Houligan pub and restaurant in Tulsa: president Brian Wilson; libations chair/founding member Dean Clark; canonical names chair Brandi Blankenship; Privy Council member emerita Jane Langston; Nancy Laughrey; Catherine Gatchell; Brooks Williamson; Laura Bottoms; Mike McKeon; Jim Perry; and newest member Eric Fite.
Toasts abounded, with:
Eleven Perceivers attended the 2025 event on 24th July at Brothers Houligan pub and restaurant in Tulsa: president Brian Wilson; libations chair/founding member Dean Clark; canonical names chair Brandi Blankenship; Privy Council member emerita Jane Langston; Nancy Laughrey; Catherine Gatchell; Brooks Williamson; Laura Bottoms; Mike McKeon; Jim Perry; and newest member Eric Fite.
Toasts abounded, with:
- Jane Langston expounding on Watson's bravery, loyalty and hunka-hunka-burnin'-love good looks;
- Brooks Williamson lauding Holmes's expertise and Arthur Conan Doyle's depictions of Watson and Holmes;
- Catherine Gatchell praising Doyle's literary offerings (fiction and non-fiction) to the world;
- Brandi Blankenship praising the magical Jezail bullet fired by an Afghan soldier for not killing Watson;
- Brian Wilson honoring the Warren Commission, with special accommodation to Arlen Specter, for introducing a magic-bullet theory so laughable that the Jezail bullet, which strikes Watson in the shoulder, leg and/or extremity in three different time periods, seems plausible;
- President emerita Rosalie Mollica (in abstentia) poetically giving thanks for the Afghan sniper's inability to do his job;
- Nancy Laughrey hailing Bobbie the Fice, the actual canine hero of the Fatal Battle of Maiwand;
- Eric Fite admiring the strength and fortitude of Queen Victoria;
- Laura Bottoms congratulating young Stamford, who introduces Watson to Holmes.
2024 and 2019 Maiwand Commemorations
L to R: Nancy Laughrey, Dean Clark, Jim Perry, grillmaster Tom Duncombe, Gracie Duncombe and Laura Duncombe share stories at the 2024 Fatal Battle of Maiwand event.
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L to R: Stephanie Colburn, Laura Bottoms, Catherine Gatchell, Sue Sinor, Brad Sinor, Rosalie Mollica, Sherry Zyskowski, Bill Janssens and Brooks Williamson partake in the potluck dinner.
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Rosalie Mollica, the Perceivers' president from 2019 to 2024, and Brian Wilson, assuming the group's reins in 2024, are properly pithed at the 2019 Fatal Battle of Maiwand commemoration at the now-defunct Bread and Butter restaurant.
Fifteen Perceivers attended the 2024 commemoration, a potluck affair at the home of Laura Duncombe, her husband, Tom, and their Sherlockians-in-training, Teddy, Luke and Gracie.
Toasts included: Brooks Williamson lauding Watson's all-around good character; libations committee chair Dean Clark acknowledging Sherlock Holmes's genius in letting Watson chronicle his cases; Laura Duncombe noting the Jezail bullet's fate in not being fatal by striking Watson in the shoulder, leg and/or extremity; Jim Perry conceding the Afghan sniper's inability to do his job; canonical names committee chair Brandi Blankenship praising the orderly Murray and his pack-horse for rescuing the debilitated Watson; Catherine Gatchell thanking Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for getting Watson's adventures with Holmes into the public eye; and incoming president Brian Wilson hailing Bobbie the Fice, the canine hero of the Fatal Battle of Maiwand, and young Stamford, who introduces Watson to Holmes.
Toasts included: Brooks Williamson lauding Watson's all-around good character; libations committee chair Dean Clark acknowledging Sherlock Holmes's genius in letting Watson chronicle his cases; Laura Duncombe noting the Jezail bullet's fate in not being fatal by striking Watson in the shoulder, leg and/or extremity; Jim Perry conceding the Afghan sniper's inability to do his job; canonical names committee chair Brandi Blankenship praising the orderly Murray and his pack-horse for rescuing the debilitated Watson; Catherine Gatchell thanking Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for getting Watson's adventures with Holmes into the public eye; and incoming president Brian Wilson hailing Bobbie the Fice, the canine hero of the Fatal Battle of Maiwand, and young Stamford, who introduces Watson to Holmes.