Hello everybody!

Trooper1854

Trooper1854

The Brit Pack
Hi there,
Another new guy here.
Been involved with the military in one way or another most of my life.
Very keen amateur historian and a model maker.
Found this site by accident so I thought I'd look around and decided to stay:D
 
Hey! BritinAfrica, like your Zulu war album.
I am very interested in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 and Isandlwhana is one of the batlefields I realy would like to visit.
 
We are all the main characters in our own story. We deside the way we ride the waves that come with each new tide and we can not judge eachother's strides for it is with in individaul truths we must abide.
 
Trooper1854 said:
Hey! BritinAfrica, like your Zulu war album.
I am very interested in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 and Isandlwhana is one of the batlefields I realy would like to visit.
Click to expand...

Glad you liked it Trooper, it was a sort of pilgrimage for me as my mothers Great Great (whatever) Uncle died at Isandlwana. Isandlwana had a very strange atmosphere as I walked through the gates, it felt somewhat depressing. For years after the battle (according to a local Zulu guide) the local Zulu's reported the sounds of battle over and over again at night. Spooky stuff. Rorkes Drift was entirely different, the church built on the site of the original 1879 store room is worth visiting. The original stanchions for the river crossing ferry are still there.

If you do decide to travel to Isandlwana, let me know, I can give you a few places to stay that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
 
Brit, the closest I've got to anything to do with the Zulu war was on a visit to the Royal Regiment of Wales museum in Brecon about twenty years ago.
They have a display of the VCs won at Rorke's Drift and Iandlwhana, and subsequent campaigns. They are all replicas and the real ones are kept in a local bank vault.
The day I visited, by pure chance the great great great etc granddaughter of one of the Rorke's Drift VC recipients was there to view he relative's medal.
They don't just bring the one medal along, but all of the ones the museum hold, so I got a chance to see the VCs of nearly all the Rorke's Drift defenders who were in the 24th Foot, Warwickshire Regiment, plus a few others.
In the Zulu war room they have loads of artifacts recovered from the battlefields.
The two most poignant are a bugle trampled flat by the Zulus as they charged through the camp at Isandlwhana and a scarlet tunic with over twenty assegai stabs in the back and one in the front where Zulus had "washed their spears" in the previous owner:shock:
A small, but fantastic museum, well worth a visit.
 
Trooper1854 said:
Brit, the closest I've got to anything to do with the Zulu war was on a visit to the Royal Regiment of Wales museum in Brecon about twenty years ago.
They have a display of the VCs won at Rorke's Drift and Iandlwhana, and subsequent campaigns. They are all replicas and the real ones are kept in a local bank vault.
The day I visited, by pure chance the great great great etc granddaughter of one of the Rorke's Drift VC recipients was there to view he relative's medal.
They don't just bring the one medal along, but all of the ones the museum hold, so I got a chance to see the VCs of nearly all the Rorke's Drift defenders who were in the 24th Foot, Warwickshire Regiment, plus a few others.
In the Zulu war room they have loads of artifacts recovered from the battlefields.
The two most poignant are a bugle trampled flat by the Zulus as they charged through the camp at Isandlwhana and a scarlet tunic with over twenty assegai stabs in the back and one in the front where Zulus had "washed their spears" in the previous owner:shock:
A small, but fantastic museum, well worth a visit.
Click to expand...

In the film Zulu, one of the Welsh fella's stated that the 24th Regiment of Foot was a Welsh Regiment. Although the regiment was then based in Brecon in South Wales and called the 24th. Regiment of Foot (later to be the South Wales Borderers), it was formerly the Warwickshire Regiment. Many of the defenders had never been to Brecon. Of the 24th Regt. at the defence, the numbers (Source: 'The Noble 24th. by Norman Holme), 49 were English, 18 Monmouthshire,16 Irish, 1 Scottish, 14 Welsh, 1 Swiss and 21 of unknown nationality.

There were a number of errors in the film, no one sang Men of Harlech, and neither did the Zulu salute the British garrison. The Zulu had spotted Chelmsfords column coming towards Rorkes Drift. The redoubt shown in the film was massive, when in fact it was no more then 6 feet across. Another fact not shown, when the Zulu crossed the Buffalo River to attack Rorkes Drift, they first sat down and smoked weed, pot, whatever you want to call it, so in fact when they attacked they were as high as kites

A lot of stuff is still being found at Isandlwana, empty 45-577 cartridge cases, broken ammunition box's as well as human remains.

The Zulu would rip open the stomach of his victim to allow his soul to escape, which caused shock and anger among Chemsford's column when they returned to Isandlwana. After the battle at Rorkes Drift the British survivors shot or bayoneted any wounded Zulu still alive.
 
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The film Zulu started my interest in the whole subject, as it did for many people, when I first saw it nearly forty years ago!
I have read many books and accounts of the war and it is true the film is not totally accurate, but it is a piece of entertainment, not a documentary.
It was made at a time when there was little written about the war and as Stanley Baker, who stared and produced it was Welsh, he played up the Welshness of the regiment. It did not become the South Wales Borderers until 1881.
I recently read "Zulu": With Some Guts Behind It, The Making of the Epic Movie by Sheldon Hall and it is a fascinating study of the whole story behind the film with some excellent behind the scenes shots.
Another thing the film "misleads" people about is that the Zulus attacked in waves. From the first attack, to the the end of the battle, the attacks were virtually constant.
The Zulu war continues to fascinate me, as it just shows what happens when you underestimate your enemy, something that has happened numerous times in history with disastorous consequences.
 
Trooper1854 said:
The film Zulu started my interest in the whole subject, as it did for many people, when I first saw it nearly forty years ago!
I have read many books and accounts of the war and it is true the film is not totally accurate, but it is a piece of entertainment, not a documentary.
It was made at a time when there was little written about the war and as Stanley Baker, who stared and produced it was Welsh, he played up the Welshness of the regiment. It did not become the South Wales Borderers until 1881.
I recently read "Zulu": With Some Guts Behind It, The Making of the Epic Movie by Sheldon Hall and it is a fascinating study of the whole story behind the film with some excellent behind the scenes shots.
Another thing the film "misleads" people about is that the Zulus attacked in waves. From the first attack, to the the end of the battle, the attacks were virtually constant.
The Zulu war continues to fascinate me, as it just shows what happens when you underestimate your enemy, something that has happened numerous times in history with disastorous consequences.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

However, the usual Zulu form of attack (invented by Shaka) was in the form of the Buffalo, the chest or loins go head on, while the horns out flank both left and right, exactly what happened at Isandlwana. King Shaka was the architect of the Zulu regiments and strict discipline, he had only one punishment for any infraction, "Death." He was brutal, but he turned the Zulu into a tribe to be reckoned with.

The one thing that came out of the Zulu war was the respect given by both sides.
 
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