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Defence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler. - Cranston Military Prints

Defence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler.


Defence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler.

On January 22nd 1879, during the Zulu War, the small British field hospital and supply depot at Rorkes Drift in Natal was the site of one of the most heroic military defences of all time. Manned by 140 troops of the 24th Regiment, led by Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, the camp was attacke by a well-trained and well-equipped Zulu army of 4000 men, heartened by the great Zulu victory over the British forces at Isandhlwana earlier on the same day. The battle began in mid afternoon, when British remnants of the defeat at Isandhlwana struggled into the camp. Anticipating trouble, Chard set his small force to guard the perimeter fence but, when the Zulu attack began, the Zulus came faster than the British could shoot and the camp was soon overcome. The thatched roof of the hospital was fired by Zulu spears wrapped in burning grass and even some of the sick and the dying were dragged from their beds and pressed into the desperate hand-to-hand fighting. Eventually, Chard gave the order to withdraw from the perimeter and to take position in a smaller compound, protected by a hastily assembled barricade of boxes and it was from behind this barricade that the garrison fought for their lives throughout the night. After twelve hours of battle, the camp was destroyed, the hospital had burned to the ground, seventeen British lay dead and ten were wounded. However, the Zulus had been repulsed and over 400 of their men killed. The Battle of Rorkes Drift is one of the greatest examples of bravery and heroism in British military history. Nine men were awarded Distinguished Conduct Medals, and eleven, the most ever given for a single battle, received the highest military honour of all, the Victoria Cross.
Item Code : DHM2000GSDefence of Rorkes Drift by Lady Elizabeth Butler. - Editions Available
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Some other related items available from this site.

CCP5. Zulu Warrior at Rorkes Drift by Chris Collingwood

Zulu Warrior at Rorkes Drift by Chris Collingwood. 		Acting Assistant Commissary J.L. Dalton commissariat and transport department and colour sergeant F. Bourne, during the battle at the front wall about 6pm at Rorkes Drift. Frank Bourne was born on the 27th April 1854 in Balcombe Sussex, when Bourne was 18 he joined the 24th Regiment in 1872, being promoted to Corporal in 1875 and Sergeant in 1878. Sergeant Bourne was promoted to Colour Sergeant soon after the rgeiment arrived in Natal. Colour Sgt bourne was part of B company whose job was to guard the hospital at Rorkes Drift. Colour Sgt Bourne played a major role in keeping the defending troops effective. Colour Sgt Bourne was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his role in the defence, and it is surprising that he was not awarded a Victoria Cross as 11 were awarded for the defence. Col Sgt Bourne retired form the army in 1907, but joined again for WW1, serving in Dublin. He was the last survivor of Rorkes Drift, passing away at the age of 91 on the 8th May 1945 by coincidence being VE day.

Pot That Fellow by Mark Churms. 		The Battle at Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an action in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22nd January 1879, and continued into the following day, 23rd January. 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by approximately 2000 Zulu warriors. The intense and noisy Zulu attacks on Rorke's Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison, but were ultimately repelled by blasts of Martini-Henry rifle fire-and some smart bayonet work-with some guts behind the bayonet thrusts! Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours. Of particular note in the painting is the dog 'Pip' - he survived Isandlwhana by retreating along the fugitive's trail to Rorke's Drift. During the Zulu attacks on Rorke's drift, Pip did his part in the defence - by jumping on the mealie bag parapets and barking at Zulus- who were hiding in the long grass and sneaking up to the defences, then biting any Zulu who came within range. Unfortunately Pip was not officially recognised for his part in the action. He was not awarded a VC, on the basis that he was a volunteer canine that accompanied an officer, rather than a War Office issued canine. Conversely, if Pip had been killed, then he would not have been officially listed as a casualty, as he accompanied the army in a strictly private capacity. British army horses were in a different category as they were War Office issue, therefore the loss of a horse in action, or to disease, carried a financial liability for the War Office.

The Defence of Rorke's Drift by Jason Askew. 		Private Robert Jones. Decorated for conspicuous bravery and devotion to the wounded at Rorkes drift. Private Robert and William Jones, posted in a room of the Hospital facing the hill, kept up a steady fire against enormous odds, and while one worked to cut a hole through the partition into the next room, the other shot Zulu after Zulu through the loophooled walls, using his own and his comrades rifle alternatively when the barrels became to hot to hold owing to the incessant firing. By their united heroic efforts six out of the seven patients were saved by being carried through the broken partition. the seventh, sergeant Maxwell being delirious, refused to be helped, and on Robert Jones returning to take him by force he found him being stabbed by the Zulus in his bed, Robert Jones died in 1898 in Peterchurch Herefordshire . Both men were awarded the Victoria Cross.

Last Man Out by Mark Churms

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