“Zulus! Thousands of ’em”

The successful defence of the mission station at Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War resulted in the award of no less than eleven VCs and became the most famous action in the history of the medal.

The 1964 epic Zulu is frequently voted one of the top war films of all time. First shown on the 85th anniversary of the actual battle on which it is based, Zulu helped establish the career of Michael Caine who, in his first major role, played the part of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. The film also presented the remarkable story of Rorke’s Drift to the movie-going public, making it the most widely known of all VC engagements.

The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 came about through a bid to consolidate British influence in southern Africa where the High Commissioner of Cape Colony, Bartle Frere, had been given the task of bringing various British colonies, the Boer Republics, and native states, together into a Confederation of South Africa. The king of the Zulu nation, Cetshwayo, backed by his powerful army, opposed such an amalgamation. Plans were thus laid to invade the Zulu kingdom and bring Cetshwayo into line.

A British invasion force crossed the Buffalo River from Natal into Zululand on 11 January 1879. It advanced into enemy territory towards a rock feature known as Isandlwana, where it established a base camp. Meanwhile, men of ‘B’ Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, under Lieutenant Bromhead, had been assigned to the duty of garrisoning the field hospital and store house which had been established at the mission station of Rorke’s Drift, on the Natal, or British, side of the river. Lieutenant Chard, with a small detachment of 5 Field Company, Royal Engineers, was also ordered to move up from Durban to Rorke’s Drift to work on fixing and maintaining a flying bridge to facilitate the transportation of troops and supplies across the river. He and his men arrived there on 19 January.

Three days later, on 22 January, the camp at Isandlwana was attacked by an overwhelming impi (army) of Zulu warriors. Most of the British force was caught unprepared and massacred. Two survivors from the battle made their way to Rorke’s Drift with news of the disaster and warning that the impi was heading for the mission station.

Bromhead and Chard, along with Acting Assistant Commissary James Dalton of the Commissariat and Transport Department, held a quick meeting to decide

whether to stay and fight or to run. There was only between 139 and 150 men at Rorke’s Drift, some of whom were injured or too ill to fight. But there seemed little chance of escaping from the fast moving Zulu army with the various patients and the decision was made to defend the little outpost.

The three men and their fellow officers supervised the building of a four-foot-high wall of mealie sacks and of biscuit and meat boxes. This linked the Commissariat Store to the hospital, thereby creating a reasonably effective defensive position. Two wagons were also incorporated into the defences and the hospital loopholed. A secondary line of biscuit boxes was laid across the yard between the two buildings as an inner barricade.

Of the men capable of fighting, it has been estimated that probably only about 119 were able to contribute effectively to the post’s defence. The problem with ascertaining precise figures is that the battle for Rorke’s Drift became so famous that there were quite a few men who subsequently claimed to have been there when they hadn’t!

As the men waited, they heard the chilling sound of the advancing enemy army growing louder. “The men knew what was before them – a struggle for life – but they one and all displayed the greatest coolness, though some of them were very young soldiers,” recalled Commissariat Officer Walter Dunne. “On all faces there was a look of determination which showed that they meant to ‘do or die’.”

The little band was about to be assailed by some 3,000 to 4,000 Zulus.

DESPERATE STRUGGLE

The first attack came about 16.30 hours on 22 January. It was delivered against the south wall when “A black yelling mass of frenzied savages could be seen crossing the Buffalo River a short distance away and rushing towards us brandishing rifles and spears,” remembered Drummer Patrick Hayes. “It was a terrifying sight.”

According to Chard, about 500 or 600 of the enemy attempted to storm the south wall: “They were met by a well-sustained fire but, notwithstanding their heavy loss, continued to advance to within 50 yards of the wall, when they were met with such a heavy fire from the wall and cross fire from the store that they were checked, but taking advantage of the cover afforded by the cookhouse, ovens, etc., kept up a heavy fire. The greater number, however, without stopping, moved to the left, around the hospital, and made a rush at our N.W. wall of mealie bags, but after a short but desperate struggle were driven back with heavy loss into the bush.”

The action was described by Private Frederick Hitch, who recalled the following:

“There was a certain space of about nine yards where the barricade was uncompleted. It was, of course, the weakest link in the chain, and the Zulus were not long in discovering this fact. In this position eight of us, Bromhead, Nichols, [Nicholas] Fagan, Cole, Dalton, Schiess, Williams and myself – made a stand, and it was here, I think, that the hardest work was done … During the struggle a huge Zulu saw me shoot down his mate. He sprang forward, dropping his rifle and assegai, and seized hold of my Martini-Henry with his left hand and the bayonet with his right. He tried to tug the gun from my grasp, but I had a strong grip on the butt with my left hand. I stretched out my right hand for the cartridges lying on a wall, shoved a bullet in the breech and shot the poor wretch.”

Though the first assault had been driven off, after around 30 minutes more Zulus appeared and the compound in front of the hospital abandoned. Then, at approximately 17.30 hours, the main body of the Zulu army arrived.

A series of uncoordinated rushes at the western end of the north wall then ensued. Another attack was also made against the south wall, at which point the Zulus broke through. Chard immediately ordered the yard adjacent to the hospital to be evacuated. This left the hospital and its patients, plus the six men allocated to defend them, in a highly vulnerable state.

“All this time the enemy had been attempting to force the hospital,” continued Chard, “and shortly afterwards did set fire to the roof. The garrison of the hospital defended the place room by room, our men bringing out all the sick who could be moved before they retired. Privates John Williams, Alfred Henry Hook, Robert Jones and William Jones, of the 24th Regiment, were the last four men to leave, holding the doorway against the Zulus with bayonets, their ammunition being quite expended. From want of interior communication, and the smoke of the burning house, it was found impossible to carry off all the sick, and, with most heartfelt sorrow and regret, we could not save a few poor fellows from a terrible fate.”

LIKE RATS IN A HOLE

Private Hook left several accounts of the defence of the hospital:

“From the very first the enemy tried to rush the hospital, and at last they managed to set fire to the thick grass which formed the roof. This put us in a terrible plight, because it meant we were either to be massacred or burned alive or get out of the building. To get out seemed impossible; for if we left the hospital by the only door which had been left open, we should instantly fall into the midst of the Zulus. Besides, there were the helpless sick and wounded, and we could not leave them …

“In the room where I now was there were nine sick men, and I was alone to look after them for some time, still firing away, with the hospital burning. Suddenly, in the thick smoke, I saw John Williams, and above the din of battle and the cries of the wounded I heard him shout, ‘The Zulus are swarming all over the place. They’ve dragged Joseph Williams out and killed him.’

“John Williams had held the other room with Private William Horrigan for more than an hour, until they had not a cartridge left. The Zulus then burst in and dragged out Joseph Williams and two of the patients, and assegaied them. It was only because they were so busy with this slaughtering that John Williams and two of the patients were able to knock a hole in the partition and get into the room where I was posted. Horrigan was killed. What were we to do? We were pinned like rats in a hole.”

Frantically, Williams began knocking a hole in the wall with a pick while Hook held off the enemy:

“Their assegais kept whizzing towards us, and one struck me in front of the helmet … But the helmet tilted back under the blow and … I escaped with a scalp wound … Only one man at a time could get in at the door. A big Zulu sprang forward and seized my rifle, but I tore it free and, slipping a cartridge in, I shot him point-blank. Time after time the Zulus gripped the muzzle and tried to tear the rifle from my grasp, and time after time I wrenched it back, because I had a better grip than they had.

“All this time, Williams was getting the sick through the hole into the next room, all except one, a soldier of the 24th named Conley, who could not move because of a broken leg. Watching for my chance, I dashed from the doorway, and grabbing Conley I pulled him after me through the hole. His leg got broken again, but there was no help for it. As we left the room the Zulus burst in with furious cries of disappointment and rage …

“We (Williams and Robert Jones and William Jones and myself) were the last men to leave the hospital, after most of the sick and wounded had been carried through the small window and away from the burning building; but it was impossible to save a few of them, and they were butchered. Privates William Jones and Robert Jones during all this time were doing magnificent work in another ward which faced the hill. They kept at it with bullet and bayonet until six of the seven patients had been removed.”

John Williams, Henry Hook, Robert Jones, and William Jones were all recommended for the Victoria Cross. The other men defending the hospital were killed and therefore ineligible for the award as the rules for award then stood. One of the latter was Private Joseph Williams, who:

“…fired from a small window at the far end of the hospital. Next morning fourteen warriors were found dead beneath it, besides others along his line of fire. When their ammunition was expended, he and his companions kept the door with their bayonets, but an entrance was subsequently forced and, he, poor fellow was seized by the hands, dragged out and killed before the eyes of the others.”

THE REJECTED VC

While the Zulus tried to set fire to the thatched roof of the storehouse, Chard ordered another pile of mealie bags to be heaped in front of the store, hastily transforming it into what he described as a “sort of redoubt which gave a second line of fire all around”.

It was in helping build this little redoubt that Assistant Commissary Walter Dunne played a significant part, and Dunne himself later wrote:

“The position was a desperate one and our chance of escape seemed slight indeed, so Chard decided to form a sort of redoubt of mealie bags, where a last stand could be made. We laboured at this till we dropped with exhaustion but succeeded in building it up to about eight feet high on

the outside, and here the wounded were brought for protection. It was hard work, for the bags of mealies weighed 200 pounds each.”

Dunne was recommended for the Victoria Cross by Sir Edward Strickland, the Commissary General, who asked for further evidence of Dunne’s heroism from Chard. The now Brevet Major Chard, replied with regards to the ‘redoubt’:

“Mr Dunne worked hard at this. Eventually the little redoubt was completed; its height in addition to the fact of standing on the heaps which were high above our outer walls, causing him to be much exposed. The enemy’s fire was very heavy at the time, and in addition to any shots aimed at those working, from the usual Zulu fault of firing high, the place was one of particular exposure.”

However, the response from Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, regarding the VC recommendation, was: “We are giving the VC very freely I think, but probably Mr Dalton had as good a claim as the others who have got the Cross for Rorke’s Drift Defence. I don’t think there is a case for Mr Dunne.”

Dalton’s actions, which included helping build the mealie-bag redoubt, were mentioned by Chard, but more details of his exploits were given by Padre George Smith, assistant army chaplain who, though not represented in the film, was present at the battle and distributed ammunition to the men manning the barricade. As well as assisting with the building of the wall, Smith reported:

“Mr. Dalton, who is a tall man, was continually going along the barricades, fearlessly exposing himself and cheering the men, and using his own rifle most effectively. A Zulu ran up near the barricade. Mr. Dalton called out ‘Pot that fellow’ and himself aimed over the parapet at another, when his rifle dropped and he turned round, quite pale, and said that he had been shot. The doctor was by his side at once and found that a bullet had passed quite through above the right shoulder. Unable any longer to use his rifle (although he did not cease to direct the fire of the men who were near him) he handed it to Mr Byrne, who used it as well.” Another who distinguished himself was Corporal William Wilson Allen (though the headstone on his grave has him as Allan). His efforts that day were recorded by Private John Lyons who sought to stop enemy fire coming in from the right flank of the

redoubt which had just killed one of the defenders, Private Cole:

“I thus became more exposed, and so did Corporal Allen. We fired many shots, and I said to my comrade, ‘They [the Zulus] are falling fast over there’, and he replied, ‘Yes, we’re giving it to them.’ I saw many Zulus killed on the hill. About half past seven, as near as I can tell, after we had been fighting between two and three hours, I received a shot through the right side of the neck. The ball lodged in the back, striking the spine, and was not extracted until five weeks afterwards. My right arm was partially disabled.

“I said, ‘Give it to them Allen, I am done. I am dying’, and he replied, ‘All right, Jack’, and while I was speaking to him, I saw a hole in the right sleeve of his coat, and I said, ‘Allen, are you shot?’ And he replied, ‘Yes, goodbye’. He walked away, with blood running from his arm, and helped to serve ammunition all night.”

Allen was awarded the VC along with Frederick Hitch, their joint citation reading:

‘It was chiefly due to the courageous conduct of Private Frederick Hitch and Corporal William Allen that communication was kept up with the hospital at Rorke’s Drift. Holding together at all costs a most dangerous post, and raked with enemy rifle fire from behind, they were both severely wounded. But their determined conduct enabled the patients to be withdrawn from the hospital.’

FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES’

As day turned into night, the Zulu attacks became more ferocious, as Reverend Smith described:

“The light from the burning hospital was of the greatest service to our men, lighting up the scene for hundreds of yards around, but before 10pm it had burned itself out. The rushes and heavy fire of the enemy did not slacken till past midnight, and from that time until daylight a desultory fire was kept up by them from the caves above us in our rear and from the bush and garden in front. At last daylight dawned, and the enemy retired round the shoulder of the hill by which they had approached.” The Battle of Rorke’s Drift was over.

After the enormous embarrassment of Isandlwana, the defence of Rorke’s Drift helped restore pride in British arms, as did the announcement of the eleven VCs, which included Chard and Bromhead, as well as Swiss-born Corporal Christian Ferdinand Schiess of the 2nd/3rd Natal Native Contingent, who had fought with the French Army in the Franco-Prussian War. Seven VCs were awarded to men of 2nd/24th Foot, the largest number awarded to a single unit for a single action.

There was, though, much criticism levelled at the granting of the VCs, with Lieutenant Colonel Philip Anstruther, who arrived in South Africa with reinforcements, remarking that too much was made of the heroics of Rorke’s Drift because “they were fighting for their lives and could not have done anything else”.

Equally, one journal, Broad Arrow: The Navy and Military Gazette, warned against the ‘lavish prodigality’ of the awarding of VCs, arguing that the award was being ‘cheapened by a too friendly eagerness in Pall Mall to recognise acts of valour’. It also noted that, ‘It is a curious historico-physiological fact that the smaller are England’s wars the more prolific are England’s heroes.’

Nevertheless, the Battle of Rorke’s Drift became the most famous of all Victoria Cross Actions.

■ A depiction of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville. De Neuville based the painting on eyewitness accounts, and it depicts several events of the battle occurring at once. Chard can be seen to the right at the barrier in pale breeches with rifle, whilst Bromhead is standing in the centre of the painting pointing to his left.

(Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library) ■ Left: British troops in a defensive position during the Zulu War. In total, twenty-three members of the British armed forces or allied colonial units were awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

■ The fighting at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 represented a decisive victory for the Zulus, a group of whom are pictured here at around the time of the Zulu War.

(Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock) ■ Below: A view of the Isandlwana battlefield, which was the scene of the first major encounter between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom on 22 January 1879.

■ Above: A depiction of the action for which Lieutenant Nevill Coghill and Lieutenant Teignmouth Melvill, both of the 24th Regiment of Foot, were awarded the Victoria Cross during the Battle of Isandlwana. Both awards were posthumous. The third VC awarded at Isandlwana was that to Private Samuel Wassall, 80 Regiment of Foot. His citation states: ‘On the 22nd January, 1879, when the Camp at Isandhlwana was taken by the enemy, Private Wassail retreated towards the Buffalo River, in which he saw a comrade struggling, and apparently drowning. He rode to the bank, dismounted, leaving his horse on the Zulu side, rescued the man from the stream, and again mounted his horse, dragging Private Westwood across the river under a heavy shower of bullets.’

■ A close-up of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead as depicted in Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville’s depiction of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. In his first in his first major film role, Michael Caine portrayed Bromhead in Zulu.

(Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library) ■ Left: Lieutenant General Sir Garnet Wolseley investing Major Chard with his VC at Inkwenke Camp on 16 July 1879.

(Robert Mitchell) ■ Below: The Webley .45 revolver that was used by Lieutenant John Chard at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. It can be seen on display in the Royal Engineers Museum.

(via Historic Military Press) ■ Left: A portrait of Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard with his Victoria Cross pinned to his left chest.

■ A close-up of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead as depicted in Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville’s depiction of the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. In his first in his first major film role, Michael Caine portrayed Bromhead in Zulu.

(Anne S K Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library) ■ Above: The front cover of a musical score that was composed to honour ‘The Heroes of Rorke’s Drift’. As can be seen, it carries portraits of Chard and Bromhead placed either side of a representation of the Victoria Cross.

(Courtesy of V Berger) ■ The Rorke’s Drift battlefield as it appears today. Though the original buildings at Rorke’s Drift were destroyed after the battle, a museum stands at the site today.

(Courtesy Jim Linwood) ■ Right: The impressive gravestone that marks the lasting resting place of Frederick Hitch VC. The wounds that Hitch suffered at Rorke’s Drift were so severe that he was discharged from the Army. He then moved from job to job, generally being unable to perform manual work due to the damage to his arm. He eventually found work as a cabbie. Following his death in January 1913, Hitch was buried with full military honours at St Nicholas’ Church, Chiswick.

(Spiriteolf-Photography/Shutterstock) ■ Left: The lasting resting place of one of the eleven men awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions at Rorke’s Drift, in this case Private Alfred Henry Hook. At the time, Hook, aged 28, was serving in ‘B’ Company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot. He passed away at the age of 54 on 12 March 1905, and was buried in St Andrew’s churchyard, Churcham, Gloucestershire.