Adrift in South African History

Gravesite near our Ladysmith home

   Since arriving in South Africa I have taken a very keen interest in this country’s history. It started when Chris and I discovered three grave markers in our local neighborhood that marked the resting place of three soldiers who served and died in Ladysmith during the English-Boar war.  Two of them were serving with the 5^th Lancers, an Irish contingent, which was one of many units who fought during this war around 1900.  

   With the help of local historian, John Hawkesbury, we discovered that one of the soldiers, PTE F. Dowsett, actually drowned in the Klip River that runs behind and below our current boarding, the other died of shrapnel wounds. The third I know little about except that he was curator of graves and died about 10 years after the other two.

   I digress. My purpose in writing this is to describe our trip to Rorke’s Drift, organized by Mr. Hawkesbury and the Ladysmith Historical Society.

    The battle, or defense of Rorke’s Drift, took place, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 January, 1879, when some 150 mainly British soldiers defended a supply station against some 4000 Zulus. This defense was brought to the attention of the world through the movie Zulu, starring Michael Cane. It is a remarkably accurate depiction of the events or those two days with some embellishments. This movie is still available on Netflix.

Museum display of soldiers and their defensive position

Elder and Sister Brown

   Mr. Hawkesbury, a retired British army officer, arranged this trip on our preparation day and invited our local missionaries and the Browns, our good friends from Newcastle, to join us. There were also about 30 other people from Ladysmith, mainly members of the historical society.

John and Charles, X British officers

   Our host at the site was another retired British officer, Charles Aikenhead, who owns a hotel at the site. This hotel overlooks the Buffalo River which played a prominent part in the event. Mr. Aikenhead, and Mr. Hawkesbury, and the president of the society, took turns guiding us around the area and explaining the history of the event.

   Briefly, because many of you may have or will see this movie, I will give an only a few details.

   On January 22, 1879, a British army unit that was encamped at Isandhlwana about 15k from Rorke’s Drift was attacked by 20,000 Zulu warriors. It was a great defeat for the British and they lost about 1700 men. This incident was the “British Alamo” according to our guides.

Viewing the Isandhlwana site with our group

   The Zulu’s had about 4000 additional warriors that were not involved in the battle because they were younger men that were ordered to remain in reserve. When they saw what happened and that they could have no part in the spoils of war, they decided that they would take it upon themselves to attack the supply depot at Rorke’s Drift. The Drift was only being held by 150 soldiers and it looked easy for the taking.

   There are a lot of details and information that I could share, but I won’t do that here. For those of you who are interested, Google will direct you and the movie Zulu will be quite educational and interesting.

  This site is only about 50 miles from where we live, about a 2-hour drive due to a long stretch of dirt road.

John with a Martini-Henry rifle

  Our hosts were wonderful. They led us to various sites and explained the history, showed us the Martini-Henry rifles that the British used to defend themselves, took us to the actual site of the battle and explained how these 150 soldiers held off 4000 warriors before reinforcements arrived.  At Rorke's Drift, eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded. Seven to the 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, one to the Army Medical Department, one to the Royal Engineers, one to the Commissariat and Transport Department and one to the Natal Native Contingent. 

Reconstructed hospital

   We viewed the exhibit in the museum, the memorials to both the British and the Zulu warriors, and generally enjoyed the whole experience.

Zulu Memorial--A leopard atop Zulu shields

   I was a little disappointed to discover that the way the battle ended in the movie, was not what really happened. It ended because the “cavalry arrived” at the last moment!

   We sometimes undertake excursions like this to give us a little break from the other six very busy days of serving the Lord. It fires us up and enables us to continue on in His service.

At the hotel overlooking the Buffalo River. Don't we look relaxed!

Plus, it helps to give us a better understanding of the people of South Africa and how they got to where they are today.  And we don’t take sides...go Brits, go Zulu’s, go Boers!  Did you know that Ghandi served here in Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer war? Or that Winston Churchill was here as a war correspondent during that same war? And he was actually captured by the Boers?

  Stay tuned!