ZULU movie myths

[ryman1]

Hi all,

My own interest in the zulu war was sparked by this film, as I got older and began researching I discovered that so much of what we see on film is the directors own artistic licence at work.
I thought I'd share a few of the most common misconceptions and clear them up.

MYTH - The garrison defending Rorkes drift was Welsh.
Not so, according to the known birth places of the B company part of the garrison, 47 were English, 13 Irish, 5 welsh, 4 Scots, 1 French (the rest are recorded unavailable but it can be assumed that most were English/Irish).

MYTH - The garrison defiantly broke into a rendition of 'men of harlech' in response to the zulu war song.
Not so, the first draft of the song was made in 1881 at the earliest, almost 2 years after the battle.

MYTH - Colour sgt Bourne ('cos we're 'ere lad') was a grizzled hulk of a veteran
Not so, Bourne was indeed a c/sgt but he was also only 24 years old and 5ft 4in (he was one of the youngest c/sgt's in the army at the time though, and ended up a Lt.colonel.

MYTH - Private Hook was a malingering, alcoholic, insubordinate thief under arrest at the time of the battle.
Not so, Hook was a teetotal, stand-up member of the company, was not under arrest and was in no way insubordinate, he was in fact an officers man-servant.

MYTH - The zulus used martini-henry rifles captured at Isandlwana against the garrison.
Not so, Of all the gunshot wounds sustained by the British, not one was caused by a martini bullet, those recovered from wounds were all crude home-made musket balls.

MYTH - Chard and Bromhead locked horns over who was in command.
Not so, When Major Spalding (not in movie) left the post in the early afternoon he consulted his army list and appointed Chard in command on the spot, what is even less known is that neither Chard nor Bromhead were actually in charge of the defence - that responsibility fell to Comm Dalton who organised the fortifications and appointed the men to their positions.

MYTH - Rev Witt and his daughter arrived from Cetswayo's kraal and made a nuisance of themselves trying to take charge of and evacuate the sick.
Not so, Witt was never at Cetswayo's kraal and his daughter was never with him at the post.
In fact Witt was at the post early on (it was actually his home and church - the buildings were part of the swedish lutherian mission), upon hearing news of the defeat at Isandlwana he fled the post and went of in search of his family who were staying with relatives some miles away.
Nor did Witt bring about the desertion of the native contingent, they fled of their own accord when a mounted detachment from Isandlwana - which had stopped at the post, fell back after a brief tangle with the approaching zulus.

MYTH - Frederick Scheiss (the balding, middle-aged chap with a crutch) was a nutjob who went about the post walloping zulus with his walking crutch.
Not so, yes he did have a foot injury (and got shot in the same place during the battle) but he was by no means an invalid.
Scheiss actually manned the ramparts and at one point won the VC as he climbed over and outside the barricade and killed 3 zulus firing at the defenders from a nearby ledge.
Nor was he the man he appears as in the movie, he was only 23 at the time of the battle, sadly he fell into poverty after the war and accepted free passage on a Royal navy vessel sailing for Britain in 1884 only to die and be buried at sea aged only 28.

MYTH - The zulus returned on the morning of the second day to sing a song saluting the bravery of the garrison before retiring.
Not so, The zulus had not intended to leave, they were there to take the post, they left upon sighting Lord Chelmsford and the remains of his column returning to the post from Isandlwana.
It is likely, given the defenders lack of ammunition, that had Chelmsford not returned, the zulus would have taken the post that morning.

That's a few of them, you'll find many more through even light research into the battle.

Still my favourite film of all time though!! 

Cheers

Ry

[Fenton]

I found these about Chard and Bromhead

As the officers in command, Chard and Bromhead were singled out for particular praise. However, some of their fellow officers resented the plaudits bestowed on the pair, believing that they merely performed their duty by defending the outpost. Chelmsford's successor, Sir Garnet Wolseley, described the praise as "monstrous". A bemused Clery remarked that "Reputations are being made and lost here in an almost comical fashion... [Bromhead is a] capital fellow at everything except soldiering" while Lieutenant Henry Curling, who was also at Rorke's Drift with Bromhead after the battle wrote, "It is very amusing to read the accounts of Chard and Bromhead... Bromhead is a stupid old fellow, as deaf as a post. Is it not curious how some men are forced into notoriety?"


Some of Chard and Bromhead's superiors, however, were resentful of the adulation bestowed on the pair. Wood took a particular dislike to his new subordinate. Unimpressed with his temperament and sceptical of his role in the battle, he denounced Chard as a "useless officer" and "a dull, heavy man, scarcely able to do his regular work". Lieutenant General Sir Garnet Wolseley, who thought the desperate defence of the Rorke's Drift was merely a case of "rats [fighting] for their lives which they could not otherwise save" presented Chard with his VC on 16 July. Likely influenced by Wood, he subsequently described Chard as a "more uninteresting or more stupid-looking fellow I never saw

[ryman1]

Cheers Fenton, that's interesting to note.
I wonder if those officer accounts are tinged with jealousy, Queen Victoria became quite close to Chard in the years following the battle and she described him as 'a very interesting and charming fellow'.
That's somewhat at odds with the officers who spoke of him.
Personally, I'm inclined to believe Queen Victoria mainly on the basis of the conduct of the regular officers in scapegoating Durnford for the Isandlwana defeat.
Afterall, how stupid can a fellow be who has graduated as an engineer officer in HM forces?
Bromhead, much the same - VC's and public adoration can rouse envy.

[Fenton]

Well to be honest I think the awarding of VC's ( and yes the men at Rourkes Drift were brave)  was a bit of a cover up for Isandlwana

I think I read or heard somewhere that most of the VC's awarded were sold by the men  after they left the army as the pensions were so bad ( if there were any)

"Afterall, how stupid can a fellow be who has graduated as an engineer officer in HM forces?".. Hmmmmm I will let those on here who have served answer that

[ryman1]

Some truth in that, undoubtedly the number of VC's won was not in keeping with other battles and the troops defending didn't really have any choice in whether they fought or not so yes I agree, a definite cover-up, especially as only 1 VC was awarded for Isandlwana (until 1907 posthumous melville/coghill) where many more desperate escapes and acts of heroism took place.
Some of the men sold their VC's after returning home - poverty the culprit in all cases, though extraordinarily the destitute scheiss kept his even though he could hardly afford to eat!
A couple were also stolen, most famously from the coat of Hook whilst he was a cloakroom attendant at the V&A museum but were later replaced.

Cheers

Ry

[Luddite]

Brilliant movie. 

Nothing to do with reality but brilliant all the same.

I always felt that a historically accurate remake would be just as marvellous - given the actual heroism by both sides on the day.

[NTM]

Well they're not so much myths but stuff made up by the screenwriter etc. Shows the power of the cinema thogh and why perhaps we should worry about 'Hollywood' being accepted as the truth. Having said that I love 'Zulu' despite the inaccuracies same with numerous others particularly 'A Bridge too Far'

[Shedman]

If you are ever near Churcham in Gloucestershire

http://twomarshals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/pte-henry-harry-hook-1373-b-co-24th.html

[Luddite]

The VC is a singularly bizarre award, which does appear to be given fairly randomly, or typically where it's politically expedient to do so.

That of course is not in any way to denigrate the actions of the men to whom it is awarded.

Its just when you read despatches concerning the awards, and other similar but 'lesser' awards, you wonder sometimes how these decisions are made.

The VC is awarded for:

'Most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy'.

Which leads one to wonder, is there any soldier who's ever been 'in action' who doesn't deserve one?

Rorke's Drift saw an inordinate amount of VCs awarded i would suggest for two reasons; the valour displayed on the day by men who could have run but didn't (although shoukld they not all have received one?), and the need for the politicians to provide a well-lauded 'victory' to obscure the disaster at Isandlwana (when our troops apprently DID run).

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

One you all missed - there are at least twice as many British casualties in the film as there were in the battle.

IanS

[Luddite]

Plus:

Myth that all the NNC troops fled:
While most did, about 10-11 Africans stayed with the British.

Myth that the NNH fled:
Actually they did, but not as portrayed in the movie.  They actually skirmished with the advancing Zulus for a brief period, but exhausted from the previous day and having expended almost all their carbine ammunition they left the scene. 

Myth - the Zulus were attacked with a cattle stampede:
They were in the film, but in reality there were no cattle at the station.  The reason the cattle were in the movie was to get round the South African apartheid regime's insistance that the black Africans in the movie weren't to be paid.  Stanley Baker wrote the scene in and gave the cattle to the Africans in lieu of payment.

[Fenton]

I heard that the South African army surrounded the set in case of trouble

[Baconheimer]

If you listen, the Zulu Battle Cry is the same as the one used by the Germans in Gladiator.  Maybe someone should game out Zulus vs. Imperial Romans.

[fsn]

I'm not having it. If Michael Caine says it was Welshmen in immaculately pressed scarlet, then that's good enough for me.

He's never let me down before. Remember that documentary that he did about a bullion robbery using British cars somewhere in Europe?  Who can forget that time he parachuted into England to murder Churchill, or a few years later when he led XXX Corps to Arnhem?

No, my friends, if Michael Caine says it's so, then it's so.

I believe he's going to make another film about war in South Africa, in which he plays an artillery commander whose battery mistakenly shells British troops of the crest of a kop. It's named after the cry of anguish he raises when he sees what his guns are doing. It's called (can you guess?) "You're only supposed to blow the bloody Boers off!" 

[Techno]

It's called (can you guess?) "You're only supposed to blow the bloody Boers off!" 

AAARGH !!
But very good fsn !!
Cheers - Phil