Pan to a quizzical eyebrow, it's almost too hot to speak, and you expound, "Yes, I watched Zulu, the movie." Now, all three of you readers of this shallow mind blog know exactly what that means, Isandlwana, the horrific 1879 defeat of a small British battlegroup by a far larger Zulu army. Yes, you know this, but Front Porch Joint Command was uncertain, "You mean some kind of horrible Victorian African war?" Exactly so, and we changed the subject.
Front porchery aside, Isandlwana sent such shockwaves through Great Britain that I was being taught about it, with a degree of reverence, let the reader understand, in the 1970s, same with the Indian Mutiny. No wonder, many of our teachers were former officers who'd served the Empire and fought the Hun to boot. But back on point.
Isandlwana. What a total, tragic failure on Great Britain's part, a lot of good men killed through sheer, bone-headed incompetence and upper class hubris, see Lord Chelmsford and associates. Well, you can read about the disaster on the internet, which details the defeat of some 1,500 Martini Henry wielding troops by around 12,000 spear chucking savages who somehow stumbled on Hannibal's famous flanking maneuver. Bad show, Chelmsford, and well done boys for rallying at Rorke's Drift, which reminds me.
Many, many years ago I let a rifle (L1A1/SLR) fall to the ground at a training range and my Platoon Commander gave the old drop and do 50, which I did. Half way through he asked, "Royal Regiment of Wales, name a battle honour." I replied, "Rorke's Drift," and he stumped off, a British South African, curiously.
So there you have it. Watch Zulu or Zulu Dawn, most awesome. If you already have, watch 'em again.
LSP
And remember the last words of General Gordon at Khartoum: "I say Reggie, the beggars seem to be coming over the walls!"
ReplyDeleteAlso read about the storied life of the redoubtable Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne. Stood his final formation peacefully in May of 1945 with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
ReplyDelete--
Making of "Zulu"--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nun9uerO2jQ
--
"...sheer, bone-headed incompetence and upper class hubris..."
See also "The Reason Why" by Cecil Woodham-Smith.
I think I shall take your challenge sir.
ReplyDeleteThe Martini's at Rourkes Drift got so hot the troops were ripping off the uniform sleeves to hold the forearms. And a week or two later they were freezing their butts off. Or so the contemporary accounts say.
ReplyDeleteIt also helped that, being a supply station, there was an excess supply of said Martinis available for the troops to better slosh the natives with. Even then, some were firing so quickly that they had 2-3 guns that were too hot to use, even using uniform sleeves as insulation.
DeleteAnd some guns got so hot the wounded were put to pulling out jammed casings out of the actions using knives or whatever they could find.
Perfect example of "You can never have too much ammunition."
Of course, taken to the extreme, bit the US Marines in the arse on Roi-Namur when some enterprising Marine tossed a satchel charge into a 'headquarters' building and discovered accidentally and very noisily said building was actually a torpedo warhead magazine and said magazine previewed the coming atomic explosions, with blast waves, thermal pulse, mushroom-shaped cloud, fallout (of concrete, coral, metal, people) all over said islands and into the lagoon and even the ocean. As LeeLoo Dallas would say, "Badda Big Boom."
The utter failures of the then-current British Army at Islandlwana are very well laid out in "Zulu Dawn." Friggin beancounters and active-stupid officers. What a cluster grope in only the way the English could do it. Not the least, the failure to seize the high lands and mount snipers...
ReplyDeleteRourke's Drift, on the other hand, shows what imagination and not sticking to 'the book' can do.
I watched Zulu on the big screen as a child. Those shots of spears going through the body scared me to death. When we exited the theater and walked back into the urban jungle in which I grew up, I was equally scared to death.
ReplyDeleteRHT beat me to it (again)... And yes, highly recommend both movies! Islandlwana was a classic CF due to the officers in charge.
ReplyDelete"How can a Man Die Better," by Colonel Mike Snook.
ReplyDeleteI've see Zulu several times, but I have to watch Zulu Dawn.
ReplyDelete