The Defence of Rorke's Drift - Private John Williams

Private John Williams

2nd Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot

"Private John Williams was posted with Private Joseph Williams and Private Horrigan, 1st Battalion 24th Regiment, in a distant room of the hospital, which they held for more than one hour, so long as they had a round of ammunition left; as communication was for the time cut off, the Zulus were enabled to advance and burst open the door; they dragged out Private Joseph Williams and two of the patients, and assegaied them. Whilst the Zulus were occupied with the slaughter of these men, a lull took place, during which Private John Williams, who with two patients, were the only men left alive in this ward, succeeded in knocking a hole in the partition, and in taking the two patients into the next ward, where he found Private Hook."

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Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (1855 -1905)

Image from Vanity Fair Magazine Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (1855 -1905), daughter of the 7th marquess of Queensberry. Authoress, war correspondent and traveller. From an early age Florence showed a fondness for sport and travel together with a facility for writing. After marrying, she combined these talents in a journey to Patagonia and published Across Patagonia in 1880. In 1879 she was the war correspondent for the Morning Post , covering the Anglo Zulu war in Southern Africa. Arriving too late, she justified her visit by interviewing the defeated King Cetshwayo. Impressed by his dignity she returned home to successfully campaign for his re-instatement. She had strong views on African politics, publishing In the Land of Misfortune in 1882. Dixie played a key role is establishing the game of women's association football, organising exhibition matches for charity, and in 1895 she became President of the British Ladies' Football Club, stipulating that &quo

Books About Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana Battles

After 12 years of navigating the battlefields of Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana it was time to start updating and revamping our information. First in line has been our List of books on the Battles and we were amazed how that list has grown over the years. We are also sure that our guests, past and present would benefit from this update and what better way to do this than through our blog. Over the next few weeks I will give you lists of the books, a few at a time with a little bit of background of each one. This is of course so that you can start your own collection of books, or start a reading marathon or even use the subject for a book club. For your convenience I am linking each one of the books to the place that you can buy it online, most of which will be Amazon and if its not available on Amazon I will try to track down where it's at. First on our list is The Horns of the Buffalo by John Wilcox a fiction novel and the write up on Amazon describes the book

The Defence of Rorke's Drift - Private Frederick Hitch

Private Frederick Hitch 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot "It was chiefly due to the courageous conduct of these [Allen and Hitch] men that communication with the hospital was kept up at all. Holding together at all costs a most dangerous post, raked in reverse by the enemy's fire from the hill, they were both severely wounded, but their determined conduct enabled the patients to be withdrawn from the hospital, and when incapacitated by their wounds from fighting, they continued as soon as their wounds had been dressed, to serve out ammunition to their comrades during the night."

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