While down in South Africa, I was determined to see the battlefields of the Anglo Zulu war of 1879. Fugitives Drift was founded by David Rattray along with his wife Nicky and created an award winning lodge for visitors to savour this amazing story. Tragically, in January 2007, David was killed by an intruder but Fugitives Drift is a wonderful legacy to something he started with his wife Nicky and it still continues today. Rob Caskie has taken over as the main guide. Like David, Rob speaks fluent Zulu, knows the history inside out and is probably the finest story teller I’ve ever heard.
For those that don’t know, the two battles that I was interested in were the battle at Isandlwana when the Zulu army wiped out more than 1,300 British soldiers on 22nd January 1879. Later that day, just south of the Buffalo river, a smaller force of Zulus who had missed out on the action at Isandlwana, wanted their chance so against orders, they attacked Rorke’s Drift. This defensive action has gone down in the history of the British Army as one of its most remarkable battles which saw 11 Victoria Crosses award. Less than 140 British soldiers fought off around 4,000 Zulus in a battle that raged for hours. Both battles have been brought to the big screen with story of Isandlwana being told in the excellent Zulu Dawn. The better known film Zulu (starring Michael Caine) tells the story of Rorke’s Drift.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with an afternoon tour of the Rorke’s Drift site. It’s a few miles from the Lodge and we started looking round the museum which was it hospital building at the time of the battle. As with most battlefield museums, there were various artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) but the most striking thing I saw was a model of the battlefield. It showed the latter stages of the battle when the hospital had been evacuated and the British were defending the store behind their piles of mealie bags. The model showed a handful of red coated soldiers surround on all sides by Zulus several deep and this was the first time I’d really been able to visualise the battle properly. All the films and images I’ve seen in the past were usually close ups with a small number of people but this model gave an overall image which was quickly frankly, shocking.
Rob started the tour with an orientation, explaining how the landscape had changed since the battle and various important landmarks. To help visitors imagine the layout, there on lines of stones marking where various defensive lines were. Rob started the story explaining what Rorke’s Drift was and the reasons why it was attacked. In some ways, the story was the wrong way round as we heard about the second battle of the day first but it wasn’t really an issue. Rob’s launched into his story show passion and knowledge. He made the story so interesting and explored ideas and information that most of us who know a bit about Rorke’s Drift hadn’t even considered. He made you realise there was so much more to the battle than just a fight between black and white, British redcoat against Zulu warrior and from what I know of David Rattray’s reputation, I’m sure this how David used to tell the stories too. In all, the tour was around 3 hours and we all just sat listening to this wonderful story teller recounting the events of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I took the opportunity to freshen up in my magnificent room. It really was a shame I couldn’t spend more time in the room as it was so comfortable but it was time for drinks just before dinner so I made my way to the dining room. This room is like a museum with pictures, flags, letters, weapons and much more covering the walls. The meal itself, like everywhere else I’ve eaten in South Africa, was superb. Everyone staying at the Lodge sat round the same table and I was sitting next to Rob and we chatted about a number of topics. It was a very pleasant evening but an early start the following morning meant it wouldn’t be a late night.
My 6:30am alarm call was a nice hot pot of tea being brought to my room (its nice to see some British traditions still live on). We had a nice warm breakfast before leaving for our morning tour of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and our guide was a Zulu called Joseph. This was a very different battlefield to Rorke’s Drift. It took place on a vast plan in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took a lot longer as we first visited the museum before moving on the hill wear the Zulu commanders had stood 129 years ago. We moved on to the battlefield itself and parked up. Now the talk was going to be a couple of hours so we had deck chairs which we carried up the mountain to a vantage point which gave us a great view of the battlefield. However, the altitude was about a mile above sea level so it wasn’t the easiest climb I’d ever attempted.
Joseph, like Rob gave us a fascinating lecture and really helped us visualise the scene. He also said that although he was a Zulu, he wasn’t there to give ‘their side of the story’, he wanted to give us the facts about what happened, sometimes in quite graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he would echo the Zulu shouts that were made back in 1879 and as Joseph’s voice echoed around us, it brought even more realism to the setting. The story was fascinating. I listened to Joseph recite what was happening and my eyes wandered around the landscape which was littered with piles of white stones. These piles of stones are the graves of the British soldiers who were buried where the fell. Each pile of stones represented 6-8 men with the exception of 2 large piles which were for up to 40 men. The hard African soil meant it was impossible to dig anything but shallow graves for the men and pile stones on them.
After the talk was over, were had time to walk round some of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back for lunch. Again, all the guests present dined together and it was soon time for me to say good-bye and move on to my next destination. This was a fabulous destination and I probably could have done with spending another day there as there was a Zulu village to visit as well as the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill lost their lives saving the Queen’s Colour of their regiment and years later became the first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Sadly, I had to leave and so said my goodbyes and heading off for my scenic trip back through Zululand down to the coast. The previous day, Rob had told us how there was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this area, it usually meant they were lost. Today, there is an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray started which means there is a huge interest in those battles between the army of the biggest Empire the world has ever seen and the finest warriors Africa has ever produced.
Rob Caskie is travelling to England in October 2008 to speak at a number of venues in the London and Reading area. He has said that he will send me more details in due course and once I have them, I will be forwarding them via my Battlefield Explorer (http://www.battlefields.explorertravel.co.uk/) email list. If you would like to sign up for the newsletter, you can do so here (http://www.bbmexplorer.com/mailinglist.htm )
For those that don’t know, the two battles that I was interested in were the battle at Isandlwana when the Zulu army wiped out more than 1,300 British soldiers on 22nd January 1879. Later that day, just south of the Buffalo river, a smaller force of Zulus who had missed out on the action at Isandlwana, wanted their chance so against orders, they attacked Rorke’s Drift. This defensive action has gone down in the history of the British Army as one of its most remarkable battles which saw 11 Victoria Crosses award. Less than 140 British soldiers fought off around 4,000 Zulus in a battle that raged for hours. Both battles have been brought to the big screen with story of Isandlwana being told in the excellent Zulu Dawn. The better known film Zulu (starring Michael Caine) tells the story of Rorke’s Drift.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with an afternoon tour of the Rorke’s Drift site. It’s a few miles from the Lodge and we started looking round the museum which was it hospital building at the time of the battle. As with most battlefield museums, there were various artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) but the most striking thing I saw was a model of the battlefield. It showed the latter stages of the battle when the hospital had been evacuated and the British were defending the store behind their piles of mealie bags. The model showed a handful of red coated soldiers surround on all sides by Zulus several deep and this was the first time I’d really been able to visualise the battle properly. All the films and images I’ve seen in the past were usually close ups with a small number of people but this model gave an overall image which was quickly frankly, shocking.
Rob started the tour with an orientation, explaining how the landscape had changed since the battle and various important landmarks. To help visitors imagine the layout, there on lines of stones marking where various defensive lines were. Rob started the story explaining what Rorke’s Drift was and the reasons why it was attacked. In some ways, the story was the wrong way round as we heard about the second battle of the day first but it wasn’t really an issue. Rob’s launched into his story show passion and knowledge. He made the story so interesting and explored ideas and information that most of us who know a bit about Rorke’s Drift hadn’t even considered. He made you realise there was so much more to the battle than just a fight between black and white, British redcoat against Zulu warrior and from what I know of David Rattray’s reputation, I’m sure this how David used to tell the stories too. In all, the tour was around 3 hours and we all just sat listening to this wonderful story teller recounting the events of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I took the opportunity to freshen up in my magnificent room. It really was a shame I couldn’t spend more time in the room as it was so comfortable but it was time for drinks just before dinner so I made my way to the dining room. This room is like a museum with pictures, flags, letters, weapons and much more covering the walls. The meal itself, like everywhere else I’ve eaten in South Africa, was superb. Everyone staying at the Lodge sat round the same table and I was sitting next to Rob and we chatted about a number of topics. It was a very pleasant evening but an early start the following morning meant it wouldn’t be a late night.
My 6:30am alarm call was a nice hot pot of tea being brought to my room (its nice to see some British traditions still live on). We had a nice warm breakfast before leaving for our morning tour of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and our guide was a Zulu called Joseph. This was a very different battlefield to Rorke’s Drift. It took place on a vast plan in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took a lot longer as we first visited the museum before moving on the hill wear the Zulu commanders had stood 129 years ago. We moved on to the battlefield itself and parked up. Now the talk was going to be a couple of hours so we had deck chairs which we carried up the mountain to a vantage point which gave us a great view of the battlefield. However, the altitude was about a mile above sea level so it wasn’t the easiest climb I’d ever attempted.
Joseph, like Rob gave us a fascinating lecture and really helped us visualise the scene. He also said that although he was a Zulu, he wasn’t there to give ‘their side of the story’, he wanted to give us the facts about what happened, sometimes in quite graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he would echo the Zulu shouts that were made back in 1879 and as Joseph’s voice echoed around us, it brought even more realism to the setting. The story was fascinating. I listened to Joseph recite what was happening and my eyes wandered around the landscape which was littered with piles of white stones. These piles of stones are the graves of the British soldiers who were buried where the fell. Each pile of stones represented 6-8 men with the exception of 2 large piles which were for up to 40 men. The hard African soil meant it was impossible to dig anything but shallow graves for the men and pile stones on them.
After the talk was over, were had time to walk round some of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back for lunch. Again, all the guests present dined together and it was soon time for me to say good-bye and move on to my next destination. This was a fabulous destination and I probably could have done with spending another day there as there was a Zulu village to visit as well as the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill lost their lives saving the Queen’s Colour of their regiment and years later became the first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Sadly, I had to leave and so said my goodbyes and heading off for my scenic trip back through Zululand down to the coast. The previous day, Rob had told us how there was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this area, it usually meant they were lost. Today, there is an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray started which means there is a huge interest in those battles between the army of the biggest Empire the world has ever seen and the finest warriors Africa has ever produced.
Rob Caskie is travelling to England in October 2008 to speak at a number of venues in the London and Reading area. He has said that he will send me more details in due course and once I have them, I will be forwarding them via my Battlefield Explorer (http://www.battlefields.explorertravel.co.uk/) email list. If you would like to sign up for the newsletter, you can do so here (http://www.bbmexplorer.com/mailinglist.htm )
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