Zulu warriors who defeated British to be honoured
The catastrophic defeat at Isandlwana on the Natal border in South Africa on Jan 22, 1879 has largely been overshadowed in Britain by the dramatic defence of Rorke's Drift later the same day, which featured in the Sir Michael Caine film Zulu.
That battle, which pitted a tiny garrison of fewer than 140 men against 3,000 heavily armed Zulus, came to symbolise the Anglo-Zulu war but distracted attention from the battle five miles away at Isandlwana, where a 1,750-strong British force was overwhelmed by 20,000 Zulu warriors.
More than 1,300 of those defending the isolated position were massacred in what remained the most catastrophic loss of life for British forces until the First World War.
The Anglo-Zulu war was brought to a close in August 1879 with the capture and exile of the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, and the integration of the territory more fully into British controlled South Africa.
Now about 10,000 Zulu warriors who died in the war are finally to be given a formal monument, to be erected by state of KwaZulu Natal.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
That battle, which pitted a tiny garrison of fewer than 140 men against 3,000 heavily armed Zulus, came to symbolise the Anglo-Zulu war but distracted attention from the battle five miles away at Isandlwana, where a 1,750-strong British force was overwhelmed by 20,000 Zulu warriors.
More than 1,300 of those defending the isolated position were massacred in what remained the most catastrophic loss of life for British forces until the First World War.
The Anglo-Zulu war was brought to a close in August 1879 with the capture and exile of the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, and the integration of the territory more fully into British controlled South Africa.
Now about 10,000 Zulu warriors who died in the war are finally to be given a formal monument, to be erected by state of KwaZulu Natal.