Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

I would say with out doub't that most of the defenders at Rorkes Drift / And those that escaped from Isandlwana must have suffered from PTSD.
For instance take Pte: Robert Jones ( Read the story) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Identification and Diagnosis.

The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which the following were present:

(A) The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.

The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

(B) The traumatic event is persistently re experienced in one (or more) of the following ways:

Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions.

Recurrent distressing dreams of the event. Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (includes a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and associative flashback episodes, including those that occur on awakening or when intoxicated).

Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event Physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

( C ) Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before the trauma), as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma.

Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma.

Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma.

Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities.

Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others Restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)

Sense of a foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)[I don't think I will live to age 62]

(D) Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two (or more) of the following:

Difficulty falling or staying asleep Irritability or outbursts of anger.

Difficulty concentrating.

Hypervigilance.

Exaggerated startle response.

(E)Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than 1 month.

(F) The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.


sas1
From PTSD Support services.

sas1. Never thought of PTSD I don’t think there was very much care for the soldiers of that era anyway, they just got on with it.
Was it not the young chap you mentioned who witness the following.

“Williams had been shooting from a small window at the far end of the hospital . The following morning, we found fourteen dead warriors below him, as well as others along his line of fire. When his ammunition ran out, he and his comrades guarded the door with their bayonets, but the Zulu later force an entrance and grabbed their poor comrade with their hands, dragging him outside killing him in front of the others.”

sas1/ 24th,

PTSD was indeed a problem for AZW men, with no pensions for men who served just 6 years with the colours, and no 'post discharge' care in those days, they had, as 24th stated, little choice but to "get on with it". The only alternative they had was to seek advice from a doctor (if they could afford to) and risk being placed in an asylum as 'untreatable', so no real alternative at all. A point that is often raised in the Legacy series.

Cheers
Bookworm

hi all. this post deals with CAPT ESSEX one of only 5 officers to escape isandlwana, as his career rolled on he became known as 'LUCKY ESSEX'. once you have read his story its plain to see he was well named. but his luck ran out, this is from THE ANGLO ZULU WAR HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL 14. overwork, nervous fatigue and tiredness, together with combat stress had taken their toll on him. after the ill fated attack on MAJUBA HILL, the strain of the last few weeks manifested itself in his conduct the following night. usually reliable he was clearly unbalanced. LT. MARLING was on watch, when ESSEX did his nightly rounds. ESSEX the brigade major who had the wind up badly, said to me, "i was to keep an extra sharp look out,as the boers were coming down to attack the camp disguised in the kilts of the 92nd and the red coats of the 58th !!. i think clearly a case of pts theory. 90th.

But is it also not true? That quite a few of the defenders of Rorke’s Drift turned to drink to help them forget the horrors, they went through on the 22nd / 23dr Jan 1879.
I’m sure I have also read someone where, that Robert Jones was seen, running around his garden shouting “The Zulu’s are after me. And then of course we know the sad out-come.

Just a Thought I wonder if Lord Chelmsford suffered from PTSD, especially after seeing that awful sight at Isandlwana after the battle.

hi old historian2, you are right about the JONES story, i have seen it in numerous articles. and i would certainly believe many would have taken to the grog.

This is also quite interesting.

Isandlwana - A Zulu perspective BY THEMBA MTHETHWA: B.PROC, LLB (NATAL)


As long as people still talk about Isandlwana, they will also talk about Vietnam and Dien Bien Phu. It is generally known that the most of the American “ Vietnam Veterans” returned with a condition that was later to be referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”). I randomly picked two of the winners of Victoria Crosses at Rorke’s Drift to determine how they lived after Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana. One Cpl Ferdnand Christian Schiess, a Swiss national, died as a tramp aged 28, on a Vessel to England after the members of the Public contributed to pay for his passage. He was buried at sea off the coast of Angola.20 The other, one Robert Jones, died aged 41. He committed suicide. The Coroners records states that Jones suffered nightmares following his hand-to-hand combat at the South African mission station Rorke’s Drift. Verdict: Suicide whilst temporarily insane.21 It appears that the trauma of Rorke’s Drift was too much to bear and was to take its toll years later.

hi all, if any one is interested in obtaining the full account of "lucky essex", the anglo zulu war historical society journal 14, is up for auction on ebay uk. it finishes tomorrow, i think ????. cheers 90th

Has anyone ever read Curlings Letters.
After Isandlwana you can see a change in him through the Letters he wrote to his Mother.

I actually found One of his letters, overwhelming, when he finally manage to tell his Mother about the awful slaughter. It was a relief to get it of his chest.

Officers of similar rank thought it was not the done thing, to show such weakness in front of the troops.

The only person he had to help him through this was his beloved Mother who was thousands of miles away.

I have not purchased this book, but found this sequel to Sister Janet Nurse and Heroine of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879

"I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even In My Sleep:"

That says alot.

I suppose as a nurse she would have seen more than most when it came to PTSD.
Has any member got this book, if so can they give a quick review.

Bookworm.You mentioned LEGACY: Heroes of Rorke's Drift. I have the entire collection:

And like you say they were left to get on with it. (No Psychotherapy counselling or compensation in those days.)

The books cover the life’s of some of the defenders before and after the Zulu wars.
You will be amazed at the life’s of these forgotten hero’s, believe me there are some very tragic stories. For any who seriously wants to know about these men these books are a must.

I would give you some extracts from the books but that would be unfair to the Author, who has no doubt spent endless hours researching.

Just out of Interest: On 21 February, just under a month after Colonel Pearson’s column had occupied the old Norwegian mission station at Eshowe,

Private W. Knee of the 99th
Regiment slipped out of his bed in the hospital quarters, set up in the mission church, and made his way through the perimeter lines. Pearson’s column was, at that time, isolated from the outside world, the mission heavily fortified and the surrounding countryside full of parties of Zulus who had cut the lines of communication to Natal. Private Knee, however, had been ill for some time, and the doctors had come increasingly to think him unstable - and certainly on this occasion he did not behave like a rational man. After dark he managed to slip past the sentries guarding the outer lines, and disappear unnoticed into the night; his comrades were astonished to find his body lying face down in a nearby stream the following morning. His death was officially listed as suicide, as it almost certainly was; there was nothing in the condition of the body to suggest that the Zulus had killed him. Why Private Knee behaved as he did remains a mystery, as is the case with many of the suicides which took place in Zululand in 1879. Suicide was not a common occurrence - on either side - but when it happened to the men in the ranks the causes which drove them to such despair were seldom recorded. Mostly, like Knee, they were probably the result of depression or temporary instability brought on by the effects of fever; sometimes they were rather more rational, the result of a letter from home with bad news - a ‘dear John’ or a report of some family disaster or financial catastrophe - but even then the reasons usually went unrecorded..

S.D

Source: Ian Knight

Was there any accounts of troops committing suicide at iSandlwana on that fatefull day.

Old H.
It was possible, but I don’t think any were recorded. There was no mentioned from the Zulus that any of the British troops killed themselves. They were all hard experienced soldiers and most probably fourth to the death. But saying that, there would have be justification for committing suicide, specially after witnessing what was happening to their comrades.


S.D

hi all, im with SD, i couldnt find anything on british suicides at isandlwana, but they may have occured at the very end. cheers 90th.

More from Ian Knight. I Think I might buy this book.

Suicides which took place in Zululand in 1879. was not a common occurrence -on either side - but when it happened to the men in the ranks the causes which drove them to such despair were seldom recorded. Mostly, like Knee, they were probably the result of depression or temporary instability brought on by the effects of fever; sometimes they were rather more rational, the result of a letter from home with bad news - a ‘dear John’ or a report of some family disaster or financial catastrophe - but even then the reasons usually went unrecorded.

Quite why a Sergeant Stratton, of the 2/24th, had killed himself during a skirmish on the Cape Frontier, six months before the battalion marched to Zululand, is, for example, unknown; Stratton had appeared cheerful to his men, but in the midst of a desultory fire-fight with the Xhosa - in which he was at little obvious risk - he had suddenly called out a brief farewell, then blown out his brains with his own rifle. The strangeness of his death had been underlined the following morning when he was found sitting bolt-upright in his grave, as if he had changed his mind; on close examination, it turned out that someone had disturbed the body while trying to deprive Stratton of his boots.

Strange, too, was the death of a private of the 99th
regiment during the Zulu campaign. He was in the hospital tents at Fort Pearson, suffering from fever, when on 13 March he suddenly dragged himself out of his sick-bed, ran down the hill-top towards a steep cliff which dropped down into the Thukela river - and threw himself off.

Less bizarre, but no less mysterious, was the death of Lt Robert D’Ombrain of the 1/1st
NNC on 8 April 1879 near Fort Cherry at Kranskop, above the Middle Drift. D’Ombrain had
arrived in Natal from Kent in July 1877, and had accepted the hospitality of a family friend, a
former regular officer who had become one of the settler gentry, Alexander Montgomery.
Later, when the Natal Native Contingent was raised in late 1878, Montogomery offered his
services and was given command of the 1st Battalion of Durnford’s own 1st Regiment.

D’Ombrain himself volunteered and was accepted as a lieutenant in the same unit.
Montgomery’s role in what followed is not clear; he was a strong-willed and rather restless
officer whose personal life after the war the subject of a later scandal. Although he was
married - his wife bore him nine children - Montgomery on that occasion was alleged to have
had an affair with a young house-guest who later bore him a child. The child later died and
Montgomery was implicated in an investigation of infanticide.
Montgomery’s men were stationed at Fort Cherry, on the escarpment above the
Thukela at Middle Drift. This was an important strategic position - there was considerable
Zulu activity at the drift throughout the war - but it was a dull duty, and many of
Montgomery’s officers apparently alleviated their boredom in drink. What impressions
D’Ombrain had formed of Montogomery’s character during those months of ennui above the
Thukela border is not at all clear - except that a woman played on D’Ombrain’s mind
somewhere along the line. At the beginning of April life was enlivened by the visit to the post
of Montgomery’s 16 year-old daughter, who was apparently accompanied by a local admirer.
Miss Montgomery was still in the area when, on the afternoon of 6 April, Lt. D’Ombrain
apparently reported to the fort’s medical officer suffering from a hangover. He was duly
prescribed an appropriate remedy, and D’Ombrain retired to his tent. Over the following two
days, however, he complained of feeling ill, and friends who visited him said that he spent
most of his time on his bed, smoking. He could not stomach solid foods, and under the
doctor’s guidance D’Ombrain’s servant fed him on beef tea. He seemed restless and fretful,
and told a fellow officer that he was concerned lest the nature of his illness became common
knowledge. He seemed verging on paranoia, becoming convinced that the men of the
regiment were talking about him in isiZulu, a language he could not understand. He warned
one visitor that ‘they are coming’, and to another confided that ‘there was only one woman
who had threatened him’; both comments were regarded as being the product of an insipient
fever. Early that afternoon D’Ombrain was in his tent when a shot rang out; Montgomery and
his officers rushed over to find that D’Ombrain had shot himself with a Martini-Henry rifle.
He had placed the barrel in his mouth, wedged a riding crop across the trigger, then pulled it
with his foot. He had died instantly from massive head injuries, and the bullet had afterwards
torn a great split in the canvas of the tent.
D’Ombrain was buried nearby - undoubtedly one of the most remote and poignant of
the lonely graves relating to the war of 1879. Montgomery held an inquiry into the cause of
his death, but no evidence emerged of what had been troubling D’Ombrain, and his suicide
was put down to the effects of his fever. Years later, the local story had it that D’Ombrain had
received a note shortly before his death from a woman breaking off her relationship with him;
whether that was connected with the visit of Miss Montgomery is not at all clear.
Rather more common was an attitude among many serving soldiers that suicide offered
a means of escape from the threat of worse horrors should a battle go badly wrong.

The war correspondent Melton Prior was riding one day with the Reverend George Smith, of Rorke’s
Drift fame; … when he asked me, ‘Why do you carry a revolver, Prior?’
‘Well,’ said I, ‘for a very good reason. If I unfortunately get into a tight corner I
intend five shots for the enemy and the last one for myself, for I am never going to be
taken alive by a Zulu’. ‘Oh, do you think that very brave?’ he smilingly asked in reply. ‘Do you really mean that? Would you really wantonly and with premeditation take a life that had been given you? Would it not be better to suffer a little agony, that you might have to bear if you fell into the hands of the enemy, than to take the life which God gave you?’ I had never looked at it in that light before, but so much was I impressed with his seriousness and the nice way in which he put the matter, that I in turn looked at him and said, ‘Smith, you are right, and I promise you that I will never take my own life.’

Yet the idea of ‘saving the last bullet for yourself’ was quite a common one. It had little
basis in rational fears - there is no evidence that the Zulus ever tortured to death anyone
during the battles of 1879 - but it was perhaps the inevitable result of a mind-set in which
British and Colonial troops saw themselves engaged in a war of civilisation against savagery.
Suicide in the last moment of defeat, when death is anyway inevitable, offers a last desperate
trace of comfort, a sense of retaining control even in extremis, and of a last gesture of
defiance, of depriving the enemy of the satisfaction of your death. It is something which has
often occurred in battles across the ages, and it occurred in Zululand in 1879. Psychologically,
it is a product of isolation, despair and terror, and it tends to occur more among troops whose
esprit de corps has either been badly shaken during an action, or was never highly developed
to start with. Suicide in battle, in other words, is a symptom of men and their units falling

Melton Prior, Campaigns of a War Correspondent , London 1912.

Apart, and it is no coincidence that at the battle of the Little Big Horn in America in 1876,
when George Custer’s command was famously overwhelmed - an action which had much in
common with some of the Zulu War engagements - American Indian eyewitnesses
commented on a high number of suicides among the men of the 7th cavalry, a unit which had a
high proportion of new and foreign recruits. There are remarkably few references from Zulu sources of British troops at iSandlwana killing themselves under similar circumstances. There are two possible reasons for this.
Firstly, the infantry of the 24 th Regiment (both battalions) were experienced men who had
served together, under officers they knew intimately, for a long time before-hand, and who
had developed a strong sense of the regimental family. Such a feeling, even under such drastic
conditions, tends to draw men together for psychological comfort and the hope of survival
rather than causing them to break down into panic-stricken individuals. The second reason is
rather more pragmatic; as Lieutenant D’Ombrain would discover, it is a difficult thing to kill
yourself with a long Martini-Henry rifle.

Of course, it may well be that a number of men did commit suicide at iSandlwana, and
their stories are simply not recorded. By contrast, however, there were a significant number of
self-inflicted deaths among the Irregular corps during the battle of Hlobane on 28 March. The
Irregulars were by their nature largely anonymous; they were raised for temporary service in
the campaign, had no long history of traditions to sustain a sense of belonging and identity,
and were recruited from men who were often rootless in their civilian lives. And, of course,
the carbines they were armed with were a much handier weapon.
The Irregulars had performed well enough during the battle, but once the British
attempted to retire off the mountain, under pressure from the abaQulusi on the summit and
threatened by a large army coming from oNdini in the valley below, a sense of panic set in. A
detachment of the Frontier Light Horse under Captain Barton and Border Horse under Col.
Weatherley descended at the eastern end of the mountain but ran into the vanguard of the
uKhandempemvu ibutho coming in the opposite direction. There was a brief fight and several
of the Irregulars were killed before they were forced to turn about; at this point Trumpeter
Reilly of the Border Horse - an Irishman - dismounted from his exhausted horse, fired several
shots at the enemy at close range, then killed himself. Later, when the survivors of the same
party had crossed the precipitous Ityenka Nek, still under pursuit, the Zulu induna Sitshitshili
kaMnqandi, saw one man ‘as he approached, turning his carbine and shooting himself’

Perhaps the most graphic account of a suicide at the battle, however, was given by George
Mossop; Many glancing sights had I seen that day of the Zulus with some of our men,
who had fallen into their hands - whether dead or alive, I do not know! It is not good to
write about such sights; all I can say is that it was a horror! Perhaps the man at my side had seen that which induced him to act the way he did. I knew him well, but will not mention his name.
‘Do you think there is any chance of pushing through?’ I asked him. I was obliged to shout to make myself heard. The din was terrific. ‘Not a hope!’ he replied, and placing the muzzle of his carbine in his mouth he pulled the trigger. A lot of his brain or other soft stuff splashed on my neck. It was the last straw! I gave one yell, let go the bride of my pony, and bounded
down into the pass. Of course, the damaging effects of exposure to the horror and violence of the war continued to afflict the participants for decades afterwards. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
was certainly not recognised in 1879, but its effects were real enough, and many of those who
played a prominent part in the war were troubled for years with flash-backs, nightmares and

Account recorded by Evelyn Wood in From Midshipman to Field Marshal, London 1907.

George Mossop, Running the Gauntlet, London 1937.

feelings of guilt. That was, perhaps, why Cecil D’Arcy of the Frontier Light Horse - who
survived Hlobane and earned the VC for the skirmish on 3 July before oNdini - acted as he
did. D’Arcy had continued to serve with colonial forces after the Zulu campaign, and had
seen action in the BaSotho ‘Gun War’, but by early 1881, although still a young man, his
health was suffering from the rigours of his active life. He was a life-long asthma sufferer and
had contracted both malaria and bilharzia. In August 1881 he went to stay with friends on the
Eastern Cape, hoping the bracing winter air would help him. His friends found him tense and
depressed, however, and on the morning of 7 August his room was found to be empty and his
bed not slept in. Despite a search over the following days, no trace of him was found until 28
December when the skeleton of a man was found in the hills nearby. The remains were
identified as those of Cecil D’Arcy; he had apparently wandered off alone, quite deliberately,
and died of exposure.

There were strong psychological reasons, of course, why the British invaders were more likely to suffer self-inflicted deaths than the Zulus. The Zulus were fighting for the defence of their way of life in their own country - their sense of belonging and purpose could not have been greater. Nevertheless, as individuals they were subject to the same stresses in battle as the invaders, and there are suggestions that numbers of their men, too, killed themselves rather than face capture by the British. At least one man was seen clearly to stab himself with his own spear rather than fall to a British sortie in the closing stages of the battle of Khambula, and Mossop certainly noticed a degree of resignation - even defiance - in the face of inevitable death; When we overtook small bodies they made no attempt to resist; they were beaten, and that was the end. Many a man just turned, exposing his broad chest, saying ‘Dubula M’lungu’ (‘Shoot, white man’) - and the white man shot. The Zulu gave no quarter, and expected none.
There is very little surviving evidence, of course, to determine whether Zulu veterans of
the war suffered long-term psychological damage. In some respects the attitudes and beliefs
of traditional society as a whole may have mitigated against the sense of isolation and taint
which characterises post-traumatic stress. In their belief that the shedding of blood causes
supernatural damage, and in their willingness to acknowledge the role of veterans within the
community, Zulu life offered a framework of understanding which may have explained and
eased the sense of recurring horror brought about by the visceral nature of Zulu combat.
Nevertheless, here and there the odd snippet has surfaced to suggest that the events of 1879
left their mark, too, upon the soul of the Zulus who took part. A noted warrior named Muthi
Ntshangase, who killed at least one white man at iSandlwana, is said to have been troubled by
the spirits afterwards, and went mad soon after. Cetewayo was told of this incident. Muti was taken down to Ulundi from Isandlwana under control at Cetewayo, who thought a lot of him, sent
for some Shangane Doctors, to try to make him right again, and they succeeded.

Or had he? Oddly, in 1925 a Mr V.G. Sparks was captaining a cricket match
in Newcastle, Natal, when he claimed to recognise a dishevelled bystander as D’Arcy.
Confronted, the man admitted his identity and claimed that he had stumbled across a
body in the hills that night and had changed clothes with him and had lived
anonymously ever since; he begged Sparks not to disclose his identity as ‘he wished
to remain dead to the world’. How Sparks was so confidant of his identification after
forty years is not certain; probably the bystander told Sparks what he wanted to hear.

Mossop, Running the Gauntlet.

Account of Mangwanana Mchunu, Bowden Papers, KZN Museum,
Pietermaritzburg, reproduced in Ian Knight (ed.), Kill Me In The Shadows,
Soldiers of the Queen, no. 74.

It would not be hard to guest what trooper Raubenheim would have done if he had a revolver handy, he died a painful death. He’d been scalped, and his genitals, nose and right hand had been cut off.

Personally I don’t blame any of those that took their own life’s rather than a painful death guaranteed by the Zulus.

John.
As I understood it trooper Raubenheim
was killed, before mutilation took place, and that his body parts had been removed for what-ever purpose by the Zulu women.

Old Historian 2

I can’t recall right now, but I do remember reading somewhere that Raubenheim’s
cries could be heard long into the hours of the night. Which would possibly mean that he was not killed before being mutilated.

hi 24th, if you want a good read on the different aspects from the zulu war, which covers subjects from ammo boxes through to the zulu royal house, you wont be disappointed in I.KNIGHTS... COMPANION TO THE ANGLO-ZULU WAR. also FROM MIDSHIPMAN TO FIELD MARSHALL by EVELYN WOOD is a great read, as i think i said previously it would make a great movie !!!!!.. RUNNING THE GAUNTLET by GEORGE MOSSOP which covers his life before the zuluwar and after is also very good. last but not least IN ZULULAND WITH THE BRITISH ARMY by NORRIS NEWMAN is also well worth reading, if you can afford all or some you wont be disappointed. if you have any questions drop me a p/m... this applies to all members. cheers gary.

hi 24th,, forgot to add on my previous posting, if you are interested there are copies of the knight book on ebay uk. if you are bidding, good luck. regards 90th.

90th Thanks for the heads up on e-bay but at the moment, no pennies, I was one of the un-lucky ones, when it came to cut backs. The old system.
Last in, first out.

Doe's anyone know the name of the Rorke's Drift defender, who committed suicide by putting his head in a gas oven.

24th The name you are looking for is.

William Cooper 24th Regiment of Foot. (Rorkes Drift Defender)

I attended a service On the September 27th 2008. Where a blue plaque was officially unveiled at the house where William Cooper Live and Died, 6 Cranmer Road, Worthing, West Sussex.

And yes cause of death was by gassing himself in the kitchen of this house.
(Suffered from Depression)

I have a photo of the plaque that I will post later.

Littlehand,

Personally what that dissertation tells me is that the author has no actual interest in the Zulu War. He has misspelt Melvill throughout, and manages to trip up on Nevill Coghill's first name.

Why not discuss the lasting effects on the Defenders of Rorke's Drift, or the number of survivors of Isandlwana who cracked rather just mention Curling.

'Jimu

There is surely compeling evidence to suggest Bromhead and Chard themselves were suffering PTS. And again Russel at Hlobane?

Cheers

Hi Springy / Jimu
Agreed , that makes sense .
90th.

I am still catching up reading through all of the great posts on this site so I apologize if this post is redundant.

In the past month or so I have done some extensive reading on the AZW, and I read an account, it may have been by Smith-Dorrien, Drury-Lowe, or Hamilton-Browne, that they met Bromhead shortly after the Rorke's Drift fight and they urged him to send in an official report. Interestingly, he never did, and when the same individual asked Bromhead for information about the fight, Bromhead became very emotional and hastened away. I think I may have read this in "By the Orders of the Great White Queen." but I cannot find it at the moment. Of course I may have read it on this site. So there certainly seems that there may have been some PTSD involved.

Also Hamilton Browne commented that he replaced Chard in superintending the building of the fort as Chard had been "taken very ill". No details about what the illness was unfortunately.

I also read years ago that one of the defending enlisted men's hair turned white overnight, (this may be yet another myth or legend) and of course Private Robert Jones, VC, was found dead years after the war, with what appears to have been a self inflicted shotgun wound, though his apparent suicide may have had nothing to do with his experiences.

It is very easy as time passes, to believe that war is, or at least was, indeed glorious, and to forget the stresses that the men, whom we tend to think of as automatons, drilled to die for "King/Queen and Country", were subjected to. Whether it was the fear for their own lives, the loss, or crippling of friends or the subconscious horror of having witnessed, and inflicted, death in its most terrible form, they would have been no different to us in their reactions. Now we are aware of it, one would imagine that PTSD has existed as long as organized warfare.

Maybe the line that Michael Caine uses towards the end of the movie "Zulu", is most telling, "I feel….guilty!" Although there is no evidence that Bromhead actually said that, it seems, based on the account I mentioned earlier, that he may well have felt that way.

I also read years ago that one of the defending enlisted men's hair turned white overnight, (this may be yet another myth or legend)

Hello,

This man is Pte John Fielding (aka John Williams) VC.
See also the sad story of Pte William Jones VC: Just before death (15th April 1913) was found wandering the streets of Manchester under the illusion the zulus were coming to get him....

Regard

[quote="impi"][i]"Question: Can Your Hair Turn White from Fright or Turn Gray Overnight?

Bonsoir Impi,
Very interesting post.
Please, what is your source?
Regard

Frédéric

NorthBank
Its a common mistake that Bromhead did not write a report. He did in fact send one on the 15th February, and very possibly one even earlier.

Regards

Very Interesting. Is Bromhead's report available? I have never seen it or even seen quotes from it I was just quoting from the account given by whomever it was that had run into Bromhead after the battle.

Thanbks

Northbanks
I think the incident you refer to was in a letter from Major Clery, he commented more or less as you posted about Bromhead. I am busy looking into that very subject at present, give me a couple of weeks and I hope to be able to post on the subject.

Regards

I read only recently that Evelyn Wood vc,
was not overly impressed by the ' moping '
around by the remnants of the survivors
of Isandhlwana, and expressed the opinion
that they should try to be a bit more jolly!

Also Hamilton Browne commented that he replaced Chard in superintending the building of the fort as Chard had been "taken very ill". No details about what the illness was unfortunately.

He fell ill as so many did with fever! i dont know if it was a touch
of the dreaded enteric, but serious enough to warrant evacuation
and then convalescence..

"Major Francis Clery, who was garrisoned at Rorke's Drift with Bromhead after the battle wrote, "the height of [Bromhead's] enjoyment seemed to be to sit all day on a stone on the ground smoking a most uninviting looking pipe. The only thing that seemed equal to moving him in any way was an allusion to the defence of Rorke's Drift. This used to have a sort of electrical effect upon him, for he would jump up and off he would go, not a word could be got out of him. When I told him he should send me an official report on the affair it seemed to have a most distressing effect on him."