Latest topics | » Did Ntishingwayo really not know Lord C wasn't at home Tue Nov 19, 2024 10:05 am by Tig Van Milcroft » Dr. A. Ralph BusbySun Nov 17, 2024 11:25 pm by Julian Whybra » Lieutenant M.G. Wales, 1st Natal Native ContingentSat Nov 16, 2024 12:32 pm by Matthew Turl » Colonel Edward William Bray, 2nd/4th Regt.Fri Nov 15, 2024 9:55 pm by Julian Whybra » Royal Marine Light Infantry, ChathamThu Nov 14, 2024 7:57 pm by Petty Officer Tom » H.M.S. ForesterThu Nov 14, 2024 4:07 pm by johnex » Samuel PoppleWed Nov 13, 2024 8:43 am by STEPHEN JAMES » Studies in the Zulu War volume VI now availableSat Nov 09, 2024 6:38 pm by Julian Whybra » Colonel Charles Knight PearsonFri Nov 08, 2024 5:56 pm by LincolnJDH » Grave of Henry SpaldingThu Nov 07, 2024 8:10 pm by 1879graves » John West at KambulaThu Nov 07, 2024 5:25 pm by MKalny15 » Private Frederick Evans 2/24thSun Nov 03, 2024 8:12 pm by Dash » How to find medal entitlement CokerSun Nov 03, 2024 10:51 am by Kev T » Isandlwana Casualty - McCathie/McCarthySat Nov 02, 2024 1:40 pm by Julian Whybra » William Jones CommentFri Nov 01, 2024 6:07 pm by Eddie » Brother of Lt YoungFri Nov 01, 2024 5:13 pm by Eddie » Frederick Marsh - HMS TenedosFri Nov 01, 2024 9:48 am by lydenburg » Mr Spiers KIA iSandlwana ?Fri Nov 01, 2024 7:50 am by Julian Whybra » Isandhlwana unaccounted for casualtiesFri Nov 01, 2024 7:48 am by Julian Whybra » Thrupps report to Surgeon General Wolfies Thu Oct 31, 2024 12:32 pm by Julian Whybra » Absence of Vereker from Snook's BookFri Oct 25, 2024 10:59 pm by Julian Whybra » Another Actor related to the Degacher-Hitchcock familyMon Oct 21, 2024 1:07 pm by Stefaan » No. 799 George Williams and his son-in-law No. 243 Thomas NewmanSat Oct 19, 2024 12:36 pm by Dash » Alphonse de Neuville- Painting the Defence of Rorke's DriftFri Oct 18, 2024 8:34 am by Stefaan » Studies in the Zulu War volumesWed Oct 16, 2024 3:26 pm by Julian Whybra » Martini Henry carbine IC1 markingsMon Oct 14, 2024 10:48 pm by Parkerbloggs » James Conner 1879 claspMon Oct 14, 2024 7:12 pm by Kenny » 80th REG of Foot (Staffords)Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:07 pm by shadeswolf » Frontier Light Horse uniformSun Oct 13, 2024 8:12 pm by Schlaumeier » Gelsthorpe, G. 1374 Private 1/24th / Scott, Sidney W. 521 Private 1/24thSun Oct 13, 2024 1:00 pm by Dash » A Bullet BibleSat Oct 12, 2024 8:33 am by Julian Whybra » Brothers SearsFri Oct 11, 2024 7:17 pm by Eddie » Zulu War Medal MHS TamarFri Oct 11, 2024 3:48 pm by philip c » Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth.Tue Oct 08, 2024 4:15 pm by rai » Shipping - transport in the AZWSun Oct 06, 2024 10:47 pm by Bill8183 |
November 2024 | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
---|
| | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | | Calendar |
|
Top posting users this month | |
New topics | » Dr. A. Ralph BusbySat Nov 16, 2024 11:36 am by Julian Whybra » Colonel Edward William Bray, 2nd/4th Regt.Wed Nov 13, 2024 8:49 pm by John Young » Samuel PoppleTue Nov 12, 2024 3:36 pm by STEPHEN JAMES » Colonel Charles Knight PearsonFri Nov 08, 2024 5:56 pm by LincolnJDH » John West at KambulaMon Nov 04, 2024 11:54 pm by MKalny15 » How to find medal entitlement CokerFri Nov 01, 2024 9:32 am by Kev T » Frederick Marsh - HMS TenedosThu Oct 31, 2024 1:42 pm by lydenburg » Did Ntishingwayo really not know Lord C wasn't at home Mon Oct 28, 2024 8:18 am by SRB1965 » Thrupps report to Surgeon General Wolfies Sun Oct 27, 2024 11:32 am by SRB1965 |
Zero tolerance to harassment and bullying. |
Due to recent events on this forum, we have now imposed a zero tolerance to harassment and bullying. All reports will be treated seriously, and will lead to a permanent ban of both membership and IP address.
Any member blatantly corresponding in a deliberate and provoking manner will be removed from the forum as quickly as possible after the event.
If any members are being harassed behind the scenes PM facility by any member/s here at 1879zuluwar.com please do not hesitate to forward the offending text.
We are all here to communicate and enjoy the various discussions and information on the Anglo Zulu War of 1879. Opinions will vary, you will agree and disagree with one another, we will have debates, and so it goes.
There is no excuse for harassment or bullying of anyone by another person on this site.
The above applies to the main frame areas of the forum.
The ring which is the last section on the forum, is available to those members who wish to partake in slagging matches. That section cannot be viewed by guests and only viewed by members that wish to do so. |
Fair Use Notice | Fair use notice.
This website may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorised by the copyright owner.
We are making such material and images are available in our efforts to advance the understanding of the “Anglo Zulu War of 1879. For educational & recreational purposes.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material, as provided for in UK copyright law. The information is purely for educational and research purposes only. No profit is made from any part of this website.
If you hold the copyright on any material on the site, or material refers to you, and you would like it to be removed, please let us know and we will work with you to reach a resolution. |
|
| Rorkes Drift Defenders Accounts | |
| | Author | Message |
---|
Ray63
Posts : 705 Join date : 2012-05-05
| Subject: Rorkes Drift Defenders Accounts Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:14 pm | |
| Did any of the defenders, give more indepth accounts. Or was it just the ones that are already on the forum. I have read that some of the VC winners gave public speeches, we're these written into new papers or held on record elsewhere? |
| | | 90th
Posts : 10909 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 68 Location : Melbourne, Australia
| Subject: Rorke's Drift Defenders Accounts Fri Dec 20, 2013 9:50 pm | |
| Hi Ray. I'm not to sure how many of the RD Defenders accounts are on here but there is a book by Lee Stevenson & Alan Baynham Jones titled ' Rorke's Drift By Those Who Were There ' I'd expect you'd be looking to buy something like that , I have it , Soft Cover , 292 pages , I'd expect that they have all the accounts that are known or available . Had a quick look , this is as cheap as I could find [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]90th |
| | | littlehand
Posts : 7076 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 56 Location : Down South.
| Subject: Re: Rorkes Drift Defenders Accounts Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:14 am | |
| " A veteran of the war who famously gave an account of his experiences on several occasions - and for whom the same process can be seen to be at work - was Alfred Henry Hook who, as a Private in B Company, 2/24th, had been awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in the defence of the hospital at Rorke’s Drift. Hook was not literate himself, and so all his accounts were filtered through the perceptions of his interviewers, and shaped by the questions they chose to ask him - or not to ask. Nevertheless it is interesting to note that in later life Hook became a member of the Corps of Commissionaires and worked as a cloakroom attendant at the British Museum - a position which brought him into contact with many literate and inquiring individuals who were curious about his story. But if, later in life, Hook was able to offer a fluent narrative which apparently seamlessly stitched together the story of the battle with his own personal experiences, his earliest accounts were both more garbled and more intense. In particular, he included a number of shocking details of the horrific fighting in those first accounts which were left out of the later smoother descriptions for wider public consumption. Like many soldiers before and since, he confessed ’I don’t like talking of these things’ - and he no doubt found, too, that representatives of the British public, used to imagining the battle in the heroic imagery of contemporary illustrated newspapers and battle painters, didn’t particularly like to hear about them either. Among the incidents described by Hook in the first few years after the battle were the fact that at one point in the fight for the hospital ’I was fighting “over the soles of my boots in blood”’, and that afterwards Sergeant Maxfield’s body was so badly burnt that ’there wasn’t much left to identify - only a small piece of his shirt as large as a lady’s handkerchief, and a small part of his body, all the rest was burnt’ (5). In another little-known early account he left little doubt as to the brutal nature of close-quarter combat in the claustrophobic hospital rooms; ...in the hospital I had my top coat and a rug. A young Zulu - he was only about
twenty - stole this, and was making off with them when he was disabled, and I came and caught him with my things. I clubbed my rifle, brought it down with all my force on his head - and smashed - not the Zulu’s skull, but the stock of my rifle all to pieces. He lay quiet for about five minutes, and then began to wink his eyes a bit, so I gave him the contents of the barrel in his head, and finished him off. (6) It is interesting to note that this jagged and uncomfortable content did not make it into Hook’s later, more fluent accounts. Indeed, those which were both the most circulated at the time and are best known now - notably those published in The Strand Magazine (1891), The VC (1904) and The Royal Magazine (1905) - not only lack such grisly details but reveal a narrative similarity that suggest that, by that time, Hook had become considerably more practised at telling his story and comfortable in his own presentation of it."
Source: Ian Knight.
|
| | | | Rorkes Drift Defenders Accounts | |
|
Similar topics | |
|
| Permissions in this forum: | You cannot reply to topics in this forum
| |
| |
| |