Were there any incidents of friendly fire in the Zulu War?

Were there any incidents of friendly fire in the Zulu War?

The young boy in Zulu Dawn was hit by a bullet from Birmingham “But not sure if that was true” I’m not talking British shooting at deserters that’s not particularly friendly. I’m talking about recorded incidents where another regiment open’s fire on another Regiment, confusing it with the enemy. It would have been easy to confuse the NNC with enemy as they only worn a red bandolier and no doubt this did happen sometime during the war. Not very good for the Native if his bandolier had come off in Battle. Any replies welcome.


sas1

sas 1
The classic one would be Fort Funk.
Regards

sas 1
Theres also a case to be made out that when Roberts was descending from the escarpement they were hit accidently by fire from the artillery.
Stafford reported that Roberts was killed then. So possible Roberts could have been the first casualty of the battle.

Regards

hi all.
This from I. Knight .

[url=- consider the case of Lt. Arthur Tyndall Bright of the 90th at Khambula, who was shot through both thighs, probably by a Martini-Henry. Now of course, Bright was out with Hackett's companies, who were enfiladed by Zulu fire from the rubbish dumps. Some of those Zulus had Martinis and were good shots, so the usual - and perfectly possible - explanaition is that Bright was hit by this fire. But the Zulus were firing from an elevated position at perhaps 300 meters range, whereas from the (admitedly incomplete) evidence we have, it seems that the bullet that injured Bright passed through with a relatively flat trajectory - and with some velocity, too. Now consider that if he had accidentally stepped in front of his company as they were kneeling to fire, he might have received just such an injury - and think about the comment that 'with ... pride he placed himself in front of the advancing line'. Then consider Lt. George Pardoe of the 13th - shot in both thighs again, this time at Ulundi. Two young officers, both noted as very keen, both suffering similar injuries, and injuries in each which might be consistent with being struck at close range by bullets fired from a kneeling position. Finally, at the battle of Nyezane, Lt. Col. Parnell of the Buffs had his horse shot from under him; when it was examined later it was found to have been hit by a Martini-Henry bullet. Now the likelihood of the Zulus having Martini-Henrys at Nyezane is pretty slim - the battle took place a few hours before Isandlwana, after all, when the Zulus captured the 1/24th's Martinis - and while we have a lot of evidence as to the sort of guns traded into Zululand before the war, we have very little to suggest that even prominant Zulus had been able to buy Martinis prior to the conflict. So there is a good chance Parnell's horse was shot by a stray bullet from one of his own men.]- consider the case of Lt. Arthur Tyndall Bright of the 90th at Khambula, who was shot through both thighs, probably by a Martini-Henry. Now of course, Bright was out with Hackett's companies, who were enfiladed by Zulu fire from the rubbish dumps. Some of those Zulus had Martinis and were good shots, so the usual - and perfectly possible - explanaition is that Bright was hit by this fire. But the Zulus were firing from an elevated position at perhaps 300 meters range, whereas from the (admitedly incomplete) evidence we have, it seems that the bullet that injured Bright passed through with a relatively flat trajectory - and with some velocity, too. Now consider that if he had accidentally stepped in front of his company as they were kneeling to fire, he might have received just such an injury - and think about the comment that 'with ... pride he placed himself in front of the advancing line'. Then consider Lt. George Pardoe of the 13th - shot in both thighs again, this time at Ulundi. Two young officers, both noted as very keen, both suffering similar injuries, and injuries in each which might be consistent with being struck at close range by bullets fired from a kneeling position. Finally, at the battle of Nyezane, Lt. Col. Parnell of the Buffs had his horse shot from under him; when it was examined later it was found to have been hit by a Martini-Henry bullet. Now the likelihood of the Zulus having Martini-Henrys at Nyezane is pretty slim - the battle took place a few hours before Isandlwana, after all, when the Zulus captured the 1/24th's Martinis - and while we have a lot of evidence as to the sort of guns traded into Zululand before the war, we have very little to suggest that even prominant Zulus had been able to buy Martinis prior to the conflict. So there is a good chance Parnell's horse was shot by a stray bullet from one of his own men.[/url]

cheers 90th.

Thanks for 90th.
I have often thought, about theses bullet wounds to our soldiers, I think the only time I have read about wounds from Zulu fire was at Rorkes Drift where one of the defenders had a lead ball removed from his spine. I do believe he eventually died because some gorse was left in the wound which caused an infection. (I Think) When you think about the fire being laid down by the British in some case firing over the heads of the ranks in front, its no wonder some of the soldiers were hit. But I never thought about Bright but it makes sense. There were quite a few killings from fire arms presumed to be Zulu fire, surly they would have been able to tell if the bullet was British or do you think it was best not to mention it for fear of bad publicity. Maybe it was one of those un-written rules.

hi,
rorkes drift was the main battle where zulu fire did some damage to the british army but there were also zulu snipers during the battle of ulundi which is where most of the 18 or so causualties came from since the zulus coulnd get any closer than 30 yards
thanks joe

hi ctsg.
I dont know for sure , but I think friendly fire may have been swept under the carpet , as you said an
un - written rule , as it wouldnt look good in the papers . I"m not sure if friendly fire was acknowledged
in WW1 till many years passed due to the official secrets act . I maybe wrong but happy to stand corrected.
cheers 90th.

Its been happening since time immorial, only laterly has the phrase 'blue on blue' come to the fore. It happened in Aden, Northern Ireland and Malaya while I was still serving.

hi all.
had this sent to me from a collegue.

[url='friendly fire' - at the battle of Ulundi Captain Molyneux noticed that Zulu fire, aimed high at one face of the square, passed right over the heads of its intended targets - and fell among the Zulus attacking on the other side. He said he noticed this because the Zulus could clearly be seen falling even when the British facing them had ceased firing.
cheers 90th.

90th. Does it mention what rifle's the Zulu's were using. I think they understood how the Brown-Bess worked (aiming the weapon) but not that clued up on how the sights of the MH worked (adjusting) of the sights, so I was wondering if they had MHs.

Hi Dave .
I am fairly certain that some of the weapons were indeed the M.H. These were taken at Isandlwana by the
victorious zulu regiments. They knew how to use the firearms , but, basically no idea on sighting the weapons.
cheers 90th.

I read on RDVC that the word around the camp fire was if the sight was pushed down the bullet was "harder" or had more force...