Ghosts, spirits, odd occurrences.

Hi all.

There are quite a few members on the forum who have been fortunate enough to visit some of the battlefields of the AZW and pay their respects to the fallen  

I was wondering if any of them have had any sort of strange experiences, seen odd things, taken any photo's that have had some strange image on them that wasn't seen at the time of taking (no LH, none your photo shop stuff please)   , or have felt any sort of paranormal activity on or near these battlefields.

For instance, here in Britain there is supposed to be a battle that is sometimes seen by people being re-played (in ghostly form), this battle was fought during the English civil war between the roundheads and cavaliers, I just can't think which battle it was, but many people are supposed to have witnessed it being re-played in ghostly form. Some folk have said that it's because there was so much terror and horror during the battle that the spirits can't escape, and that they have to re-play their ghostly battle over and over again.

Well, there must have been plenty of terror and horror during some of the battles of the AZW, especially iSandlwana, and it makes you wonder if some similar sort of odd or ghostly things have been seen on or around these places.

So come on chaps, share your experiences with us, has anyone seen anything odd or been told about any strange spooky occurrences on or around these battlefields?

Cheers.

Martin..    xhosa

Martin

Whilst not being Paranormal, what we saw at Isandlwana was nothing short of it. Early morning 22nd Jan 2004 (around 4am) myself and Jonesy climbed the summit in near darkness. It had been chucking it down all night. As the sun rose the mist came up in the grass and was like a blanket with grass growing through it. As the temperature rose, the wind picked up the mist in small vortexes like mini twisters and the whizzed off across the battlefield. we were dumbstruck.

The other time Jan 22nd 2010, Myself and Mike Snook did an evening walk at the rear of Isandlwana, to see what was left of the old road, it was fine until the sun set, and it started to get dark, the atmosphere changed in an instant, we both looked at each other and said, "you know..it's time to go".

The best was the lecture in the Church, 22nd Jan 2006 at Rorkes Drift by David Rattray. As we arrived (in pitch dark) there was a stupendous thunderclap over the Oskerberg. David did the talk with candles, as he described the end of the battle, three of the windows blew open..... to say we were dumbstruck was an understatement.

I will go with Neil.
A couple of years back I parked at the Manzimyama/road crossing and walked up the old traders road to the saddle. I spent longer than I should have wondering around the fugitives trail and suddenly realised it was getting dark and late. I started to retrace my steps back down the slope and , only way to describe it, became aware.
By the time I got back to the car I was sweating and cold and pretty damned relieved to get in the vehicle. Its the only time Ive felt really uncomfortable at isandlwana and I put it down to being on the back of the mountain where most of the slaughter took place.

Cheers

There is an artical on here somewhere. Regarding a medium gong to Isandlwana. She claimes to have seen soldiers in red walking about the battlefield. Even claims to have spoken to a soldier who was sobbing.

Hi all.

Many thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated.

Thanks for the link John, very interesting.

I am not all that far from Samlesbury Hall and have heard about many sightings of the 'Lady in White'. Although I have not seen her myself, I was on a coach coming back from Blackpool after a day out with my parents and grandparents. I was only a lad at the time, and after a day of much activity (playing on the beach, making sand pies and sandcastles, etc), I fell asleep on the coach. I awoke to hear much conversation going on about 'The Lady in White', apparently the driver had been approaching Samlesbury Hall when he saw a figure standing in the road, he sounded the horn and slowed down but the figure stayed there, he eventually ended up having to brake hard and move over to avoid this figure, then at the last moment the figure just vanished. This is when I must have woken up, the people on the coach were talking about what had happened, and many near the front of the coach had also witnessed the figure, there was much mention of 'The Lady in White'. Like I say, I was only a lad at the time and it did spook me up listening to the talk, but I was sat with my grandad on the coach, and he was a tough old lad that had fought in WW1, so I knew I was safe sat with my grandad, he would look after me.

Neil.

Those are very interesting mate, and pretty scary, I bet the blood ran cold and the hairs stood up. Poor David, what a shame, I never met the man but would have loved to have done, and listened to him talking about the AZW, very sad about David.

Springy.

That must have been some experience mate, it makes one shiver thinking about it. I seem to recall a story about the cave where a soldier of the 24th was supposed to have been firing at the zulu's from, can you recall anything about this mate? And was there not something about Younghusband's charge down the slope being heard or seen at some time?

Chard.

That is also very interesting, I will have to look in the search box and see if I can find it.

Again, many thanks gentlemen, much appreciated.

Keep 'em coming, very fascinating stuff.

The Ghosts of Fulwood Barracks.

The Reverend George “Ammunition” Smith was the Chaplain at Rorke’s Drift when the 24th Foot.

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Hi 24th.

Thanks for those.

Yes, I am very familiar with Fulwood barracks, and can well remember that if anything rather 'odd' happened or anything was moved or found in another place from where it was left, it was always put down to 'McCaffery's at it again'.

"Whichever view may be right, the fact remains that the ultimatum was issued and from that moment war was inevitable. Our generals and soldiers entered on it with the lightest of hearts; notwithstanding the difficulties and scarcity of transport they took them with them their cricketing outfit into Zululand. This I know, since I was commissioned to bring home a wicket that was found on the field of Isandhlwana, and return it to the headquarters of a regiment to which it belonged, to be kept as a relic." 28
Haggard also recalled that he had expected the British defeat at Isandlwana. "Indeed I remember writing to friends prophesying that it would occur, and their great astonishment when on the same day that they received the letter the telegraph brought the news of the great destruction." 29
What Haggard prophesied, others dreamt. "A night or two before it happened a lady I knew in Pretoria dreamed a dream which she detailed to me on the following day ... What I recall of it is to the effect that she saw a great plain in Zululand on which the British troops were camped. Snow began to fall on the plain, snow that was blood-red, till it buried it and the troops. Then the snow melted into rivers of blood." 30
However a "more inexplicable occurrence happened to myself," writes Haggard. On the morning of 23 January 1879, a day after the battle "I saw the Hottentot vrouw who washed our clothes in the garden of `The Palatial' and went out to speak to her. The fat old woman was in a great state of perturbation, and when I asked her what was the matter, she told me that terrible things had happened in Zululand; that the `roobatjes', that is, redcoats, lay upon the plain `like leaves under the trees in winter,' killed by Cetewayo. I inquired when this event had occurred, and she replied, on the previous day. I told her that she was speaking falsehoods, since even if it were so no horse could have brought the news over two hundred miles of veld in the course of a single night. She stuck to her story but refused to tell me how it had been learned by her, and we parted."
Haggard was impressed enough at the news to saddle a horse and ride down to the Government offices to repeat what he had heard to Osborn and others. They agreed it was impossible for the news to have got to Pretoria in so short a time. "Still they were uneasy, thinking that something might have happened at an earlier date, and made inquiries without results. I believe it was twenty hours later that a man on an exhausted horse galloped into Pretoria with the evil news."
"How did the old Hottentot woman learn the truth? ... I have no explanation to offer, except that the natives have, or had, some almost telegraphic method of conveying news of important events of which the nature is unknown to us white men." 31

I have been looking, but can't find it. There is a post on the forum that refers to a British Officers appearing to his daughter in her bedroom not long after he was killed. Just to tell her everything would be OK. She at the time was in a boarding school somewhere in England. She told her mother what she had seen, sometime later the news of his death was received by the mother. 

Thanks for the link impi.

Clitheroe is very nearby, I have worked through the town scores of times while working on the railway. I have also been there, it's a very interesting place with it's old castle and Pendle Hill, and of course the Pendle witches. There are some good old fashioned pubs that could tell some very good tales if they could talk.

Great stuff OH, many thanks for posting these, very interesting reading indeed. There are some very strange or odd happenings at times that sometimes just can't be explained.

Hi Pete.

Will you be out knocking on doors 'trick or treating', ha ha  

Thanks again gentlemen, much appreciated.

Well I went trick-or-treating last night with the little ones, yet as much fun as it was, no one on here will be able to find a single shred of (credible) evidence or primary data to support the existence of ghosts or spirits in this universe that we all live in!
If indeed ghosts DID live in our universe, any interaction between them and living souls would in theory give rise to the temporal or "time travel paradox" and sprout all the same old mathematical and philosophical arguments that are used to destroy any possibility of time travel to the past. Now time travel into the future is possible even today, but into the past is essentially impossible as the "arrow of time" can never be reversed - and this has been proven by some relatively simple quantum mechanics theory.

That is not to say that ghosts may exist in other universes, but the "multi universe theory" can not exist without the associated concept of "decoherence" as pointed out fairly obviously by the great physicist, Paul Dirac.

So there it is.
1. If you believe in ghosts in our universe that can interact with the same universe as us, then you did not listen hard enough in your physics lessons at school. This idea can be shot to pieces by the "time travel" paradox or "temporal paradox" as discussed by all young science students all over the world.

2. If you believe in "multi universe theory" and there were indeed ghosts residing in other universes, we could never interact with these ghosts because of "decoherence."

Either way, it is most unlikely that we will ever see or interact with a ghost, either directly or indirectly - in our lifetimes.

If you do, it would be far more likely to have been me, last night in my zombie face paint, or the wind blowing your windows open, or otherwise, some chemicals in your brain, triggered by your very imaginative and powerful brain stimulating your endocrine system into sending adrenaline coursing through your veins!

Happy, if belated, Hallowe'en fellas. (WHOOOOOOO!!!)

Brilliant Kopie
Now the only place to read that discourse would be 22nd January, back of the mountain just as the sun sets behind the Biggarsberg.


 

Little do we know about the unknown? One mans theory, that's all it is.