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Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:53 pm
Not wanting to hijack this thred, but reading this has got me thinking about just how many Zulu's were killed at RD.
"One of the mounted chiefs was shot by private Dunbar (2nd/24th), who also killed eight of the enemy with as many consecutive shots as they came round the ledge of the hill"
If 350 Zulu bodies were found, but estimates of up to 600, that's only 4 per man, which seems very very low. With all the fighting that went on.
Does anyone else think this too - I remember reading a post by Mike Snook, where he said a lot of the battle was spent with the Zulu's crawling round on their belleys, out of shot.
cheers
littlehand
Posts : 7077 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 53 Location : Down South.
Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:59 pm
Hi Cisco. Good point. But there were quite few that crawed away and died of thier wounds, many being found weeks after the Battle. I have read accounts from defenders that say the count was much higher that published.
ciscokid
Posts : 187 Join date : 2010-02-04
Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:26 pm
littlehand wrote:
Hi Cisco. Good point. But there were quite few that crawed away and died of thier wounds, many being found weeks after the Battle. I have read accounts from defenders that say the count was much higher that published.
So the numbers could be up to the 1000 mark?
Do you have any references?
Many thanks
90th
Posts : 10483 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 66 Location : Melbourne, Australia
Subject: Rorkes Drift account Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:24 am
Hi all. I have read many times that the amount of ammunition spent was way out of character with the official death toll , 351 ok , as that is what was actually counted around the immediate area , possibly add another 150 - 200 dying of wounds and infections , gives a total of around 550 which is most likely more to the mark . They did fire off a large amount of ammo for not a great body count it can be said , interesting to see what Neil thinks of this , he may have covered this once before on the forum but not sure where !. cheers 90th.
littlehand
Posts : 7077 Join date : 2009-04-24 Age : 53 Location : Down South.
Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:46 am
"Samuel Pitts, a private, told The Western Mail in 1914 that the official enemy death toll was too low. "We reckon we had accounted for 875, but the books will tell you 400 or 500."
"Lieutenant Colonel John North Crealock's private journal, discovered in the royal archives at Windsor, reported that "351 dead Zulus were found and 500 wounded". He did not elaborate on the fate of the wounded and the book's authors conclude they were probably all killed, since there was no record of taking prisoners or tending wounded."
Chard1879
Posts : 1261 Join date : 2010-04-12
Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:05 am
Chard's report, the number of Zulu dead buried by the British was 351. It is estimated that another 300 Zulus died later as a result of wounds sustained during the battle.
Not bad going considering it was estimated that 25000 rounds were fired.
ciscokid
Posts : 187 Join date : 2010-02-04
Subject: Re: Revd G. Smith Rorke's Drift Account. Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:21 pm