Another account of the Battle Of Isandlwana

Subject: Another account of the Battle Of Isandlwana Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:27 pm

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Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 61 Location : UK

There’s an interesting comment relating to the ammunition supply.

The narrator say's
" I cannot learn that the ammunition ran short, it may have done in individual instances, but i think the end came to soon for it to have done so in the majority of cases.”

Probably the best summing up of the ammunition question.

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi John,

Indeed, I have it somewhere in the records that there was somewhere in the region of 400,000 MH rds + with the column left in the Isandhlawana camp , this was in addition to the standard issue of 70rds to each man with a rifle.
Now ,even if 3 out of 4 shots missed their mark, there was still enough to do the job, but ......only if it could get into the hands of the riflemen in time. Therein lies the rub. One of logistics is the question, and the answer to this is that maybe the ammunition wagons were over run first, thus cutting off the supply to the men on the firing line.

Barry

Subject: Another account of the battle of Isandlwana. Mon Nov 07, 2011 11:58 am

Hi Barry.
Logistics is certainly the main sticking point as we must remember the firing line was about 1,000 yds from the camp , and the ammo wagons were most likely parked on the nek / saddle which is further still away . As the ammo boxes were very heavy about 80 pds if not more , you would need two men to move them with any rapidity , and also slow going sending them out to the firing line on the back of a mule . The ammo wagons would have been overun not to far from the end of the conflict by the zulu's entering from the rear of the camp .
As Lt Curling states that when he and the guns got back into the camp proper , the zulu were already there .
So its fairly safe to assume that little if any ammunition was finding its way to the firing line even at this stage .
cheers 90th. Idea

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

In addition to what has been said on these posts, one must also be reminded that the Imperial units were very parochial and in the heat of the battle refused to supply the Colonial units with ammo when they ran out.
I just CANNOT believe that this sort of thing could happen when everybody's back was clearly to the wall and the dead bodies of brothers at arms were visibly piling up . Were they all reading from the same page? This was utterly shameful and cost many lives unnecessarily.
Reminds one of Pearl Harbour with Zeros bombing the hell out of the place and the Yank magazine quartermaster had to be forced at bayonet point to release MG ammo from his precious store .

barry

» An account of the battle of Ulundi
» Mr Witt. Eye Witness account of the Battle of Isandlwana & Rorkes Drift.
» Lieut W.F.D. Cochrane's full account of the battle of iSandlwana