Infantry regiments in the zulu war...

Guest

Hello all

Anyone know it, if the black warriors of the infantry regiments of the NNC, had a special color of shield because of their old tribal/regiment organization, or their different ethnic origins and whether they had different types of shields, such as Zulu. ..

And if their shields were exactly the same types as those of the Zulu or if they had their own style ...

Cheers

Pascal

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 58 Location : UK

Pascal. Going by the various images I have seen. They didn't have a particular shield, possibly they kept hold of the ones they were issued with when part of the Zulu army.

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Here's one image showing them with various shields. Salute

Guest

Hello John and others ...

Many of the NNC infantry were Zulu dissidents, or ancient Zulu,ok....

But others were not and they were beings can not even Bantus, and therefore did not have the types of shields, associated with Zulu ...

Per example , other Bantu, as the Xhosa, had shields different from their Zulu cousins ...

So anything is possible ...

Peoples, which provide the NNC infantry, had their own tribal and military organization, they had their own amaBhutos, so there was can be, specific colors of shields ...

If there ades readers who can help, thank you in advance guys ...

Cheers

Pascal

Posts : 1095 Join date : 2009-01-14 Location : East London

I thought the red band signified they were NNC.

Organisation

The structure of the NNC followed the pattern of regular British infantry units at the time. Each regiment of the NNC consisted of two to three battalions, divided into ten companies of 100 black soldiers each, with nine European NCOs and one European officer per company. Units received standard British infantry training.

Equipment

Due to budget constraints in South Africa, the British were unable to provide NNC troops with uniforms. Instead, soldiers wore their traditional tribal apparel with a red cloth bandanna around their foreheads, the only item to distinguish them from Zulu warriors. The NCO's and Officers wore Khaki and black uniforms.

The European population of Natal had long feared that arming the black population would constitute a severe security risk and as a result only one in ten NNC soldiers was issued with a gun ,while the rest were armed with their traditional spears. The officers and NCOs, about 90 men per battalion, carried rifles, ammunition and bayonets.

Guest

Thank you and what the ethnic origins of the black infantrymen of the NNC?

Cheers

pascal