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Film Zulu Dawn quote: “Excuse me, my Lord, there's something I must convey to you. I rode along the track down to Rorke's Drift. The sky above is red with fire. Your orders my Lord? Do we move to the drift?”
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Subject: Unknown Isandlwana casualty - Oswald Bretherton Sat Mar 09, 2013 11:43 am
I've recently come across a memorial inscription on a family headstone in Birkenhead which mentions the death of an OSWALD BRETHERTON at Isandlwana, however, having searched through the various casualty rolls for both the battle & the whole war I can't seem to find him mentioned anywhere.
The main inscription is as follows;
… BRETHERTON/ who died 18th November 187… , aged 62 years./ also of Alice CHIPPENDALE, his wife/ who died 11th February 1875, aged 57 years
Oswald, 4th son of Edwd BRETHERTON Killed at Isandula, Zulu-land 22nd January 1879 aged 25 years.
One possibility of course is that he enlisted under a false name, but if anyone has any further information which may help identify this individual I'd be interested to hear.
Regards,
Tim
tasker224
Posts : 2102 Join date : 2010-07-30 Age : 53 Location : North London
Subject: Re: Unknown Isandlwana casualty - Oswald Bretherton Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:42 pm
Nothing even close on the casualty roll.
Tim Needham
Posts : 227 Join date : 2011-10-18
Subject: Re: Unknown Isandlwana casualty - Oswald Bretherton Sat Mar 09, 2013 2:03 pm
Hi Tasker,
Forum member Rai England has done a little digging for me and has found an article from September 1879 which alludes to the death of Oswald Bretherton; it confirms that he did indeed join the army under an assumed name but doesn't state what that name was, also it says that he was killed at Ulundi which is strange. As Rai points out, it seems unlikely that the family would have the wrong battle inscribed on the grave and so it's likely that Isandlwana is correct.
Regards,
Tim
tasker224
Posts : 2102 Join date : 2010-07-30 Age : 53 Location : North London
Subject: Re: Unknown Isandlwana casualty - Oswald Bretherton Sat Mar 09, 2013 2:21 pm
The alias sounds the most plausible. Such a pity that so little info is known about the men who perished. One wonders if the the Bretherton/Chippendale family knew the alias? Seems odd that a man named Oswald of awhat must surely have been a better off family with such a stone memorial would need to enlist under a false name. Yet another iSandlwana mystery. (If indeed he was killed at Ulundi and I agree that this is probably an error, that ought to make narrowing him down a little more possible with so few British casualties.)
TOWERBOY
Posts : 190 Join date : 2011-03-16 Age : 53
Subject: Re: Unknown Isandlwana casualty - Oswald Bretherton Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:58 pm
Father Michael Bretherton was a solicitor and lived at Hamilton Square Birkenhead, had a big big family,
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