Today in history an interesting event took place. This event was known as the battle of Isandlwana. This battle was a major part of the Zulu war in 1879. 20 000 Zulu warriors took on and killed, 850 British solders and 450 African servicemen. This is the worst military defeat the British army has suffered since its creation.Later that day the battle of Rorke's Drift took place. The same Zulu warriors marched 5 000 of their men over to the local mission and were staved off by 139 British soldiers and engineers. 30 of these men were hospitalized before the battle began. Only 14 British soldiers died, 11 men were given the Victoria's Cross. This was one of the most famous defenses in British history.
This battle spawned the movie Zulu which was Sir Micheal Caine's first movie.
2 comments:
Um, what?
850 people is likely not the greatest defeat of the British army, not with two World Wars to pick from...
Unless the operative term is "army," as there is some new term for a similar group of people?
Not the largest loss of men but the ultimate failure of those men. I know that some of their campaigns in Arabia went badly but they were never caught so unprepared except maybe khartum.
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