This is a new book I bought recently in a local antiques centre. The author was a Lieutenant in a British Imperial battalion seconded to the Natal Native Contingent. He was brought up in Natal and spoke Zulu fluently hence his posting.
The book is very interesting in the detail it provides of the first invasion and the aftermath of both Isandalwana and Rorke's Drift. In particular I very much like the descriptions of his preparations to travel to South Africa from England, very much of the period. In that respect there is an interesting section later in the book when the author, with four other officers, went out searching for the missing Zulu King after the battle of Ulundi. Bearing in mind that Zululand was still technically in a state of war with thousands of fully armed Zulu warriors all over the place, these officers went into the wilderness armed with just one rifle and a handful of bullets between them !!!!! At one kraal they visited to seek information on the whereabouts of the King, they were surrounded by thousands of warriors as they interviewed the local Chief. Fortunately for them these particular Zulus had no ill intent.
However this idea of not needing to carry weapons is a strangely Victorian/Edwardian idea. I have read any number of times about officers on the Western Front, literally in the front line, not bothering to carry weapons. On the same theme I have a number of big game hunting books and I have read of Victorian hunters going into the jungle with only three bullets. The idea being that they will probably only get one shot so a second bullet just in case and a third for emergencies. In all cases mentioned, the writers afterwards consistently wish they had been better armed. In think it demonstrates a state of mind, the innate superiority of the British officer/gentleman class perhaps. Personally in any of these situations I would be armed to the teeth, clearly I am not a gentleman !!!!!!
A splendid book and recommended.
The book is very interesting in the detail it provides of the first invasion and the aftermath of both Isandalwana and Rorke's Drift. In particular I very much like the descriptions of his preparations to travel to South Africa from England, very much of the period. In that respect there is an interesting section later in the book when the author, with four other officers, went out searching for the missing Zulu King after the battle of Ulundi. Bearing in mind that Zululand was still technically in a state of war with thousands of fully armed Zulu warriors all over the place, these officers went into the wilderness armed with just one rifle and a handful of bullets between them !!!!! At one kraal they visited to seek information on the whereabouts of the King, they were surrounded by thousands of warriors as they interviewed the local Chief. Fortunately for them these particular Zulus had no ill intent.
However this idea of not needing to carry weapons is a strangely Victorian/Edwardian idea. I have read any number of times about officers on the Western Front, literally in the front line, not bothering to carry weapons. On the same theme I have a number of big game hunting books and I have read of Victorian hunters going into the jungle with only three bullets. The idea being that they will probably only get one shot so a second bullet just in case and a third for emergencies. In all cases mentioned, the writers afterwards consistently wish they had been better armed. In think it demonstrates a state of mind, the innate superiority of the British officer/gentleman class perhaps. Personally in any of these situations I would be armed to the teeth, clearly I am not a gentleman !!!!!!
A splendid book and recommended.
Whilst I can't comment on British officers going unarmed into situations like these during the period, there are several recorded instances of officers using unofficial weapons that would not seem appropriate for the occasion, at least to modern eyes. Fred Burnaby (the dead Colonel of the famous Victorian poem) fighting outside the square at Abu Klea with a shotgun is a well known case in point.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are certainly examples from the early part of the First World war of officers going into action unarmed - I have read a number of accounts where officers 'went over the top' carrying nothing more dangerous than a swagger stick!
Yes I have read many similar accounts both of unusual weapons and the use of swagger sticks. I am sure it was caused by an inbuilt sense of superiority common in that era amongst the British officer class.
ReplyDelete