Rorke's Drift: Incredible Defence

This is a short recap of the battle of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. A small force of around 150 British soldiers held off force of 4,000 Zulu warriors only a few hours after the Zulus had massacred a much larger force of 1,500 British at the battle of Isandhlwana. For their heroic efforts on January 22-23, 1879, eleven defenders of "the Drift" were awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's equivalent of the U.S. medal of Honor. This was the largest number of Crosses awarded for one action in the history of the British Army. The story of Rorke's Drift was the basis for the 1964 movie Zulu. Illustrated with photos of both British and Zulu participants.