The Battle of Rorkes Drift is without doubt one of the most renowned actions during the history of the British Army. On 22 January 1879, only hours after the Zulu victory at Isandlwana, around 4,000 Zulu warriors attack the mission station at Rorkes Drift located across the Buffalo River in Natal.
With only 140 soldiers manning Rorkes Drift, you'd be forgiven for saying they had little prospects for survival, particularly taking into account what happened with their colleagues at Isandlwana. Even so, along with being exceedingly brave soldiers, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a gun that would let them have an edge over the Zulu warriors. The weapon in question was the Martini Henry rifle.
This .45 calibre rifle was able to inflicting unpleasant injuries and when fired at a range of under 200 yards, a round could very well very easily go through a body and hit the man behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and afforded the British a huge advantage over the Zulus who were only carrying their short stabbing spears (iklaws).
Although the Martini Henry was held responsible in part of the disaster at Isandlwana, if properly maintained, it was an excellent weapon. To single the rifle out for the defeat at Isandlwana is severe as there were many other factors that contributed towards the defeat.
At Rorkes Drift, the rifle was essential to the British. As a store, there was clearly a good amount of ammo as well as extra rifles plus the defensive area was a great deal more compact and for that reason was less difficult to defend in comparison to the site at Isandlwana. Introduced to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry may well fire up to ten rounds per minute in the possession of a skilled soldier. The rifle had an efficient range of around 500 metres which resulted in providing the British could identify the Zulu warriors, they might possibly start eliminating them long before they got close enough for hand to hand fighting.
Despite the tremendous odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost nearly 10% of their men while at the same time, they buried almost 400 Zulus and it was thought a similar number might have later died of their wounds. The soldiers had beaten back the Zulu assault and were grateful to the Martini Henry rifle.
With only 140 soldiers manning Rorkes Drift, you'd be forgiven for saying they had little prospects for survival, particularly taking into account what happened with their colleagues at Isandlwana. Even so, along with being exceedingly brave soldiers, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a gun that would let them have an edge over the Zulu warriors. The weapon in question was the Martini Henry rifle.
This .45 calibre rifle was able to inflicting unpleasant injuries and when fired at a range of under 200 yards, a round could very well very easily go through a body and hit the man behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and afforded the British a huge advantage over the Zulus who were only carrying their short stabbing spears (iklaws).
Although the Martini Henry was held responsible in part of the disaster at Isandlwana, if properly maintained, it was an excellent weapon. To single the rifle out for the defeat at Isandlwana is severe as there were many other factors that contributed towards the defeat.
At Rorkes Drift, the rifle was essential to the British. As a store, there was clearly a good amount of ammo as well as extra rifles plus the defensive area was a great deal more compact and for that reason was less difficult to defend in comparison to the site at Isandlwana. Introduced to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry may well fire up to ten rounds per minute in the possession of a skilled soldier. The rifle had an efficient range of around 500 metres which resulted in providing the British could identify the Zulu warriors, they might possibly start eliminating them long before they got close enough for hand to hand fighting.
Despite the tremendous odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost nearly 10% of their men while at the same time, they buried almost 400 Zulus and it was thought a similar number might have later died of their wounds. The soldiers had beaten back the Zulu assault and were grateful to the Martini Henry rifle.
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The most well known battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 is certainly Rorkes Drift. The British soldiers were able to see off the Zulus using the iconic Henry Martini rifile.
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