Crucible of Honour: The Battle of Rorke’s Drift (The Anglo-Zulu War Book 2)

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It is January of 1879. Whilst three columns of British soldiers and their African allies cross the uMzinyathi River to commence the invasion of the Zulu Kingdom, a handful of redcoats from B Company, 2/24th Regiment are left to guard the centre column’s supply depot at Rorke’s Flow.

On the morning of 22 January, the main camp at Isandlwana, just ten miles to the east, comes under attack from all of the Zulu army and is utterly destroyed. Four thousand warriors from King Cetshwayo’s elite Undi Corps remained in reserve and were denied any chance to participate in the fighting. Led by Prince Dabulamanzi, they disobey the king’s orders and cross into British Natal, seeking their share in triumph and spoils. They soon converge on Rorke’s Flow; an easy prize, with its paltry force of 150 redcoats to be readily swept aside.

Upon hearing of the disaster at Isandlwana, and with retreat inconceivable, the tiny British garrison readies to receive the coming onslaught. Leading them is Lieutenant John Chard, a newly-arrived engineer officer with no actual combat experience. Aiding him is B Company’s prior to now undistinguished officer commanding, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, in conjunction with 24-year old Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne, and a retired soldier-turned civilian volunteer named James Dalton.

Unbeknownst to either the British or the Zulus, half of the centre column, under Lord Chelmsford’s direct command, was once not even at Isandlwana, but fifteen miles further east, at Mangeni Falls. On the other hand, with a huge Zulu force of over twenty-thousand warriors between them and the Flow, their ammunition and ration stores taken or destroyed, and an inconceivable distance to cover, Chelmsford’s battered column cannot possibly come to the depot’s aid, and will have to look to their own survival. The defenders of Rorke’s Flow stand alone.

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