Summary of Adrian Greaves's Rorke's Drift

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 During the reign of Queen Victoria, there were more than enough recruits to make conscription unnecessary and taking the queen’s shilling was a legally binding contract between the recruit and the army.

#2 The British officers who led their men to Zululand were generally taller and fitter than their men. They had purchased their commissions before the Cardwell reforms that abolished the purchase system. They were expected to display a high level of fitness, loyalty, team spirit, and physical bravery.

#3 The British invasion of Zululand was planned in mid 1878. The army needed wagons, oxen, and horses, but the civilian Governor of Natal, Sir Henry Bulwer, refused to allow the army to commandeer them. The officer in charge of supplies, Commissary General Strickland, had a peacetime establishment of twenty junior officers and thirty men under his command.

#4 The logistics of the invasion were extremely complex. The average soldier was probably not aware of all the administrative arrangements necessary for him to fight the Zulus, but he was more concerned with the availability of his daily rations and bottled beer.