ZULU !

Our local NPR station had a trivia quiz today, and i called in the answers to a couple of questions, including "who played Lt. Bromhead in Zulu!?" The answer is Michael Caine. I heard Caine in an interview saying that he had been cast by mistake, as it was then believed that he hadn't the "class" to play the role. I personally think he played the role to the hilt.

In the 1870's, the British were reluctantly expanding their control of South Africa. By that, i mean the Parliament were less than enthused, but, absent specific dissent, went along with urging of members with connections to the British in the colony. The idea was to "confederate" South Africa. It was decided in 1878 to break the power of the Zulus, then ruled by Cetewayo. The British showed a good deal of hubris, invading KwaZulu (a.k.a., Zululand) in several columns. The Zulu were organized for warfare as few tribal societies ever have been. The warriors lived in separate cantonments, with their wives and families (marriage was a privilege granted only to proven warriors), and they were organized into regiments, which trained their tactical movements, and routinely engaged in "war games." Cetewayo had ordered the regiments to send the women and children to the capital, and be prepared to move out, before the British were more than two days out of their assembly areas.

In January, 1879, Lord Chelmsford's columns were separated to the extent that they could not have supported one another without a march of a day or more. At Rorke's Drift, a force at about company strength of the 2nd battalion, 24th Foot (then the 2nd Warwickshire, later the South Wales Borderers) was guarding a temporary supply depot, and providing laborers to Lt. Chard of the Royal Engineers. The company was in the command of Lt. Bromhead. On the morning of January 22d, Major Spalding of the 104th regiment left Rorke's Drift, leaving Bromhead in charge, although he was outranked by Lt. Chard, and graciously left the command to him.

On that same morning, the AmaZulus, following the tactical doctrine which Cetewayo had laid down, caught the northern-most British column of about 1700 men in the open and on the move at Islandhwana. The commander of the column had ignored warnings from the Natal Native (meaning African-born white men--Boers) Force, which had constantly been warning Lord Chelmsford and the column commanders that the AmaZulu were coming in force, and that they were disciplined, capable warriors, not to be underrated. Fewer than four hundred survived this attack, and of these, fewer than one hundred were Europeans.

Cetewayo had specifically forbidden his regiments to attack the British in intrenched positions, knowing his forces would be most effective in the open, and would suffer unacceptable casualties from British fire power if they attacked dug-in troops. One of Cetewayo's brothers (don't recall the name) is reported to have wished to show his prowess, and, taking his regiment past Islandhwana, to avoid them leaving ranks to loot, he made a military decision which would have been sound, if he could have pulled it off. He decided to attack Rorke's Drift, despite his father's prohibition on attacking dug-in positions. The AmaZulu had few firearms, and little knowledge of their use. It is said that many stragglers from Islandhwana came in with rifles looted on the battlefield, but their lack of expertise simply made them targets for the Welsh. Largely, the AmaZulu depended upon the disciplined charge of their warriors in ranks, using the assagai, a short-handled spear with a long, sword-like blade, very similar to the weapon the ancient Germans had used against the Romans. Although rife with totally fictional dramatic devices (the missionary and his daugher being the most egregious), the movie Zulu! is, by motion picture standards, a good account of the course of the battle. More Victoria Crosses were awarded as a result of this action than any single regiment had ever won in an engagement. A Swiss volunteer, Christian Schiess, was the first foreigner to win the award. Taking nothing away from the courage of the Welsh, it has been said that the large award of VC's was a political move to cover the shame of the disaster at Islandhwana. That battle apparently lead Chelmsford to "smell the coffee," and, having taken the true measure of the AmaZulu, he concentrated his forces, and made short work of the Zulu War thereafter (it is also known as the Ninth Kaffir War, but the term kaffir is considered insulting by black Africans, and will likely fade from history books).

So, goys and birls, what are your favorite war movies? Please use this thread to discuss that movie genre.