Graham Lear·Apr 3Battle of Gingindlovu in the Zulu war.We are now coming to near the end of the war and the tide has now turned in favour of the British The battle was fought on 2nd April 1879, where Lord Chelmsford defeated a Zulu army on his route to overwhelming the Zulu nation at Ulundi. However, before he could get to Cetshwayo at Ulundi Chelmsford first had to rescue Colonel Pearson’s Number One Column that lay isolated in a fortified position at Eshowe…War9 min readWar9 min read
Graham Lear·Mar 27The Battle of Hlobane Mountain changed the Zulu War.There is a lonely grave out in Zululand some eight miles north of Hlobane Mountain. …War17 min readWar17 min read
Graham Lear·Feb 11, 2022Captain R. Younghusband’ Last Stand And Charge At Isandlwana“Impi, wo nansimpi yeza, Wobani bengathinta ma bubhesi?” “Who is going (to be stupid enough) to touch the lions? Step forward Captain Reginald Younghusband and his “C” Company.History7 min readHistory7 min read
Graham Lear·May 6, 2022Rorkes Drift Survivers. What Happened To Them?They would face 4,000 terrifying Zulu warriors who had seen their fellow warriors slaughter 1700 British and Natal soldiers just a few hours before they reached the Rorkes Drift outpost where they knew more soldiers were working. They fought their battle and survived the onslaught, eleven would receive the Victoria…History13 min readHistory13 min read
Graham Lear·Aug 31, 2022What was it like to be a soldier fighting in the 1879 Zulu war?Lt John Rouse Merriot Chard, VC, one of the heroes of Rorke’s Drift, together with a group of other officers from the Royal Engineers. Chard is wearing his Decoration. The Zulu war was one of the most violent wars that the British had fought with no quarter given by the…History16 min readHistory16 min read
Graham Lear·Sep 4, 2022What was it like at Rorke’s Drift on 22nd January 1879?We are fortunate that we have the memoir of Private Hitch one of the defenders and recipients of one of the 11 Victoria Crosses that tells us what it was like.11 min read11 min read
Graham Lear·Jan 10How Did the Anglo-Zulu War Start And Why? And a little-known battle.To understand anything about the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879, you have to get into the mindset of the senior players in Natal and the British government of the time. It's fair to say orders given were disobeyed, and also you have to understand that the men out there at the time were given free rein to do what they thought was best for the British Empire. That also goes for the men in other parts of the large Empire…War History25 min readWar History25 min read
Graham Lear·Jan 25Lieutenant John Chard Officer in charge of Rorkes Drift acquired these photos, sometime after the Anglo-Zulu war.The photographs belonged to Lieutenant John Chard, who won a Victoria Cross for leading the valiant defence of the garrisonHistory15 min readHistory15 min read
