Popeye P1

Saw this as a kid and couldn't remember it. What a great film. Nearly as good as Zulu.

how many British troops died exactly?


I'd av shot that guy on the ammo carriage. He lost the battle for them. Stingy git making them queue up for ammo. LOL

Peter O'Toole and Burt Lancaster at their finest.

silverscoobports

a fabulous piece of cinema im off to drive up the road with a union jack out of the window!!!

Popeye P1

Yes it does bring back the Patriotism. Them red Uniforms were superb. Not ideally camoflaged though. hehe

philc

- the red uniforms were not for camouflage, but so the blood wouldn't show when they got shot.

...... similar to the reason why French soldiers wear brown trousers


Remember the Rainbow Warrior.

philc

but seriously ... there was programme on ?Discovery Channel that looked at the myth about the soldiers' inability to open the ammo boxes.

The presenter demonstrated how easy it was to open the boxes with a forceful downward blow of a rifle butt - and at the battle site he found some bent screws left from the boxes to prove his point.

His reasoning was that because of the rapid rate of fire and the design of the rifles they simply overheated and stopped working.

He again demonstrated his point with a replica rifle.

So - loads of bullets (the un-opened ammo boxes), but no working rifles to fire the bullets.

daiscooby

Wasnt the guy with the ammos' fault. Official MOD info.....

The subject of logistics in WWII was influenced by logistics in the Zulu wars. Perhaps the reference was to Isandlwana, but there the disaster was due to poor reconnaissance & defensive lines too far out and spread out rather than problems opening the ammo. However at the battle of Ishandlwana part of the problem with ammunition resupply was the ammo crates had the tops held on by screws and there was a shortage of screw drivers. According to the book "Washing of the Spears" They realized it too late, they did not have time to open enough boxes fast enough. I think there were eight screws and few screwdrivers. "Washing of the Spears" by the way should be on the reading list of every military historian regardless of the era (s)he is interested in. Lessons from the battle at Isandlwana were passd to the defenders of t Rorke's Drift which held till relief arrived. One might ask: “ what were these ammo boxes like? Could you not just bash the top of it with the butt of rifle? “

Also there was 30000+ Zulu's and only 4000 or so British soldiers and native bearers. Only 7 soldiers survived and Lord Chelmsford and his staff. A determined enemy and dodgy logistics did for them.
Film is not quite there but a bloody good watch.

RobinSherwood

When I visited the battle sites I was also told that it was almost certainly incorrect about the ammo boxes

If anyone gets the chance to visit Isandlwhana and Rorke's Drift it is one of the most amazing places. I though I would be bored silly by 6 hours of lectures but it was riveting (ok I am a little biased as a family member served at Rorke's Drift).

It is an increibly moving experience especially as the Zulu's have preserved the battle site and marked where all the dead fell. It is amazing how much respect they have for the 'warriors' from both sides.

Robin

Luke

met a women called Paddy Camdemsmith or something years ago .She was one of the local translators.

Huxley

Oi stop throwing them spears at me

Sennadog 93

I've just got back from a trip to SA and we visited Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift - both of which made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

The white gravestones at Isandlwana are very spooky and the thoughts going through the soldiers minds as they made their last stands (surely knowing they were going to die) made me take a deep breath.

I was amazed at Rorke's Drift - the area that they were defending was incredibly small especially when you consider that there were 20,000 Zulus surrounding them.

Luckily I've taped the film so I can compare it to the real thing.