Today marks the 144th anniversary of the battle of Rorke’s Drift. Immortalise by the film and the series of Posts from Imperial Rebel Ork, the battle was to become famous as the one in which the most Victoria Crosses (Britain’s highest award for valour) were awarded.

I will not go into a lot of details on the battle as it is so well known, but the Battle of Rorke’s Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke’s Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. Just over 150 British and colonial troops defended the station against attacks by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive but piecemeal attacks by the Zulu on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the much smaller garrison, but were consistently repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded among the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.

It is also a sad tale of how we treat the bravest of our soldiers when they return home. A lesson we still have not learnt to this day.