342 ZULU
and his daughter (Ulla Jacobsson) to inform Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande (Chief
Mangosuthu Buthelezi) of the stunning victory. An understrength com pany of the
British Army’s 24th Regiment of Foot is using the missionary station of Rorke’s
Drift as a supply depot and army hospital for their invasion force across the border
from Natal into Zululand. Natal Native Contingent (NNC) commander Lt. Gert
Adendorff (Gert van den Bergh) brings news of the disaster at Isandlwana and
warns that an impi (detachment) of 4,000 Zulu warriors is advancing on Rorke’s
Drift. Lt. John Chard (Stanley Baker) of the Royal Engineers assumes command of
the tiny garrison when he determines that he is slightly se nior to army officer
Lt. Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine) due to a slightly earlier commission date.
Burdened with dozens of wounded soldiers, the men at Rorke’s Drift cannot outrun
the Zulus. Chard therefore decides to make a stand, using upended wagons and
stacked mealie sacks and biscuit crates to improvise a defensive perimeter wall.
Rev. Witt gets drunk and demoralizes the men with his dire predictions of wholesale
slaughter, causing the small Natal Native Contingent to desert. Chard orders Witt
locked in a supply room. As the Zulu army approaches, a 100- man detachment of
Boer cavalry arrives but soon ride off to safety, after advising Lt. Chard that defend-
ing the station is hopeless. The Zulu army fi nally arrives on the scene and imme-
diately attacks at multiple points. The British open fire and kill scores of Zulu
warriors, but Adendorff informs them that the Zulus are only testing the strength
of British firepower. Rev. Witt issues more dire predictions before escaping the
battle with his daughter. Chard realizes that the next attack will likely come from
at least two sides at once. Worried that the northern perimeter wall is under-
manned, he orders soldiers from the southern perimeter to fill in the gaps. To the
surprise of the British, Zulu warriors on the adjacent bluff start firing on the sta-
tion with rifles captured from the British dead at Isandlwana. Throughout the day
and into the night, wave after wave of Zulus attack but are always repelled. The
Zulus succeed in setting fire to the hospital’s thatched roof, leading to intense
hand- to- hand combat between British patients and encroaching Zulu warriors. Pri-
vate Henry Hook ( James Booth) takes charge and leads the other patients to safety.
The next morning, the Zulus approach Rorke’s Drift and begin singing a Zulu war
chant, prompting the British to respond by singing “Men of Harlech,” a Welsh mili-
tary march. Another attack ensues. Just as it seems the Zulus will fi nally over-
power the exhausted defenders of Rorke’s Drift, the British soldiers fall back to a
small inner redoubt with walls constructed from stacked mealie bags. A reserve
cadre of soldiers hidden within the redoubt form into three ranks and fire volley
after volley at their onrushing foe; while one rank kneels to reload, another behind
it stands and fires, and so on: a devastating machine- like barrage that inflicts car-
nage, causing the Zulus to break off the fight. After a pause of three hours, the
Zulus reor ga nize into yet another phalanx. Expecting another assault that will likely
destroy them, the British are astonished when the Zulus instead sing a song to honor
the bravery of the defenders before quitting the field. The film ends with another
solemn voice- over by Richard Burton, listing the 11 defenders who received the
Victoria Cross for their courageous and resourceful defense of Rorke’s Drift.