What kind of rifles did they use in the film Zulu with Michael Caine?
I think they are Martini Henry rifles, not sure though!

~Chip

Yep they are martini henry rifles alright.

HastyP

Great movie. What's your favorite scene?

11 VC's wow...only Vera Cruz with 53 MOH's tops it and we all know about the politics involved with that one.

My favorite scene would have to be when the ZULU's first attack the camp, and test to see how many guns the Brits have. I liked it when they did their dance, and sang their song. The song and dance was a really cool deal. It showed that they were true warriors!

~Chip :-)

I am always amazed at how regardless of where human being inhabit the earth, their creativity is remarkably parallel. For example. The moving bull manuver shown in the film is similar to the fromation used by the Greeks and the Romans. It is essentially what we now see as a frontal attack with a double envelopment. How that small band of men beat off that determine force is beyond amazing. I am also drawn to the Zulu method of determining the range of the British by staking out the limits with spears thrown as men go down. It is a great film and the fellow who portrays the "color sergeant" is masterful.

My favorite parts of Zulu are the fight for the hospital and then the end where the British think the Zulus are returning for one more atack, but then the territorial officer starts laughing when he realizes the Zulus are paying tribute to the British soldiers.

I have copies of both "Zulu" and "Zulu Dawn" with Burt Lancaster. Zulu Dawn covers the prelude to and the actual battle at Islandawana the day before the battle at Rorke's Drift. This time the Zulus win

When the men started singing "Men of Harlech" before one of the attacks. It is the Welsh "fight song".

Is "Zulu Dawn" worth watching after seeing "Zulu"?

Zulu Dawn is definitely worth watching to find how far bureacracy helped lead to the destruction of the British force and it also goes into details of tactics used by both sides. You will see the differences in leadership between the two engagements. Piffering of rifle ammunition had become so bad that the regimental quartermasters tightly controlled ammunition distribution, even during the battle. The Native Contingent (allied Zulus) were issued only 10 rounds of ammunition, and when a NC soldier drown while fording the Buffalo RIver, the first concern of the QM officer was recovering the rounds of ammo! The ammo boxes were screwed shut and required a special tool, closely controlled by the QM officers . What killed the British at Isandalawana was a shortage of ammunition on the firing line. The QMs would only issue ammunition to personnel with written requests. Even after the soldiers starting "stealing" the ammunition and dragging the cases to the front line, thry could not open the boxes fast enough. The 24th Foot ran out of ready ammo before they ran out of targets. Remeber the scene in "Zulu" when the soldiers are using a rifle butt to break into a box of ammo.

Great moie and very enlightning concerning Victorian Colonial warfare.

Jeff

Jeff-- that stirring summation has my interest. I will definitely see the film.
thanks
DJ

I'll second on what Ranger74 says. Definitely a lesson in humility.