Hi all
Had a great book sent to me by my dad and i thought there were some interesting facts .Its called What Happened to the Heroes The Battles of Isandhlwana & Rorkes Drift
The book ids produced by The Royal Regiment of Wales Museum at Brecon Barracks.

There weere few Regimental Museums before WW2 and most Regimental artifacts were displayed in the Regimental messes.However the South Wales Borderers were pioneers by having the museum set up in the Barracks,many places were considered and in 1961 the soldiers canteen building was selected which having been built in 1805 as an armoury for the county militia was the oldest building in the barracks and therefore a most appropriate home for the museum.

The 24th Regiment has served Britain continuously for over 300 years in the process twenty three soldiers have been awarded the Victoria Cross the highest number awarded to a line Regiment for the last 130 years the Regiment has recruited in Wales and continues to do so.
The 24th Regiment most certainly had links with Warwickshire (a county in England),it was intend that Regiments should cultivate a recruiting connection with the counties whos name they took, and the 24th who were givern the title 2nd Warwickshire were orderd to send a recruiting party to Tamworth( town in England) after there return fromr the American War of Independance.
No spicial link with the county militia was ever established nor were there any depots or permanant recruiting centres set up in Warwickshire.
This was the title of the Regiment during the Anglo- Zulu War of 1879.
The Regiment was honoured to carry the title (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot untill 1st July 1881 when again measures were taken to give County names to infantry regiments of the line .
The 24th Regiment who had established there depot in Brecon in 1873,became the 'The South Wales Borderes Regiment.
The 24th Regiment had recruited in the counties of Brecknock Cardigan, Montgomery, Monmouth and Radnor(all counties in Wales) for six years before the Zulu War.
The Welsh influence in the composition ogf the two battalions of the regiment in 1879 can be seen by the typical Welsh of some of the more junior soldiers.
There were 34 named Davies,24 named Evans,56 named Jones and 51 named Williams.
However Wales was sparsley populated at that time untill the expansion of the coal and steel industries in the late 19 century and the majority of the recruits came from out side Wales .
It was the 1964 film Zulu which surggests the title of the Rigiment in 1879 was the South Wales Borderers and that Welshmen formed the major element of the defenders at Rorkes Drift- neither was true.
The Spirit of the Regiment is still stronly maintained by the Royal Regiment of Wales which was formed in 1969 from an amalgamation of the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment.
It is one of the outstanding Regiments of the British Army one with a distinctive Welsh flair.
Its motto is proudly displayed on the Regimental Colour-
'Gwell Angau na Chywilydd '- 'Death rather than Dishonour '
Well i hope i have not bored you to death...lol there are some really interesting information and if any one wants any info no probs will try and post some more facts as time goes by.
Cheers Chris

Hi Chris. I went to the SWB museum many years ago while on holiday (this was before the rash of amalgamations that disposed of many proud old regiments). I think if I remember correctly, the museum has all of the Rorkes Drift VCs on display bar one.
I recently read a very interesting book, "Rorkes Drift" by Adrian Greaves which debunks most of the myths created by the "Zulu" film. It also lists the fate of every member of B Company 24th Foot, not just the medal winners. Many of them were invalided out after the Zulu War, the strain of campaigning in South Africa having worn them out. Poor Bromhead died of disease serving in Burma a few years later. Chard became something of a favourite of Queen Victoria & died of cancer of the tongue in 1897.
The 24th was seen within the army as an "unlucky" regiment in some respects (they had lost their colours before in an abortive campaign - hence the extraordinary attempts to save them at Isandlwana). It certainly was unlucky at Isandlwana - it was most unusual for both battalions of a regiment to serve together at the time, they were supposed to alternate between home & overseas, the "home" battalion acting as a depot & sending drafts of trained men to the "active" battalion overseas. To have both battalions virtually wiped out in the same action was a major catastrophe, & there were rumours that the lavish rewards for Rorkes Drift were a sort of "whitewash" to offset the bad press.

Hi Steve
Thanks for the reply and the very interesting information,yea i always try to visit the museum and visit friends at SennyBridge Battle school,and if time permits a walk up Penny Fann,although iam to old to do the Fan Dance anymore,anyone that went through
"SELECTION" would understand.
This is a new book that was produced this year and is real interesting there is an interesting account of Melville and Coghill attempting to save the colors,i have a great print of the last moments of the 24th at Isandhwana called " At Bay" with a quote,
The last order we heard given was,
"Fix bayonets men and die like english soldiers do"
and they did.
I will post the Melville and Coghill account.
Cheers Chris
Steve have a great Christmas and New Year

Wasn't that at Chillianwallah in the 2nd Sikh War, where one of the colours was buried in a mass grave along with its bearer? (and a quarter of the regiment) This wasn't an abortive campaign, unlike the 1st Sikh War where the Sikh army didn't really fight until Aliwal, not that it did them any good....

P.S. John Fielding's grave is in the churchyard at Llantarnam. He was one of the luckier VC winners, surviving well into the 20th century, though not quite as long as Colour Sergeant Bourne.

Only one battalion was destroyed, and the 'excess' of VCs for the Rorkes Drift garrison is possibly to compensate for the fact that medals could not be awarded posthumously, so 2/24th got the share that 1/24th couldn't be awarded.

And of course one of the most famous survivors of Isandlwana was a young Horace Smith-Dorrien, later to command II Corps of the BEF in 1914.

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OK it was an exaggeration to say both battalions were virtually wiped at Isandlwana, but there was a company from the 2nd Battalion there, the rest of the battalion was spread over a wide area of Natal, & was used for garrison duties for the rest of the war, much to their resentment, as they wanted to exact revenge for their lost comrades.
In fact Melvill & Coghill were posthumously awarded VCs for attempting to save the colours. The reason so few decorations were awarded for Isandlwana (as opposed to Rorkes Drift) was simple - there were no surviving senior officers to make the recommendations. As regards the "whitewash", I'm only repeating my source - in fact the new C-in-C, Lord Wolseley regarded the numbers of VCs awarded to be excessive, & was particularly vocal about those awarded to Bromhead & Chard. He considered that they had done no more & no less than their duty. There was also a widespread belief that the Rorkes Drift garrison had been like "rats in a trap", surrounded by an enemy who took no prisoners, so with little choice but to fight. Personally I would consider this a gross slur on a gallant body of men, but nevertheless it was current in the army at the time. Wolseley was also concerned that the VCs for Isandlwana had all gone to soldiers LEAVING the battlefield.
The "abortive campaign" (I wasn't sure which one it was, just that there had been one!) turned out to be the American War of Independence, the 24th being one of the regiments forced to surrender @ Saratoga. There was no shame to the regiment in this, but it contributed to the "unlucky" image.

Hi Guys
Great replys i have been to Llantarnum and saw Fieldings grave in fact went with Ted Chapman VC BEM who was a family friend served with my dad and used to live in Griffiths Town.
I think i read something once that Isandwala was the last time that drummer boys were taken into action due to the awful mutilations that they sustained after the battle.
Cheers Chris

Being a Texan I have always had an affinity of the hopeless cause (The Alamo). Roarkes Drift is of the same heroic nature as that battle only the outcome was far more fortunate. I enjoy reading / seeing anything related so I wan't bored and anytime you post something related you can be assured I will be entertained.