Pat Rundgren

Pat Rundgren Pat is an author and former infantryman who specialises in battlefield tours in the Zulu and Boer Wars, as well as Zulu culture.

For many years I have managed Pat's facebook post. So this will be the last post - and no pun intended.I have written an...
20/06/2024

For many years I have managed Pat's facebook post. So this will be the last post - and no pun intended.

I have written an farewell to Pat on the Talana Museum page.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember him.
I am certainly going to miss my friend.

Pam McFadden

24/05/2024
I was out with a group from the UK on Monday to my favourite place. Sad to report that the Zulu memorial at iSandlwana h...
21/02/2024

I was out with a group from the UK on Monday to my favourite place. Sad to report that the Zulu memorial at iSandlwana has been totally trashed.
All of the sleeping pillows (iziQiki) have been ripped off their bases
and half of the "necklace" is also gone.
And all of this happened within 20 yards of the entry gate and its custodian!
Presumably it was done for the scrap metal value, without realizing that it's made of cast iron and has no resale value.
So much for the preservation of heritage in this country.

Another day, another demise. Somewhat fatalistically, the end result of an iSandlwana re-enactment is always exactly the...
02/02/2024

Another day, another demise.
Somewhat fatalistically, the end result of an iSandlwana re-enactment is always exactly the same for us Red Coats.
But this year, it was indeed a case of "the more things change, the more they stay the same".
The date, which was cast in stone for 20 January, was changed at the last minute, for whatever reason, until 27 January. Which meant that any potential tourism marketing flew out of the window.

We had another wrinkle, too. There has been a prolonged battle amongst the Zulu Royal household as to whom would succeed the late King Goodwill Zwelethini. Not surprisingly - apart from anything else it is an extremely well-paid job. So the new King, Misuzulu, was eventually installed by the President last year, having survived alleged attempts on his life, only to have a rival claimant take the matter to the Pretoria High Court and have the decision overturned on the grounds that the selection procedure was not undertaken properly according to customary law. So, legally, this year we had no King, but that didn't stop the Zulus. The king arrived a fashionable 4 hours late, to a tumultuous welcome from thousands of frenzied subjects.

Ever since we started in 1999, we have always had problems fighting Government inertia and lack of funding, in particular for ammunition as one round now costs over R 12 apiece. This year the inconceivable happened - lots of money, lots of enthusiasm and the powers-that-be really went to town. The organization was great and the producers must be congratulated.
Another difference was that us Red Coats are now 25 years older than when we started, so we're getting a little thin on the ground. The Zulus, on the other hand, are becoming more and more enthusiastic and this time an extra couple of hundred more warriors than before turned up. So the future of the event is assured if us Red Coats can hold on.

As usual, the day was hot.
Stinking hot, if fact.
Hanging around for 4 hours past starting time was therefore spent sweating profusely and having our photographs taken with just about everyone in the audience.
Kevin Smith took many, many photos, and I hope that none of them, mainly showing me and Manfred Duval posing with semi-naked maidens, end up on Facebook. I'm sure that my wife will have something to say.

The re-enactment itself was much better than usual. We managed to slow the Zulus down so that they could strut their stuff a little more. They did stay true to form, however, by sneaking up on us from behind the grandstand and taking us by surprise.
Vince Nixon had organized a small (very small) bore cannon which greatly added to the effect with Sean Friend stuffing fire-crackers down the barrel and Louis Eksteen having to repair the blown-out breech with one hand and waving a very nice 1822 pattern sword in the other.

Then onto lunch, which we didn't wait for, and general festivities, while we departed ignominiously from the field and made arrangements for our usual resurrection the following day.



Another day, another demise. Somewhat fatalistically, the end result of an iSandlwana re-enactment is always exactly the same for us Red Coats. But this year, it was indeed a case of "the more things change, the more they stay the same". The date, which was cast in stone for 20 January, was changed at the last minute, for whatever reason, until 27 January. Which meant that any potential tourism marketing flew out of the window.

We had another wrinkle, too. There has been a prolonged battle amongst the Zulu Royal household as to whom would succeed the late King Goodwill Zwelethini. Not surprisingly - apart from anything else it is an extremely well-paid job. So the new King, Misuzulu, was eventually installed by the President last year, having survived alleged attempts on his life, only to have a rival claimant take the matter to the Pretoria High Court and have the decision overturned on the grounds that the selection procedure was not undertaken properly according to customary law. So, legally, this year we had no King, but that didn't stop the Zulus, as they waited for their King for the day to arrive, a fashionable 4 hours late, to a tumultuous welcome from thousands of frenzied subjects.

Ever since we started in 1999, we have always had problems fighting Government inertia and lack of funding, in particular for ammunition as one round now costs over R 12 apiece. This year the inconceivable happened - lots of money, lots of enthusiasm and the powers-that-be really went to town. The organization was great and the producers must be congratulated. Another difference was that us Red Coats are now 25 years older than when we started, so we're getting a little thin on the ground. The Zulus, on the other hand, are becoming more and more enthusiastic and this time an extra couple of hundred more warriors than before turned up. So the future of the event is assured if us Red Coats can hold on.

As usual, the day was hot. Stinking hot, if fact. Hanging around for 4 hours past starting time was therefore spent sweating profusely and having our photographs taken with just about everyone in the audience. Kevin Smith took many, many photos.

The re-enactment itself was much better than usual. We managed to slow the Zulus down so that they could strut their stuff a little more. They did stay true to form, however, by sneaking up on us from behind the grandstand and taking us by surprise. Vince Nixon had organized a small (very small) bore cannon which greatly added to the effect with Sean Friend stuffing fire-crackers down the barrel and Louis Eksteen having to repair the blown-out breech with one hand and waving a very nice 1822 pattern sword in the other.

Then onto lunch, which we didn't wait for, and general festivities, while we departed ignominiously from the field and made arrangements for our usual resurrection the following day.

22 January 2024 was the 145th Anniversary of the battles of iSandlwana and Rorke's Drift. Naturally, I had to get out th...
23/01/2024

22 January 2024 was the 145th Anniversary of the battles of iSandlwana and Rorke's Drift. Naturally, I had to get out there and, also naturally, I had to have my trusty wife along to carry all the
refreshments.
Apart from just being there on the date and time of the battles, I was also finishing taking photographs for my latest books,
"The Royal Engineers at iSandlwana" and "What REALLY Happened at Rorke's Drift?"

The minions were hard at work erecting a huge marquee for
Saturday's coming re-enactment. Some of the amaButho, dressed in their full regalia, were somewhat incongruously not looking the least bit war-like but were standing around the fire having a braai, while rap music blared out at Volume 10 and swanky 4x4s stood where once ox wagons had done so the previous century.

Cheryl was dispatched to photograph the cave of "The Man in the Cave" fame while I went in the other direction to the Natal Carbineers monument in front of Black's Kopje.
I found nothing other than old Carbineers turning in their graves because their new name is now Queen Nandi's Something or Other, which is politically very trendy but has wiped out over a Century of tradition at a stroke.
Cheryl, on the other hand, puffing mightily up the hill, managed to take several pictures of the wrong cave.
I also visited the various choices of site where Colonel Anthony Durnford might have died, depending on which book you read.

There was a huge gathering at the old Rorke's Drift Hotel site, where the newly created Charles Aikenhead Memorial Training Hub was being christened. Charles was also turning circles from his little urn beside the swimming pool, but his faithful terrier "Scally', who is buried beside him, seemed to be content with the free food.

The Rorke's Drift Museum site was bustling with seemingly thousands of school kids, together with a marquee from the local clinic (perhaps they were expecting heavy casualties at the forthcoming soccer match) and a whole bunch of people wearing red T shirts wandering around looking like they had missed the way to an EFF rally.

And so endeth the 145th Anniversary, African style.

09/01/2024

The annual re-enactment of the battle of Isandlwana will take place on Saturday 27th January. We are still waiting for the final program and will publish it as soon as it is available - however, this is will probably be very much last minute as usual. But, it is spectacle worth seeing - thousands of Zulu's in traditional dress and as the Dundee Diehards have said on many an occasion "that when the Zulu impi starts to charge at the thin red line it is rather terrifying - imagine what the soldiers in 1879 must have felt with thousands and thousands of chanting Zulu warriors pouring down on the camp at the base of Isandlwana mountain."
For details about the event contact Dundee Tourism on info@tourdundee,co,za.

The week-long heat wave hasn’t done us any favours. My Jules Verne group on Friday evening were treated to four hours of...
27/11/2023

The week-long heat wave hasn’t done us any favours.
My Jules Verne group on Friday evening were treated to four hours of load shedding at the MOTH Shellhole - but there is very good mood lighting provided by the emergency supply system, but no ventilation so we camped out - and then really poor service at Battlefields Lodge – no food, although the Voucher clearly said “Full Board” and no bar service (first excuse – “we don’t have a liquor licence” and, when it was pointed out that they had been serving liquor for 20 years), “we can’t find the key”.

The closure of Rorke’s Drift Hotel has really stymied the provision of lunch at RD and iSandlwana – Lihle at RD café can handle small groups of up to 10 but not big groups.

I had to add Blood River onto the itinerary to (a) mollify the tourists somewhat and (b) get them to somewhere where they could eat, ISandlwana Lodge is the only other option, but I’ve had adverse reports that their lunch isn’t up-to-standard and very expensive for what you get.

As luck would have it, there was a “boere huwelik” going on at Blood River – an Afrikaans wedding where the bride wore traditional white and takkies, and her new husband looked like he had just come in from ploughing the North 40. Very casual, very cool and Anton let them fire “Ou Grietjie” to start the marriage off with their first “bang”.
Jeudine went out of her way to accommodate us and we had vetkoek ‘n mince, Boer Bier and home-made lemonade on the concrete bench under the tree. Thank you Blood River! I really appreciated it.

Sunday was Spioenkop day. The road to Ladysmith resembled Kyalami on a good day, with Stop Streets, the Speed Limit and traffic lights being regarded as optional extras and crossing double white lines on blind corners with oncoming traffic being the norm. Ladysmith main street is a dump – there’s litter all over the place. There was a cop car doing U turns in Murchison Street in order to proposition pretty girls walking down the road …. and the loo at Spioenkop is still out of order because the pipes have been stolen. I asked the receptionist when it might be repaired – after all, it’s been a month - and received the reply “No munny”. So AMAFA have now doubled the entry fee for foreign tourists and reduced the facilities to Zero. The site itself though is looking really good, but the flies have been breeding since the last visit. Take some “Doom” with you.

Pat Rundgren
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Pat Rundgren Battlefield Tours

I have been most fortunate to have had a number of tour groups out before the Christmas “dead” time. One of them was to ...
19/11/2023

I have been most fortunate to have had a number of tour groups out before the Christmas “dead” time. One of them was to Myer’s Drift on the Ntombe River near Luneberg, the site of the epic battle between Mbelini’s warriors and members of the 80th (Staffordshire) Regiment. My theme song for this particular tour is “We’re on the road to nowhere” by the Talking Heads, because I always miss the turnoff. I’m glad to say that, on this occasion, I lived up to my reputation and missed the bloody thing once again!

The route via Vryheid resembles picking one’s way through a recent artillery bombardment on the Somme, with some truly fearsome potholes. DON’T go the Sunset Rest route – the road has largely disappeared.



The Staffordshire mass grave is intact but overgrown. The main monument has been smashed and someone has attempted to dig a hole underneath it. The road out of the drift on the northern bank has been fenced in, and the battle site is now a ploughed field. Cobbin and Moriarty’s grave stones in the Luneberg cemetery could do with some t.l.c. but the cemetery itself, as usual, is absolutely pristine.

Pat Rundgren
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Pat Rundgren Battlefield Tours

One of last week’s tourists, Cherry Carter from Australia, expressed the wish to have a genuine Zulu shield for her coll...
19/11/2023

One of last week’s tourists, Cherry Carter from Australia, expressed the wish to have a genuine Zulu shield for her collection.

My favouite source, Mr. Biyela from “Walala Wasala” (loosely translated from Zulu as “you snooze, you lose”) near Nqutu made it for her in a week.
The photograph shows the end result. Unfortunately he was limited in the choice of hide colour, but the end result is impressive.

Pat Rundgren
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Pat Rundgren Battlefield Tours

It was a wild ride for the British the weekend 20-22 October.         My Jules Verne group of tourists had to put up wit...
31/10/2023

It was a wild ride for the British the weekend 20-22 October. My Jules Verne group of tourists had to put up with losing at iSandlwana, losing to the Springboks on Saturday night (even though it’s probably up there with the worst game that the Boks have ever played) and then losing again to the Boers at Spioenkop in the rain on Sunday. A very nice group, one couple were also refugees from Kenya in the 1960s, just like my family, so we had a lot of reminiscing to do.

Once we’d finished I made a turn to Bester’s Farm just outside Ladysmith, the site of the first contact on the Anglo-Boer War, to have a look at what I suspect is a long-forgotten grave, that of 3390 Private T. Skinner (5th Lancers) who died of wounds on 14 June 1900 at Coleworth Station. The date tells us that this would likely have been from a skirmish in the Harrismith area and presumably he was evacuated by train but died near Besters.

Pat Rundgren
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Talana Ghost Walk 124 years ago on Friday 20 October 1899 the battle of Talana took place across the lawns of what is no...
04/10/2023

Talana Ghost Walk

124 years ago on Friday 20 October 1899 the battle of Talana took place across the lawns of what is now Talana Museum and up the slopes of Talana hill.

16:45 for 17:00 - 19.30 Annual Ghost walk up Talana hill
Meet at cemetery in Talana museum grounds.
Laying of memorial wreaths
Introductory talk on the Battle
Walk up Talana hill in footsteps of the British soldiers, with explanation of events at relevant points on the hillside.
Sherry, fruit juice and beef sandwiches on hillside as we sit and
quietly listen to stores of “It happened here” and wait for the ghosts.
Yes they are on the battlefield and particularly on the anniversary

Talana Live weekend 20-22 October 2023124 years ago on Friday 20 October 1899 the battle of Talana took place across the...
28/09/2023

Talana Live weekend 20-22 October 2023

124 years ago on Friday 20 October 1899 the battle of Talana took place across the lawns of what is now Talana Museum and up the slopes of Talana hill.

Annual Ghost walk up Talana hill
Morning tour of Anniversary tour of Battle of Talana sites.

Weekend special price of R 495 per adult. R360 per scholar.
Includes Ghost walk Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday guides, entrance fees, Saturday breakfast and evening braai—own account drinks.
Excluded are lunches on Saturday and Sunday, drinks and accommodation.

Don't miss out!!

The August winds arrived on Thursday, so my guests had to climb out of the chopper and push it against the head winds al...
21/08/2023

The August winds arrived on Thursday, so my guests had to climb out of the chopper and push it against the head winds all the way from Durban to get to iSandlwana and Rorke’s Drift for an out-of-the-ordinary battlefield tour. But having recovered with a great lunch at RD Hotel, their way back was easy. With the wind behind them, it only took a couple of minutes to get back to a bottle of wine by the sea.

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Only two weeks to go. Come join us for the Centenary commemoration service at the Dundee Cenotaph at 11:00 on Sunday 27 ...
15/08/2023

Only two weeks to go. Come join us for the Centenary commemoration service at the Dundee Cenotaph at 11:00 on Sunday 27 August 2023, followed by snacks and drinks at the Dundee MOTH Shellhole. Should you wish to plant a poppy, please contact Patricia Zoya at the Tourism Dundee offices (071-1757399) or by contacting [email protected]

A special invitation to all “old” MOTHs – Johann Hamman, Mark Elliot, Glen Sharp, Angus Miller, Alex Donaldson, Angie Millar, Julie Lewis, “Oorlog” Bezuidenhout.

Names on the Cenotaph include 6346 Corporal Percy Rowney Greenhough MM, 2nd S.A.I. and 8625 Private Leonard Rowney Greenhough, 11 S.A.I. The Courier of 29 March 1918 records that -

“Corporal Percy Rowney Greenhough died on 02 March 1918 @ Richmond Hospital from wounds received. Aged 25, he was the second son of Harry Greenhough of “Ellerdine”, Glencoe Junction. The heroic lad was educated @ Talana High School. Dux. 1st XV Rugby. 2nd XI Hilton College Cricket Team. 2nd in the S.A. Public School Mile competition in 1909. Pirates Football Club, Dundee. Hockey and Cricket Club.

He was called out in August 1914 and trained as a Signaller @ Booysens and Tempe. 1st October joined Botha’s Horse. He fought in the Rebellion and GSWA. He came home in August 1915 and joined 2 SAI. He left @ the end of September for Egypt, where he was in the battle of Senussi. Wounded 3 times - @ Armentieres, Delville Wood and “somewhere in France”. Awarded the Military Medal.

He was Assistant Town Clerk of Dundee from 1911”.

Percy Greenhough received a shrapnel wound in the neck at Delville Wood, and only returned to France on 07 November 1916. He fought in the Arras offensive 09 – 15 April 1917, and was awarded his Military Medal for the Third Battle of Ypres, where he was severely wounded. Infection set in and led to the amputation of his right leg and he died of pneumonia.

The “Courier” of 09 February 1916 records under the heading “Pro Patria” that Leonard Rowney Greenhough, aged 26, was a Corporal in “G” Squadron, Natal Carbineers (2nd Mounted Rifles) but proceeded to German East Africa on secondment with 11 SAI in 1915, dropping his rank. He had eight years Carbineer experience and had qualified as a Signaller at Tempe.

The “Courier” of 09 February 1917 records that Leonard Rowney Greenhough was -

“A soldier to his backbone, he was a favourite with all ranks. Ever willing to take more than his own share of work, it was his delight to sail in and assist another comrade with his duties.

Rowney was the life of old “G” Squadron, and anything in the nature of sport always appealed to him.

It is sad to a degree to think that after all he did for King and Country, he should meet his end in so pathetic a manner when so near home. Rowney landed in Durban at the end of January in the best of spirits, but contracted blackwater fever and, after a short illness, went to his last call on Sunday 04 February.

His body was brought to Dundee for internment. On the arrival of the train the remains were removed under the supervision of Captain Ryley to St. James Church. The bearers were selected from his old comrades – Privates O’Hea, V.W. Ryley, Phillip du Boisse, Theo. Labistour, T. Hartwell and Mann”.

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Come join us for the Centenary commemoration service at the Dundee Cenotaph at 11:00 on Sunday 27 August 2023, followed ...
26/07/2023

Come join us for the Centenary commemoration service at the Dundee Cenotaph at 11:00 on Sunday 27 August 2023, followed by snacks and drinks at the Dundee MOTH Shellhole. Should you wish to plant a poppy, please contact Patricia Zoya at the Tourism Dundee offices (071-1757399) or by contacting [email protected]

A special invitation to all “old” MOTHs – Johann Hamman, Mark Elliot, Glen Sharp, Angus Miller, Alex Donaldson, Angie Millar.

Fred Jones survived Delville Wood. In a letter to his sister, Mrs. J.H. Harris, he wrote “I am one of 93 of our Regiment to return from Delville Wood unhurt. It is impossible to describe what we have been through. No sleep for 5 days and nights, and hundreds of thousands of shells being poured on us. Men all round me have been killed and wounded. One night I was stone mad – I didn’t know what I was doing. I was often hit on the head with bits of shrapnel, but the steel helmet prevented me from being hurt. I was also buried in the trench. On 18th the Germans attacked us in force, after giving us the worst bombardment in the history of the war. In one portion of our trench we lost about 60 men, and I with 5 others were the only ones left but we stuck to it and kept them off. I shot 3, quite close to me; one an officer. The wounded … were all mixed up with the dead, and the sight was terrible. I often cry like a child when I think of it. I have lost practically all my chums – the casualties in our Regiment total 780. Only the Colonel is left of our Regiment, and I the only one of his staff”.

In order to commemorate the Centenary of the opening of the Dundee cenotaph, the Dundee MOTHs will hold a special servic...
19/07/2023

In order to commemorate the Centenary of the opening of the Dundee cenotaph, the Dundee MOTHs will hold a special service there at 11:00 on Sunday 27 August 2023. All are invited. Anyone interested in laying a poppy should please contact Patricia Zoya at Tourism Dundee 071 – 1757399 ([email protected]). We would particularly like to invite relatives of any of the men who gave their lives and whose names appear on the monument, to do so.

Participants will also include former veterans of the Dundee/ Glencoe Commando, the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, the Natal Carbineers, the SAPS Dog Squad, the Mayor of Endumeni, Councillors and Municipal officials, the Head Boy and Head Girl of Dundee High School, members of the public and, most poignantly, descendants and relatives of the men and women whose names appear on the monument.

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It has been a bit of a tourist drought in May. I don’t really know why the tap has suddenly turned off, but maybe our cr...
07/06/2023

It has been a bit of a tourist drought in May. I don’t really know why the tap has suddenly turned off, but maybe our crime, pot holes, corruption, load shedding and shooting at tourists has something to do with it?

However, I have travelling out to some remote and different sites related to the Anglo Zulu War with Kate from the UK and Gary and Australian. They are put on an extended visit to visit as many of the sites of the Anglo Zulu war on the day of the event as possible. There official guide is Brandyne Arendse, but I have been taking them to sites that only a handful of people in our area know about.

I had my first visit in several years to re-locate the graves of Lieutenants Barton and Poole, killed by the Zulus on the north side of the inTyentika Nek at the battle of Hlobane.
Tony Coleman, Mike Nel and myself were last there pre-Covid, so Gary Richardson and Kate Birbeck decided to use my limited GPS brain capacity to attempt to help re-discover them.
As it turned out, we found an extra couple more graves while we were about it, starting a “which is it” debate.

Then on to attempt to find Potter’s Store, which was Barton and Poole’s ultimate destination should they have made it that far. This is on the other side of Vryheid on the Paulpietersburg Road just past the Kambula Battlefield turn-off.
The attached photo shows Kate and Gary below the nek.

While out with Garry and Kate the following week we visited the spear-sharpening site near Elandskraal. I have always thought, incorrectly as it turns out, that it’s just a rock. However, that has raised hackles in the geological fraternity and I’m now (forcibly) told that it is a deposit of Dwyka Tillite laid down during the Ice Age.
OK, be that as it may, but to me it’s still the Zulu equivalent of a carborundum stone.
It IS an interesting site, though – probably only a handful of people know where it is and it could be “lost” when those that do know get too old and feeble to remember.
After this we stopped off at the old Lutheran Church at Elandskraal. The original one has been demolished and replaced by this one, which in turn has again been replaced by a new one in the village. The story goes that the priest at the original church was tending his garden on 23 January 1879 when he heard an approaching rumble. Sometime later a Zulu war party hove into sight. The priest and the iNduna exchanged greetings, and on enquiring what the Zulus were up to, the priest was told that the war party was returning home from a minor shindig at Rorke's Drift just down the road. They then exchanged salutations and the Zulus moved off, leaving the priest bemused but somewhat relieved to carry on tending his garden.

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Father/ daughter combination of Trevor and Zea on a road trip before Zea’s emigration to the USA. They had a very pleasa...
07/06/2023

Father/ daughter combination of Trevor and Zea on a road trip before Zea’s emigration to the USA. They had a very pleasant stay at Tranquil Guest House before braving the road to Rorke’s Drift and iSandlwana. The local Councillor out there is on the ball – the road has been graded and shale topping put down on the road between the Rorke’s Drift Bridge and the “T” Junction. Instead of pot holes, we now have heaps of rocks to impede your journey, but the road should be much improved once all the offending lumps have been crushed.

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One thing about the game of battlefield tour guiding is that you get to meet some very interesting people. Father and so...
22/05/2023

One thing about the game of battlefield tour guiding is that you get to meet some very interesting people. Father and son duo of Eric and Stuart were out with me last Thursday and Friday. iSandlwana had been on Stuart’s bucket list for years, so he and his Dad flew into JHB from the UK on Wednesday and immediately braved the potholes to get to Rorke’s Drift Hotel on the same day. They toured with me for the next two days, were taken out to Mangeni Falls on Saturday by Shane and Ros from the Hotel, and then flew back to JHB and home today. 4 days in SA just to see iSandlwana! Now THAT’s commitment.

I guess everyone has his speciality? Stuart’s was the Zulu War, with parachuting as a sideline. Eric (now over 80 years old) is a super keen boffin on WW2 aircraft.

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ANOTHER ONE GETS AWAYHaving lost out on Llewellyn Lloyd’s Zulu War medal which came on auction some time ago, I’m sad to...
22/05/2023

ANOTHER ONE GETS AWAY

Having lost out on Llewellyn Lloyd’s Zulu War medal which came on auction some time ago, I’m sad to report that it has happened again. Last week a BSA Company Medal with “Matabeleland 1893” reverse to a Trooper G. Gooding Salisbury Horse, cane up for auction at a ridiculously low reserve. I immediately recognized the name as having been a participant in assuredly the most famous action in Rhodesia’s early history, the so-called Shangani Patrol – Rhodesia’s equivalent of iSandlwana. I hoped like hell that no-one else had noticed, but suspected that it would go for a lot more. I therefore worked out that if I sold the house I might be able to afford it. But, alas. Someone else also spotted this hidden gem and Whammo! It disappeared.

The Shangani Patrol (04 December 1893) was sent to capture Lobengula, the leader of the amaNdeble, after the capture of Bulawayo and to bring the Matabele 1893 war to an end. On reaching the Shangani River, a small patrol under Captain Allan Wilson was detached from the main Column and sent ahead in an attempt to catch up with the King, but soon found themselves in trouble and surrounded by amaNdebele warriors. Captain Napier was sent back to the main Column on the opposite bank of the Shangani River with a message to come to the patrol’s aid or, at least, send a Maxim gun forward.

Major Patrick Forbes, OC of the main Column, was, however, unable to comply as the Column also came under attack at the same time. In addition, in order to get to Wilson’s patrol, the Column would have had to have crossed the now flooded Shangani River in the middle of the night. Forbes therefore only sent a small force under Captain Borrow to assist Wilson, but it soon became clear that these few extra men would not be enough to make a difference. Scouts Burnham and Ingram, together with Trooper Gooding, were therefore sent back with another desperate appeal for assistance. This was not forthcoming and Wilson’s force was annihilated to a man the following morning.

However, there is twist to the tale. After this incident persistent rumours emerged that Burnham, Ingram and my man Gooding had deserted and made the whole story up. Since Wilson’s force was eliminated, there were no witnesses left to corroborate or deny their story.

If genuine, this medal is of considerable importance to collectors of Rhodesiana, just as a South Africa Service Medal to an iSandlwana survivor is to a Zulu War buff. But once again, I guess that tour guiding doesn’t pay enough to indulge in this hobby anymore!


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Had an extremely nice couple from Leeds, Simon and Liz, out to the “Big 2”. Here they are pictured in front of the 24th ...
03/05/2023

Had an extremely nice couple from Leeds, Simon and Liz, out to the “Big 2”.
Here they are pictured in front of the 24th Regiment memorial at iSandlwana, gearing up for a superb lunch at the Rorke’s Drift Hotel.
I’m glad to say that Ros’ face is healing up nicely after her argument with the Fortuner’s rear view mirror.
The Dundee Hospital sewed the gash up so tightly that it has doubled as a face-job and removed all wrinkles that she might have had. There’s always a bright side to any mishap!
Depends which side you are looking at it from.



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Tour guide, historian and medal collector

Tour guide on the Battlefields of KZN. Listen to the tales of the past - who were these men and how did they die or survive. Stand on these battlefield sunder the African sun and allow Pat’s stories to bring the events alive in your mind. The memories, feelings and realization that you are standing where history happened and sometimes that those events even changed world history.

“A man with an amazing knowledge of the events and the people involved in them.”

Learn fascinating little unusual snippets that form part of the whole story.

“We cannot change history but if we understand and appreciate it just maybe will not repeat the same mistakes.”