The defence of Rorkes Drift is one of the most renowned actions from the background of the British army. It had been at the little mission station along the border of Zululand and Natal where a few thousand Zulus attacked the garrison of under 140 British soldiers. The soldiers fought for their lives through the night and by the early morning, the Zulus had withdrawn. The highest award for gallantry from the British Army is the Victoria Cross and the Battle of Rorkes Drift saw twelve VCs awarded, more than in every other single action in history.
The struggle was depicted in the Stanley Baker movie “Zulu” and one of the leading characters who acted heroically at Rorkes Drift, in the end didn’t get a Victoria Cross. Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne was instead awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal that is ranked 2nd behind the Victoria Cross. In addition, Bourne was also offered a commission however he turn it down. As he was the eighth son in his household, there wasn’t any money to be had and this would have been a time when wealth was used to buy commissions for officers from the British Army.
Nevertheless, Bourne was destined to be a career soldier and a good one too. After South Africa, he was deployed to both India and Burma prior to at long last earning his commission 11 years on from the Battle of Rorkes Drift. He finally retired from the British Army in 1907. Simply 7 years afterwards, World War I started so Bourne rejoined the army. At the conclusion of World War I in 1918, he had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was made an OBE. Bourne left the army again, on this occasion for ever.
Because of the actor who played the part of Bourne in the motion picture Zulu, a large number of people presumed Frank Bourne to have been in his mid-50s at the time of the Battle of Rorkes Drift although in simple fact he was merely twenty four years old. Following the finish of The Great War, Bourne lived in old age in Beckenham, South London and he was the final survivor of the battle to pass away at the age of 91 on 8th May 1945, the very day the Second World War in Europe came to an end.
