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Date	Original Topic
16th April 2005	Distress Flares' By Derek C Does anyone know when (roughly) distress flares' we used in the British Army? Were they available during the AZW?
Date	Replies
16th April 2005	Bill Cainan Derek C Yes, there certainly were illuminating devices available at this time. 1. Life-buoy portfire: used by the navy, gives light for some twenty minutes. Used in conjunction with rescues at sea. 2. Slow or Blue Portfire: an improvised illumination. Burns for two to three hours. Obsolete by 1877. 3. Cost Guard Light: Used by coastguard. The light has a spike at one end for it to be stuck in the ground. It burns for about five minutes. 4. Light, Long, GS: Used for signalling and illuminating. Burns for about five minutes. 5. Light,Signal Magnesium: Used for signaling and illumination. Burns for one minute with a very bright white flame. 6. Lights for Illuminating Wrecks Mark I and Mark II: Burn for about 30 minutes 7. Signal Rockets – 1lb and ½ lb, being available with white, red, green and blue stars The artillery had illuminating rounds, mainly fired by mortars: 8. Ground light balls: fired from mortars only. Used to discover enemy working parties etc. Time of burning varies from 9 to 16 minutes (it carried on burning after hitting the ground). 9. Parachute Light Balls: fired from mortars. Burns for between 1 and 3 minutes 10. 7pdr Star Shell: Introduced for use with 7pdr RML batteries. The shell was made with a thin iron case containing 13 paper cylinders known as stars containing illuminating chemicals. On bursting it would give a brilliant light for between 13 and 18 seconds.. 4 Star shells were allocated per gun, but in practice, they tended to be replaced by case shot. I can find no reference to Star Shells being manufactured for the 9pdr RML Were Star Shells available in the AZW ? In theory, yes. Were they used in the AZW ? I don't thnk so. I can find no evidence that they were. They are shown in “Zulu Dawn” when Chelmsford retakes the Camp at Isandhlwana - but that's Hollywood ! All the references I’ve read on this action indicate that the guns only fired shell at the neck prior to the advance on the camp. Bill