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Date	Original Topic
18th July 2002	mealie bag walls By paul roberts i had a funny thought the other day. why didnt the zulus slash open the mealie bag barricades at rorkes drift with their assegais causing the mealies to spill out causing the barricades to collapse. anyone else ever considered this.
Date	Replies
19th July 2002	George Hulmes Come to think of it, that's a very good point. Although, one can assume that the fact that the Zulus faced a row of bayonets and .45 calibre boxer-henry slugs, didn't leave them with enough time to consider the destruction of the mealie bag walls! BTW: Does anyone know what proportion of the defences consisted of biscuit tins and upturned wagons? Best Regards, George Hulmes
19th July 2002	John Young George, No upturned wagons whatsoever, there were two wagons built into the defence on the south wall, close to the storehouse. The biscuits boxes ran north-south between end of the store to north barricade. John Young, Chairman, Anglo-Zulu War Research Society
19th July 2002	Chris Tapster Does anyone know the dimensions of the biscuit boxes, or of any publication which gives deatils of size, method of construction and any labelling? Many thanks.
31st July 2002	edmund coan Going back to Paul's original thought, it appears to be one which also struck Colour Sergeant Bourne, as he mentions this in the transcript of the BBC interview with him in 1936. I supect the Zulus rarely got near enough to slit the mealie bags.
2nd August 2002	Martin Everett Dear Chris, We have one - a replica - in the museum at Brecon which was contructed for us by the the KwaZulu Natal Museum service. A substantial wooden construction about 2 feet square with a sealed metal container for the biscuits and two rope handles. Quite a logistical nightmare for the Quartermaster to transport to Rorke's Drift!