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Date	Original Topic
6th November 2003	Zulus using captured British Weapons By Dan A difficult question I know but is there any evidence that the troops at Isandlwana were shot by Zulus who had earlier over run their comrades and seized thier rifles.
Date	Replies
6th November 2003	neil aspinshaw Dan. Highly likely, firearms were a prized find,Indeed over a quarter of the zulu's were armed with firearms of some type,(tower muskets etc).To gather a bounty of modern Martinis would have been eagerly snatched. I did read that those zulus who could not find a MH were content in pulling the slugs from the cartridge cases to extract the propellant for use in thier own firearms. With respect to Martinis at Rorkes Drift, Adrian Graves new book Rorkes Drift , touches on the subject . It does argue that there was likely to be recently aquired Martinis used. Not, I hasten to add from Isandlwana itself but from fugitives, but more likely the engineering (anhialated by the right horn) column working on the track back to RD. Frank Bourne noted this in his report. David Rattray's "the day of the Dead Moon" also tells the story of a zulu who remembered doing exaclty as you questioned.
6th November 2003	Melvin Hunt I have seen a video of one of David Rattray's battlefield talks during which he describes a chilling scene where a group of routed soldiers, surrounded and out of ammo, can only watch as zulus pick up martini rifles, work out how to operate the breech mechanism, insert a cartridge and then fire at them. Poetic license or not, I suppose it could have happened.
7th November 2003	Dan Thanks for your prompt replies Gents.