He hated the picure..

"Will hastily tidied the room, sat in the window seat, and stared thoughtfully at the one piece of art in his house, a reproduction of Alphonse de Neuville's Defence of Rorke's Drift that he'd won from Tommy Hanson at piquet the previous Saturday. He hated the picture, not least because it reminded him of South Africa, and only took it because Hanson had nothing else in his house worth a damn."

Alphonse de Neuville Defence of Rorke's Drift

It is hardly surprising that the painting reminds Will of his last military action in South Africa, which is described in the first chapter, Massacre on the Groot Hoek River. It gives us a good visual depiction of what Will must have experienced, although on a larger scale.

Here  is a link the wikipedia entry for Rorke's Drift.

This is the link to a specialised site, which focuses on the Battle and the recipients of the Victoria Cross. As the site says, the highest number of VCs awarded to a regiment for one action.

Another site specialising in battles, lots of visuals

The events of Rorke's Drift were depicted in the film  Zulu, starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. Here are some interesting links:


Wiki Entry for the film.


10 things you didn't know about the film - an article from The Telegraph.

The Untold Story of the film - an article from The Independent





Here's a scene from the film:

Why not watch the whole film? Is it any wonder that Will had continuous nightmares after his own experience?