Back to the Battle of Isandlwana

Internationally acclaimed storyteller and battlefield expert, Rob Caskie, recently treated Brettenwood residents to an unforgettable trip back in time to January 22, 1879 and the Battle of Isandlwana.

With picnic baskets and blankets, residents settled in on the steps of the Brettenwood auditorium on April 10 for a relaxed Friday evening under the stars.

The floor was unofficially opened by two-and-three-quarter-year-old Amber St Clair who spontaneously took to the platform and started singing to the audience until the Nkobongo Children’s Charity dancers arrived on stage and performed a very well choreographed Zulu dance routine.

Caskie told the battle story with passion and abandonment, describing taste, smell, sights, sounds and tactile feeling so that each and every listener felt engaged in the story.

The Battle of Isandlwana was the first major encounter between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom and took place only 11 days after the British invaded Zululand during the Anglo-Zulu war.

The British and colonial troops, armed with state of the art weaponry, grossly underestimated the Zulu warriors equipped with traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields and only a few muskets and old rifles, which they were not formally trained to use.

The British were poorly led and badly deployed and suffered their worst defeat against the “primitive” Zulu force.

With powerful phrases like “the hill turning black with Zulus”, “when the white canvas turns scarlet” and describing the British regimens as “being swallowed up like a school of sardines in a sea of black” one could not help but get sucked into the drama of the day.

Old fashioned storytelling without any digital assistance is now a rarity and Caskie is a master of this wonderful skill.

For more information on this formidable storyteller, go to www.robcaskie.com.