THE BURNING HOSPITAL Rorke’s Drift, 22 January 1879
By the early evening of 22 January 1879, the hospital at Rorke’s Drift had become a death trap. Zulu warriors were pressing against the building, firing through openings and trying to force their way inside. The defenders could no longer hold the outer rooms, and the roof had caught fire. Inside were sick and wounded men who could not simply run for the barricade. They had to be carried, dragged or helped through the building while the fighting continued around them.
Private Henry Hook was among the men defending the hospital. Together with Private John Williams and others, he fought to keep the Zulus back while Williams hacked openings through the internal walls, creating an improvised route towards the rear of the building. Hook later described how the men were effectively trapped, with smoke filling the rooms and Zulus attacking the entrances. One of the patients, Private Conley of the 24th, had a broken leg and could not escape unaided. Hook eventually dragged him through the opening, badly aggravating the injury in the process. Other defenders continued moving patients through the building towards the inner defence.
The scene captured by Alphonse de Neuville brings this struggle to life. The painting combines several moments from the defence, and the wounded soldier being carried away from the burning hospital represents the extraordinary effort made to save men who could barely move themselves. Nine of the eleven hospital patients were eventually brought to safety, although several others were killed inside the building. Once the hospital had been evacuated, the defenders abandoned it and concentrated around the smaller fortified position. The burning building then illuminated the battlefield as the Zulu attacks continued into the night.
What makes this episode remarkable is that the men defending the hospital were not simply fighting to survive themselves. They were fighting while trying to move helpless comrades through a building that was being consumed by fire and attacked from almost every direction. Hook, John Williams, Robert Jones, William Jones and William Allen were later awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the defence of the hospital.
This was not simply a fight to hold Rorke’s Drift. It was a fight to get their wounded comrades out alive.