Frank Bourne Rorkes Drift Veteran

The Battle of Rorkes Drift is certainly one of the most well known battles from the background of the British army. It had been at this small mission station along the border of Zululand and Natal where four thousand Zulu warriors attacked the garrison of less than 140 British soldiers. The soldiers battled for their lives all night and by morning, the Zulus had gone. The top award for gallantry from the British Army is the Victoria Cross and the Battle of Rorkes Drift saw 12 VCs awarded, greater than in every other individual action in history.

The struggle was depicted in the Stanley Baker film “Zulu” and one of the leading characters who performed heroically at Rorkes Drift, ultimately didn’t receive a Victoria Cross. Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and that is ranked 2nd behind the Victoria Cross. On top of that, Bourne was also offered a commission though he turn it down. As he was the 8th son in his family, there wasn’t any money to be had and this would be a time when money was used to acquire commissions for officers from the British Army.

All the same, Bourne was destined to be a career soldier and a very good one as well. Just after South Africa, he was posted to India and Burma prior to finally earning his commission eleven years following the Battle of Rorkes Drift. He finally retired from the British Army in 1907. Simply seven years afterwards, The Great War broke out and so Bourne re-enlisted in the army. By the end of the Great War in 1918, he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was made an OBE. He left the military again, this time once and for all.

Because of the actor who portrayed Bourne in the motion picture Zulu, a lot of folks considered Frank Bourne to have been in his mid-50s during the time of the Battle of Rorkes Drift but in simple fact he was simply twenty four years old. Immediately after the end of The First World War, he lived in old age in Beckenham, South London and he was the last survivor of Rorkes Drift to pass away at the age of 91 on 8th May 1945, the day the Second World War in Europe ended.