186: Did the film "Zulu" get it wrong? The mystery of Lt. Adendorff.
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186: Did the film "Zulu" get it wrong? The mystery of Lt. Adendorff.
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Did the film Zulu get it wrong?
In the 1964 epic, Lieutenant Gert Adendorff rides into Rorke’s Drift with dire news of the disaster at Isandlwana. He explains Zulu tactics, warns of the impending attack—and when asked if he’ll stay to fight, replies:
“Is there anywhere else to go?”
But just a year later, Donald Morris’s classic book The Washing of the Spears claimed he fled—not once, but twice. Ever since, Adendorff has been caught in a storm of controversy.
Was he a deserter who abandoned his men?
Or was he the only man to survive Isandlwana and then stand alongside Chard and Bromhead to help defend Rorke’s Drift?
In this documentary, we investigate the mystery behind Gert Adendorff. Using eyewitness accounts, official reports, and modern research, we ask why history has treated him so harshly—especially when regular British officers who fled to Helpmekaar were never questioned.
This is the forgotten story of the man who may have fought in both of the Anglo-Zulu War’s most famous battles.
The Battle of Isandlwana
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