Gert Adendorff
As all but he headed for the safety of Helpmekaar he commandeered a horse after his was shot out from beneath him and made for the British garrison at Rorke's Drift, both bringing warning of potential attack and contributing effective rifle fire throughout the subsequent battle.
[3][4] On the morning of the Battle of Isandlwana Adendorff brought reports in to the Camp from the outlying Natal Native Contingent pickets on the iNyoni Ridge.
Ordendorf [sic] and myself had been firing for some time on the right of our companies tents, and when we saw the soldiers retreating we went for our horses which we had fastened close to us to be ready for any emergency.
[1][4] Adendorff and another soldier named Vane who had escaped from Isandlwana with him rode up to Rorke's Drift to warn the garrison there of an imminent attack.
Adendorff of Lonsdale's Regiment, Natal Native Contingent, asking if I was an officer, jumped off his horse, took me on one side, and told me the camp was in the hands of the Zulus and the army destroyed; that scarcely a man had got away to tell the tale, and that probably Lord Chelmsford and the rest of the column had shared the same fate.
[4] As the mission station at Rorke's Drift was being fortified ready for the imminent attack the soldier who had arrived with Adendorff was sent to Helpmekaar to warn them of what was happening.
A German or some foreigner who was with the garrison saved that building from fire for he saw a Zulu with a lighted bunch of grass just raising it up to the eaves and promptly shot him.
[11] This is clearly a description of Adendorff who was the only man speaking a foreign language at Rorke’s Drift apart from Corporal Schiess who was fighting on the barricades before he was injured.
[12] Harford also drew a sketch of Adendorff at Rorke’s Drift with some of his men when the NNC was disbanded and the Natives were handing in their weapons and equipment.
[11] Adendorff took little part in the rest of the Anglo-Zulu War and left the military when the 3rd Regiment of the Natal Native Contingent was disbanded as a result of their failure at Isandlwana.
The imputation of cowardice to Adendorff is unfair as his actions in commandeering a horse to warn the garrison at Rorke's Drift confirm his intentions, and multiple accounts of his presence throughout the battle as verified by several important witnesses, including Lt. John Chard VC,[8] Private Henry Hook VC and Adendorff's own account of his involvement in the battle which can be independently verified.
[2] In addition, the war correspondent Charles Norris-Newman was among Lord Chelmsford’s relief column that entered Rorke's Drift the morning after the battle and recorded: The following officers were also present at the post and rendered material aid in the defence: Dr. Reynolds, 1-24th, Lieutenant Adendorff 1-3rd NCC, Messrs. Dunne, and Dalton, of the Commissariat Department, also the Rev.
