Henry Curling

Anglo-Zulu war and during the Battle of Isandlwana was one of only a few British officers to survive; in fact he was the only British front line survivor. Afterwards he wrote a dramatic report on the battle and several letters home that described it further. After the Zulu war he saw service in Afghanistan, Aldershot and Egypt

née Warwick).^[1] He was educated at Marlborough College and then the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich before being commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1868.^[1]

Rorke's Drift, Curling and Smith followed a crowd of natives in an attempt to save the guns; however, the only escape route was down a steep ravine in which the guns became stuck fast. Zulus were amongst the crowd trying to escape and were relentlessly killing so they left the guns. Major Smith was killed some time later during the flight as they climbed down a cliff but Curling was able to cross the Buffalo river safely, his horse swimming with three or four men hanging on to it.^[5] He was one of only five British officers to survive the Battle of Isandlwana of which Captain Edward Essex and Lieutenant Horace Smith-Dorrien were transport officers; Lieutenant Alan Gardener was a staff officer who was sent to the camp with orders during the battle only to find it destroyed; and Lieutenant William Cochrane was running an errand for his CO when the camp was overrun.^[6] Thus Curling was therefore the only front line officer to survive.^[7]