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Rorke's Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa. The defense of Rorke's Drift ( January 22 - January 23, 1879) during the Anglo-Zulu War, immediately followed the British Army's humiliating defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier in the day. At Rorke's Drift approximately 150 British soldiers defended their garrison against an intense assault by roughly 5000 Zulu warriors. In the ensuing action, eleven Victoria Crosses were won, the largest number of VCs awarded during a single action in British military history.

The events surrounding the assault on Rorke's Drift were dramatised in the film Zulu in 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort. In 1979 the battle at Isandhlwana was dramatised in the film Zulu DawnZulu Dawn is a 1979 film about the Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu military units in 1879 in South Africa. The film is available on tape or DVD, but rarely appears on television. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox and stars Burt Lancast 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings..

1 The Victoria Crosses

The following 11 recipients were awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for the defence of Rorke's Drift.

• William Wilson Allen
• Gonville Bromhead
• John Rouse Merriott Chard
• James Langley Dalton
• Frederick Hitch
• Alfred Henry Hook
• Robert Jones
• William Jones
• James Henry Reynolds
• Ferdnand Christian Schiess
• John Williams

See the list of Zulu War Victoria Cross recipients for a full list of VCs awarded during the war, and also list of Victoria Cross recipients by Campaign