I didn’t realize that Breaker Morant and Zulu were based on true stories until the very end.
Another favorite of mine is “They Died with their boots on” (Custer). So then I did some research on why the Brits were able to beat the Zulus and why Custer didn’t beat the Indians.
I didn’t get into it too much, but I think the Brits had better guns and better training/discipline. The Brits use of the alternating rows of fire to keep up a steady stream of bullets was interesting and very effective, I’m not a military buff and it makes sense.
I forget the numbers, but it was something like 1 Zulu dead for every 20 rounds fired. For Custer they estimated it was something like 800 rounds for every dead Indian. (The Americans had a bad habit of firing too high under stress).
In Vietnam they guess that it was something like 20,000 rounds fired for every enemy killed!
Speaking of Vietnam, I’ll add “We were Soldiers Once and Young” to my list of favorite movies.
The Indians had better guns than Custer.
You should see ZULU DAWN with Burt Lancaster. You can see why the Zulus won at Islandwana.