Battle of Rorke's Drift close to defeating the much smaller garrison, but were ultimately repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours. Rorke's Drift, known as "kwaJimu" ("Jim's Land") in the Zulu language, was a mission station and the former trading post of James Rorke, an Irish merchant. It was located near a drift, or ford, on the Buffalo (Mzinyathi) River, which at the time formed the border between the British colony of Natal and the Zulu Kingdom. On 9 January 1879, the British No. 3 (Centre) Column, under Lord Chelmsford, arrived and encamped
Jack Hawkins (U.S. Marine Corps officer) Jack Hawkins (U.S. Marine Corps officer) Jack L. Hawkins (October 25, 1916, Roxton, Texas – May 17, 2013 in Fredericksburg, Virginia) was a United States Marines Corps colonel employed by the CIA for the military planning, training of Cuban exiles, and the effective military command of forces in the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in April 1961. Hawkins was known by the alias "John Haskins". Jack Hawkins graduated as a second lieutenant from the United States Naval Academy. In 1939, he attended the Marine Corps Basic School for officers, and then served with the Fourth Marines in Shanghai and