RE the recent correspondence about the nationalities of those who fought and won VCs at the stand against the Zulus at Rorke’s Drift in January 1879 (HAS, Jan 8 and 15).
They were not only Britons. At least one Swiss, Corporal Ferdinand Christian Schies, of the Natal Native Contingent, won a Victoria Cross in the epic battle.
Other foreigners to win this coveted award, from 1854 to date, include: five Americans, one Belgian, one Swede, three Danes, one Russian and two Germans, one of whom, Sergeant-Major Wooden, had already survived the Charge at Balaclava (1854) when winning the VC in 1858 with the 17th Lancers.
AH Newman, Darlington.
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