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Rorke's Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa. The defense of Rorke's Drift (January 22 - 23 1879) during the Zulu War, immediately followed the British Army's humiliating defeat at Isandhlwana (January 21 1879). 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 second 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 1964. In 1979 the battle at Isandhlwana was dramatised in the film Zulu Dawn.