Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ): Issue 175

Whilst we were on our most recent cruise, the latest copy of SOTQ (Soldiers of the Queen, the quarterly journal of the Victorian Military Society) arrived in the post and I have finally managed to make time to read it.

This issue was almost entirely devoted to the Zulu War, and the articles included are:

• The Anglo-Zulu War: Impacts and Interpretations, 1879-1979 by Ian F W Beckett
• Yesterday's Blood: A Contested History – the Anglo-Zulu War 140 Years on by Ian Knight
• The Road to iSandlwana 2019: 'Sibayne' – We are one by Tim Rose
• 'A Truly Masterly Display of Fence-Sitting': The Swasi and the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 by Prof John Laband
• Garnet Wolseley and the Zulu War by Dr Christopher Brice
• Book Reviews by Ian Knight, Roger T Stearn, and Harold E Raugh Jr
• Officers of the Victorian Military Society

I really enjoyed reading this issue as the film ZULU started me down the path that has led to my long-term interest in Colonial history in general, and Colonial wargaming in particular.

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Whilst reading Ian Beckett's article about the impact of the Zulu War, for some reason a short piece of dialogue from the film ZULU came into my head:

• Lt. John Chard (Stanley Baker): 'The Army doesn't like more than one defeat in a day'.
• Lt. Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine): 'Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfast'.

It's little wonder that according to the British Forces Broadcasting Service, ZULU is the most popular film of all time amongst serving members of the armed forces.