The word Zulu conjures images of bloody battles and spear-wielding warriors but few people realise one of the Anglo-Zulu War’s most storied regiments began life in a sleepy Kent village. Chris Price found out more.

As the people of Kent’s most haunted village, Pluckley, go about their business this weekend, they might think they have seen a ghost.

The streets around the Black Horse pub will be lined with gentlemen in the uniforms of the Anglo-Zulu War as part of an exhibition on the 1879 conflict.

“It is a lot of fun and a very colourful day,” said organiser Bob Driver from Cliffe. “We will have guys in full uniform showing how to fire their weapons. We are going to wake up Pluckley for sure.”

The exhibition, called Ghosts of the Zulu War, will include real shields and spears used in battle, which have been collected by enthusiasts such as Bob and Roy Bennett from Rainham. The stand-out item on display will be a replica of a Gatling gun used in the war.

Such is the standard of the items going on show, a member of the Zulu royal family, Prince Velekhaya Shange of E’Zulwini, will be attending over the weekend. The prince is a direct descendant of Prince Dabulamanzi Ka Mpande, half-brother of the Zulu King at the time, Cetshwayo kaMpande and leader of the Zulu attack at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.

Yet this exhibition is most poignant because Pluckley is the birthplace of the 24th Regiment of Foot, which fought at Rorke’s Drift.

“Zulus are a pet subject of mine,” said Bob. “The wars have a cult following of people who were in their teens when the film Zulu came out in the 1960s. We have had messages from people coming from miles around to see us. The film got a lot of people interested in the subject – 11 Victoria Crosses were won at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, it is the most famous battle in military history.”

The defence of the mission station of Rorke’s Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, saw just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors.

The battle came a day after the Zulu warriors’ stunning opening victory of the war at Isandlwana. Of the 11 VCs awarded for the two-day defence of Rorke’s Drift, seven of them went to soldiers of the Second Battalion of the 24th Foot, the most ever received in a single action by one regiment. The imperialist war eventually resulted in a British victory and the end of the Zulu nation’s independence.

Kent’s other connection to the conflict is that of Major William Knox-Leet, a Victoria Cross winner from another battle in the war.

He is buried at St Mary the Virgin churchyard in Great Chart, near Ashford. The Irishman won his medal in the Battle of Hlobane, a heavy defeat for the British Army, for going back to save the lives of wounded men . He eventually rose to the rank of Major General.

Outside the Black Horse, there will be re-enactors dressed in uniforms worn in battle, known as living history displays. A section of the pub will be covered in artefacts, prints, books and documents from the time. There will also be films, prints, music and trade stands.

A call to arms

The 24th Regiment of Foot was founded in Pluckley in 1689. It was called Sir Edward Dering’s Regiment of Foot after the local MP who was called upon by William III to increase the size of the army to protect England against France.

Like his father and grandfather before him, Dering served as an MP for the County of Kent and sat in the last three parliaments of Charles II’s reign. The Dering family are all buried at St Nicholas’s Church in Pluckley. The Dering family is distantly related to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The regiment survives today as the Royal Welsh.

Ghosts of the Zulu War runs at the Black Horse in Pluckley, near Ashford, on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25. Admission free. Call 01233 841948.