Descendants of a soldier who fought in the famous Battle of Rorke’s Drift in 1879 have made an emotional visit to his newly marked grave, thanks to a campaign by local historians. Although Private John Connolly was buried with full military honours when he died in Swansea in November 1906, it was in an unmarked pauper’s grave because his family could not afford a memorial.
His burial location was discovered by historians Peter Hall and John Thomas, who wanted to give him a proper memorial, and in January – 140 years after the battle – John Connolly’s grave was rededicated in a special ceremony, with a headstone donated by local stonemasons.
After Mr Hall appealed in the local press in August to find John’s living relatives, the veteran’s great-grandson Kevin Connolly got in touch from his home in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. Mr Connolly always believed he had an ancestor who fought at Rorke’s Drift, which was dramatised in the 1964 film, Zulu, and had been trying to find out more for years. In the film, hospital patient Pte Connolly is carried to safety by VC recipient Henry Hook, played by the actor, James Booth.