And amid the smoke, gunfire and cries of soldiers locked in brutal hand-to-hand combat at Rorke's Drift, a humble Norfolk padre played a key part in one of the most celebrated victories in military history.

Rev George Smith from Docking, near Hunstanton, was the first to sight the Zulu regiments bearing down on Rorke's Drift, during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

As fighting erupted soon after on January 22, "Ammunition Smith" as he would become known, ran among the troops of the 2nd Warwickshire Regiment of Foot and Royal Engineers, handing out bullets, shouting encouragement and admonishing those who cursed in the heat of battle.

"Don’t swear, men, don’t swear," he yelled above the gunfire. "But shoot them, boys, shoot them!"

An 1880 painting entitled the Defence of Rorke's Drift by Lady Butler (Image: Wikipedia/Lady Butler)

The men defending the former trading post did just that, killing hundreds of Zulus before the attackers withdrew the following day, leaving the British with just 17 casualties.

One account from the time noted: "Chaplain Smith had slung a large haversack filled with loose cartridges about his neck.

"He circled the perimeter incessantly, filling out-thrust hands and expense pouches and replenishing his supply from time to time from the open boxes in front of the storehouse.

"He exhorted the men with wild Biblical phrases, sternly reproving every blasphemy and........

© Eastern Daily Press