William
Jones (1839 to 15th April 1913)
Have you ever seen the 1964 film Zulu? It was based on a real event and the actor Richard Davies portrayed
the man who lies in here - William Jones.
It’s a bit of a miracle he survived to live on after his act of bravery.
He
was in the British Army during the Zulu War and on Thursday 23rd January 1879
at Rorke's Drift in South Africa he should have died a savage death. He was
one of 131 people at a hospital (39 were patients) when 4000 Zulus attacked
them. They were intent on killing every soldier, patient, doctor and nurse. The
attack lasted through the evening and night. William helped fight them off (probably with a tomahawk,
knife or spear) while six patients were removed and saved from death. The seventh
was delirious and wouldn’t get out of bed. When William returned to the ward to
retrieve him he saw he’d been stabbed to death. How William survived this
attack is incredulous – there were thirty Zulus for every person in the
hospital.
Life
after the army was rather threadbare for William. He was treated in hospital
for chronic rheumatism which said came from standing guard through countless cold
and wet nights. Before being discharged from hospital he received a Victoria Cross
medal from Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle. He left the
Army due to his rheumatism but found it difficult to find regular employment.
He did some acting and also toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He lived
in Birmingham for a while before moving back up North. Financially desperate he
pawned his Victoria Cross (it’s now in the South Wales Borderers Museum in Powys in
Wales and worth about £120,000.) He died at his daughter’s home in Ardwick in
Manchester aged 73.
I
found this cemetery in a rough industrial area on the outskirts of Manchester
city. It was getting dark and packs of kids on bikes were hanging around so I took
the Sat-Nat off the windscreen before searching for the grave. It’s a large long
cemetery with two entrances to manage its visitors. Thankfully I spotted the
grave down at one end – the red wreath would beckon over any grave-hunter. From
a distance it looked to be alone but as I strolled to it I saw it was among
many other dead folk, none with vertical headstones. William was so poor when
he died he was given a paupers burial and it was only after four years of
campaigning the headstone was added.
I
just about got out of the cemetery before a man dressed as a policeman locked
the gates. He was an ex-soldier and he took my website address so he could look
up other VC dudes.
Looking looking…
Found him…
The cemetery next to industrial buildings and is usually deserted over
the weekends…
