Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian war film directed by Bruce Beresford (Double Jeopardy, Money Movers) and based on the well known play of the same name by Australian playwright Kenneth Ross. The film involves the court martial of Lieutenants Harry 'Breaker' Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) and George Ramsdale Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) . The three officers were Australians serving in the British Army with a special unit called the Bushveldt Carbineers during the The Second Boer War (1899 - 1902), more commonly known as The Boer War. They were charged with the murders of several Boer prisoners of war and a German missionary. Morant and Handcock were found guilty and executed by firing squad on February 27, 1902. Witton served several years in prison and was later released. There is still much controversy surrounding the court martial and Lt. Harry 'Breaker' Morant in particular. Morant was called Breaker because he used to "break" wild horses before joining the army. The movie was shot entirely in Australia.
The following weapons were used in the film Breaker Morant:
The Webley Mk VI Revolver is used by both the British and Australian officers. In actuality the Mk VI was not introduced until 1915. In the interest of historical accuracy they would have been using either the Webley Mk I or the Webley Mk II. However the Mk VI is more plentiful and it does have the same lines as the earlier marks.
The Lee Enfield Mk. I Rifle is used by both the Australian and British soldiers throughout the movie. It is also shown being used by some of the Boer Commandos. This is historically accurate. As the war dragged on the Boers were forced to use captured British weapons. Morant and Handcock were (historically) shot by a firing party from the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
Used by the Boer Commandos throughout the movie. 55,000 M1895 Chilean Mausers were purchased by the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (the Transvaal Republic) prior to and during the Second Boer War.However it appears that the production is using Spanish Mausers - regardless of the actual model used.
