Zulu Dawn is a 1979 prequel to the 1964 film Zulu directed by Douglas Hickox (Brannigan) starring Peter O'Toole, Burt Lancaster, Simon Ward and Denholm Elliott. It dramatized the events at and leading up to the Battle of Isandlwana, which occurred right before the Battle of Rorke's Drift, which occurred later that day.
The following weapons were used in the film Zulu Dawn:
The Webley Mk VI is carried by British officers and NCOs. Like the earlier film, Zulu, the Webley Mk VI stands in for the earlier Webley and Adams models which were either standard issue or privately purchased.
Colonel Pulleine (Denholm Elliott) carries a Webley Pryse as his service weapon. This weapon was commonly privately purchased by officers during this period. Mr. Fannin (Don Leonard), the Boer merchant who is chased by Zulu warriors, also appears to have this model pistol.
Both cavalry and infantry use the Martini-Enfield Artillery carbine during the film, likely due to a shortage of .450 blanks. This is inaccurate as the infantry used the rifle version shown above. Mention is made that Col. Durnford's cavalry is wholly equipped with these weapons which is also inaccurate as in reality they were largely equipped with Sniders or Westley Richards carbines.
William Vereker (Simon Ward) uses an unidentified side hammer double barreled rifle to demonstrate his riding and shooting skill to Col. Durnford (Burt Lancaster).
There are many goofs in this film, in many scenes British soldiers switch from Henry Martini rifles and carbines between shots. During the battle only some of the British troops have bayonets fitted to their rifles when they should all have fitted them before the battle began. Many of the bayonets are either incorrectly fitted or obviously made of rubber. Also evident are the fact that many of the Henry Martini rifles are actually wooden props.
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