Private Alfred Henry Hook VC by Stuart Liptrot. [Print]

Private Alfred Henry Hook VC won his Victoria Cross while defending Rorkes Drift with his company (B Company) 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot and for heroic actions while inside the burning hospital at Rorkes Drift, 7pm January 1879. During the desperate struggle which took place in the hospital at about 6 pm the Zulus first forced their way into the hospital building where some thirty patients were defended by a handful of able-bodied men. A running fight ensued as the patients were evacuated from room to room, a desperate struggle made all the more terrible when the Zulus set fire to the thatched roof. Private Alfred Henry Hook held many Zulus of the uThulwana regiment at bay whilst Private John Williams and other able bodied soldiers help the less able wounded to escape. Hook received a head wound when a spear struck off his helmet.