Grave of Lance Sergeant James Taylor, who fought in Rorke's Drift, to receive full headstone

Lance Sergeant James Taylor was one of 140 men in the 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment which fought against 4,000 Zulu warriors while defending a hospital and supply depot, during the height of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1878.

The battle, known as Rorke’s Drift, was rewarded by Queen Victoria with 11 Victoria Crosses, and was later immortalised by the epic war film Zulu (1964) starring Michael Caine.

Mr Taylor, from Yorkshire, was a clerk living in Manchester aged 19 when he joined the war effort and continued to serve in Gibraltar and India. He left the military aged 65, settling with his wife and daughter in Trefnant as the clerk for a toymaker in 1893.

Mr Taylor died in 1919 and was buried after full military funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Trefnant.

Holy Trinity Church. Picture: Geoff Abbott

Despite the Rorke’s Drift’s historic status, many of the surviving soldiers’ graves were marked with initialled iron crosses because their families, like Mr Taylor’s, could not afford a full headstone.

In March, the Free Press published an article calling for a nearby stonemason to help Tim Needham, drum major for the Royal Marines Band in Plymouth, who is leading an individual project to commemorate the graves of the surviving soldiers of Rorke’s Drift. He has had a long-standing interest in the battle, which he says has “a special place in the public psyche”.

Michael Caine (pictured) starred as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, an infantry officer, in the epic war film Zulu.

“Because many of the soldiers who fought in the battle were from ordinary families they were not well off, so they couldn’t afford headstones,” he said.

“A simple metal cross bearing only Mr Taylor’s initials once marked the plot, but it has long since disappeared, leaving nothing to indicate whose grave it is.

“Anyone who has seen the film Zulu, whatever their political beliefs, can’t help being impressed. It is not necessarily a case of marking these soldiers as heroes but because the battle is historic.”

Mr Taylor's grave was marked by a plain iron cross in the Trefnant churchyard. Picture: Geoff Abbott

The headstone was made by Vale of Clwyd Memorials, from Denbigh, with Indian granite and polished lettering to make it long-lasting.

Midge Morris, who owns the stonemason with her husband Richard, said: “We were happy to help because it is history and James Taylor fought bravely, so it should be recognised.”

Mr Taylor’s great-granddaughter, Sylvia Hughes, 70, from Rhyl, said she is “absolutely” behind Mr Needham’s campaign. Her daughter Lesley, 41, and grandchildren Peter and Ryan, aged 16 and 12, live in Trefnant and visit the grave.

Mrs Hughes said she “can’t put into words” what the headstone means to the family.

Tim Needham alongside a monument at the batle site of Rorke's Drift in South Africa.

“Many people do not know that a Rorke’s Drift survivor is buried there unless we tell them, and then they are amazed by it,” she said. “The soldiers who survived the war don’t get enough praise for going on to live ordinary lives.

“We’re so grateful to Tim, the stonemasons and the Rector.”

Mr Taylor will receive a public military ceremony at the church, attended by Denbighshire County Council dignitaries, the Lord Left Lieutenant of Clwyd and cadet forces. Hymns will be sung before the Last Post is played in the churchyard, when the headstone will be unveiled.

Chair of the county council, Meirick Lloyd Davies, whose ward is Trefnant, said: “This is a very important ceremony about a moment in history that a lot of people have forgotten about.

“It is an honour to commemorate one of our own soldiers, particularly after the First World War commemorations last year.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the ceremony at Holy Trinity Church, starting at 11am on June 15.