William Partridge

William Partridge was born in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire on 27 June 1858. William moved to Blaina, Monmouthshire when he was a young boy with his parents. He enlisted into the 24th Regiment of Foot at Newport on 7 June 1877 having previously served in the Royal Monmouthshire Militia. From Blaina to South Africa William was one of a draft that joined the 2/24th in South Africa in July 1878. In January 1878, he was one of the small garrison at Rorke's Drift which held out from over 12 hours when the mission station was attacked by a Zulu force of 4,500 warriors. Following the end of the Zulu war, William remained with the 2nd Battalion when it moved to Gibraltar, but was soon back in Great Britain. Marriage