David Rattray - historian and speaker

Anyone who went along to the lectures on Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana given annually at the Royal Geographical Society over the last few years, or was lucky enough to visit his lodge, Fugitive's Drift, will know something about David Rattray's extraordinary storytelling qualities.

Within two minutes of listening to a Rattray talk, you were there, standing in the smoke and battle, witnessing the scenes unfolding as he described them with a rare combination of passion, detail and empathy.

So it was with great sadness I discovered he had been murdered by members of an an armed gang that broke in to his lodge last week. South Africa is a beautiful country. It deserves better than this.

Daily Telegraph obituary.