A Primary School welcomed a special guest to their school, Shenkin the official goat of the Royal Welsh.

The mascot attended the school with the Regimental Band and Corps of Drums of The Royal Welsh Regiment after they had played a special service at Brecon Cathedral to mark the 140th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Isandlwana and the defence of Rorke’s Drift.

The service was held in the Cathedral’s Regimental Chapel which is dedicated to the memory of the famous Brecon-based 24th Regiment of Foot. Corporal Andrew Farquharson said children at the school have been learning about Rorke’s Drift but said they were also impressed to learn the band often performs at the Millennium Stadium before Welsh rugby matches.

He said: “It was a great experience to perform at the Cathedral and at the school. The children have been learning about Rorke’s Drift and to make it a little bit more real for them.

“I think the year six class have been doing a project on a VC recipient and we came to the school and also talked about how we perform at the rugby as well, which I think the children may have been a little more interested in than in the historical side.”

During the battle of Isandlwana, in the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879, British forces lost more than 1,300 of their 1,800 troops, including all those on the forward firing line. It is the defence of the British outpost at Rorke’s Drift which has become a key moment in British military history, especially in Wales. At the garrison 150 men repelled attacks by up to 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses, Britain’s highest award for gallantry, were awarded to the defenders of Rorke’s Drift. The 24th Regiment later become the South Wales Borderers and it has been amalgamated into the Royal Welsh.

At the service at Brecon Cathedral there was also a dedication to Major Gonville Bromhead the officer and VC holder played by Caine in the film. Born in France to a notable English military family Bromhed was raised and educated in England and lieutenant in the 24th Regiment.

His VC is owned by his descendants and displayed at the Regimental Museum on The Watton, Brecon.