SEBASTIAN

25th January 1879, Cape Town, Cape Province, Africa

This afternoon we received the most dreadful news. Lord Chelmsford’s column has been defeated by the Zulus. By all accounts it is a complete disaster, our men have been massacred. There are no details about individual officers yet, but I fear greatly for Basil. I pray somehow he may be one of a lucky few who perhaps escaped the slaughter. Although, from the reports I have seen, it seems this is unlikely.

Naturally, I am bereft. I dare not commit the full depth of my feelings to this journal but, suffice to say, these events carry a high degree of personal distress for me. I cannot conceive of a life without Basil, I do not know how I will function, I do not know how I will live. To have him snatched from me like this is the bitterest of blows. I will need to seek a transfer, get as far from here as I can. I saw a post in the Gazette concerning the Royal Ordnance Archaeological Unit, I may apply for that. I cannot stay here, not without Basil, not without the man I lo … the man I admired so much and shared a special friendship with.