A VISIT to the dramatic setting for legendary film Zulu was the high spot of a St Helens soldier’s visit to South Africa.

Sergeant Wesley McDonnell, 27, was visiting Rorke’s Drift, the battle site immortalised in the 1964 Michael Caine movie.

Wesley said later: “The situation those soldiers found themselves in – outnumbered, limited logistics and isolated – raised important lessons that I can take with me to Afghanistan, if we go there.”

He was one of 22 specially selected soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster infantry unit’s three battalions, which recruit from across the north west, to take part in the trip to the historic city of Ladysmith, where they received the freedom of the city.

The platoon sergeant in the Regiment’s 1st Battalion is based at Catterick, North Yorkshire. He has served in Cyprus, Germany, the Falkland Islands, Canada, twice in Iraq and is now in training for a potential deployment to Afghanistan.

Wesley volunteered for the trip to South Africa, because he loves to travel and wanted to learn more about the Boer War of 1899-1902, which involved all the parent regiments of the Duke of Lancaster’s.

The Freedom of Ladysmith was awarded in recognition of the sacrifice made by members of the Duke of Lancaster’s parent regiments during the defence and eventual relief of the town.

While there, the soldiers took part in the freedom ceremony, parading with other military units from South Africa, before the city’s mayor Councillor M V Madlala and the colonel of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Brigadier Mike Griffiths.

The trip also saw the party take in an extensive battlefield tour, walking many historic sites including the Spion Kop, where the British lost 1,500 soldiers.

They also went adventure training, which included abseiling and white water rafting, and helped with a community project by painting a school building.

Probably the most demanding item on the trip was the Swartkop Challenge; an extreme sport, where teams pull a 1,300kg artillery gun up a 130m incline, before firing it.

Wesley does plenty of voluntary work with youth clubs and charity groups, raising money and organising events for young people, but back in Catterick he is busy preparing his platoon for the possibility of operations in Afghanistan.

He said: “My platoon has been focusing on counter IED training, basic patrol skills and marksmanship.”