Mafeking

Mafeking-the siege and relief by one who was there



By the turn of the twentieth century the age of industrial warfare ensured that the time of protracted sieges was all but at an end. However, southern Africa-far from the modern world-brought its own characteristics to the waging of war and so the Second Boer War (1899-1902) contained two notable sieges where the Imperial force was beset and remained contained. These were the sieges of Ladysmith and Mafeking, the most renowned Boer War siege, which lasted an incredible eight months from October, 1899 to May, 1900. It should be noted that Mafeking was deliberately established as a focus for defence to attract and tie down superior and often elusive Boer forces. This was a tactic employed both before the Boer War and since, though not always with a happy or guaranteed outcome for the defenders. This gripping account, told with the immediacy of reportage by a soldier on the sharp end of the conflict, is a siege diary kept by Major F. D. Baillie of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, it was originally published in 'The Morning Post' newspaper and includes illustrations provided to the author by 'The Daily Graphic.' After months of privation the tactic to concentrate the Boers in one place achieved its objective, Mafeking was relieved-a notable victory for British forces and a substantial defeat for the Boers. The siege drew particular attention to one of its principal officers and one of the architects of the military plan, Baden-Powell, who was propelled to fame and went on to found the boy-scout movement.

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