The Siege Of Mafeking

Author : F. Baillie
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781484949948
Total Pages : 92 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (499 download)

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Download or read book Mafeking: a Diary of the Siege written by F. Baillie and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-05-12 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Initially the Mafeking garrison had no artillery. Baden-Powell improvised various items to look like real guns and trains, while engineers manufactured a gun, known as the "Wolf," from a length of steel pipe. The Boers used the 2 two inch guns they had captured from Dr Jamieson to bombard the town. Dud shells fired from these guns were reworked and discharged at the Boer lines from the Wolf. An officer found an old muzzle loading naval gun serving as a gate post. This gun was christened "Lord Nelson" and drafted into service. Dynamite grenades were manufactured and thrown at the Boer lines and a small railway line was built across the town. In sharp contrast to the indolent Ladysmith garrison, Baden-Powell kept his men constantly on the move, raiding the Boer lines and keeping the besiegers on their toes. On 26th December 1899 Baden-Powell launched an attack on Game Tree Fort, a Boer strongpoint to the North of Mafeking. Unknown to the garrison the fort had been significantly strengthened and the attack was an expensive failure. Among the personalities in besieged Mafeking was Lady Sarah Wilson, aunt of Winston Churchill, in South Africa with her army officer husband. Lady Sarah is said to have been conducting spying activities against the Boers until arrested by General Snyman and exchanged for General Viljoen, held prisoner by Baden-Powell. For the rest of the siege Lady Sarah's bunker was the social focus of the besieged town and she herself an active member of the garrison. From January 1900 food stocks in Mafeking fell low. Baden-Powell remedied this difficulty by withholding rations from the sizeable Baralong town in the south west corner of Mafeking. On 31st March 1900 Plumer attempted to fight his way into Mafeking with the Rhodesian regiment but was repelled with heavy losses. On Saturday 12th May 1900 Field Cornet Sarel Eloff launched the most significant assault on Mafeking in an attempt to capture the town before it could be relieved by the advancing British force under Colonel Mahon. Few of the Boer burghers were prepared to take part in such a foolhardy expedition. The operation began with a feint assault on the eastern defences of the town by General Snyman. Eloff then attacked through the Baralong town and captured the police barracks in the centre of Mafeking. Eloff's men set fire to the Baralong huts as they passed through giving the Mafeking garrison an instant alarm. The Boer plan was that General Snyman would launch a further attack on the town's defences, thereby subjecting the garrison to assaults in front and rear, but this did not materialise. Throughout the rest of the day fighting raged around the barracks until Eloff was forced to surrender and the attack collapsed. Eloff was enabled to carry out his boast to his fellow Boers that he would breakfast at Dixon's Hotel the morning after the attack; but he did so as a prisoner. The following Wednesday, 16th May 1900, Colonel Mahon's flying column of Imperial Light Horse and Royal Horse Artillery rode into Mafeking after an epic ride, and the siege ended.