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Siege of Mafeking: Difference between revisions
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== Siege == | == Siege == | ||
Work to build defences around the {{#ifeq:|on|<span style="display:none">{{padleft:6|16|0}}</span>}}{{convert/mi|6|{{#ifeq:{{#expr:km*0}}|0|0}}|km||||r={{#ifeq:{{{sp}}}|us|er|re}}|d=LoffAoffDbSon|s=}} perimeter of Mafeking started on 19 September 1899; the town would eventually be equipped with an extensive network of [[Trench warfare|trenches]] and gun emplacements. President [[Paul Kruger|Kruger]] of the independent Boer South African Republic declared war on 12 October 1899. Under the orders of [[Piet Cronje|General Cronje]] the Mafeking | Work to build defences around the {{#ifeq:|on|<span style="display:none">{{padleft:6|16|0}}</span>}}{{convert/mi|6|{{#ifeq:{{#expr:km*0}}|0|0}}|km||||r={{#ifeq:{{{sp}}}|us|er|re}}|d=LoffAoffDbSon|s=}} perimeter of Mafeking started on 19 September 1899; the town would eventually be equipped with an extensive network of [[Trench warfare|trenches]] and gun emplacements. President [[Paul Kruger|Kruger]] of the independent Boer South African Republic declared war on 12 October 1899. Under the orders of [[Piet Cronje|General Cronje]] the Mafeking railway and [[telegraph]] lines were cut the same day, and the town began to be besieged from 13 October. Mafeking was first [[Shell (projectile)|shelled]] on 16 October after Baden-Powell ignored Cronje's 9 o'clock deadline to surrender. | ||
Although outnumbered by over 8,000 Boer troops, the garrison withstood the siege for 217 days, defying the predictions of the politicians on both sides. Much of this was attributable to some of the cunning military deceptions instituted by Baden-Powell. Fake [[land mine|landmines]] were laid around the town in view of the Boers and their spies within the town, and his soldiers were ordered to simulate avoiding barbed wire (non-existent) when moving between trenches; guns and a searchlight (improvised from an [[acetylene]] lamp and [[biscuit tin]]) were moved around the town to increase their apparent number. (See Jon Latimer, ''Deception in War'', London: John Murray, 2001, pp.32–5.) A [[howitzer]] was built in Mafeking's railway workshops, and even an old cannon (dated 1770, it coincidentally had "B.P. & Co." engraved on the barrel)<ref name="Pakenham">Pakenham</ref>{{rp|424}} was pressed into service. Noticing the Boers had failed to remove any of the rails, Baden-Powell had an [[armoured train]] from the Mafeking railyard loaded with sharpshooters and sent up the rail line in a daring attack right into the heart of the Boer camp, followed by a safe return to Mafeking. | Although outnumbered by over 8,000 Boer troops, the garrison withstood the siege for 217 days, defying the predictions of the politicians on both sides. Much of this was attributable to some of the cunning military deceptions instituted by Baden-Powell. Fake [[land mine|landmines]] were laid around the town in view of the Boers and their spies within the town, and his soldiers were ordered to simulate avoiding barbed wire (non-existent) when moving between trenches; guns and a searchlight (improvised from an [[acetylene]] lamp and [[biscuit tin]]) were moved around the town to increase their apparent number. (See Jon Latimer, ''Deception in War'', London: John Murray, 2001, pp.32–5.) A [[howitzer]] was built in Mafeking's railway workshops, and even an old cannon (dated 1770, it coincidentally had "B.P. & Co." engraved on the barrel)<ref name="Pakenham">Pakenham</ref>{{rp|424}} was pressed into service. Noticing the Boers had failed to remove any of the rails, Baden-Powell had an [[armoured train]] from the Mafeking railyard loaded with sharpshooters and sent up the rail line in a daring attack right into the heart of the Boer camp, followed by a safe return to Mafeking. | ||
