#siegeofmafeking

Siege of Mafeking: Turning Point of the Boer War

Baden-Powell was certainly resourceful, and he employed all kinds of tricks to confuse the Boers during the siege of Mafeking. He made, for example, a searchlight out of a biscuit tin and gave it to a runner who shone the light from various positions to give the impression there were lots of lights, and so a Boer night attack would be less likely. Another ruse was to put stakes amongst the defences and then give the illusion they held in place barbed wire by having the defenders regularly step over non-existent wire. A third ruse was to place wooden crates around the town’s perimeter, only some of which had dynamite in them. A few of these crates were exploded as a deterrent to the Boers and to convince the spies inside the town that all of them were dangerous.

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