11. Ruses Kept the Boers From Capturing a Town That Had Been in Their Grasp
Colonel Robert Baden-Powell did not have any barbed wire at Mafeking. What he did have were plenty of wooden posts such as those from which barbed wire was strung. So he directed that the posts be hammered into the ground all around the defensive perimeter. From a distance, even with binoculars, barbed wire is difficult to see. However, the wooden posts from which barbed wire is usually strung are readily visible, and the sight of a line of such posts in the distance is indicative of barbed wire fences.
To further mislead Boer watchers, Baden-Powell had his men drop to the ground whenever they reached a line of wooden posts. They were instructed to then crawl “beneath” the imaginary barbed wire to reach the other side, before getting back on their feet, dusting themselves off, and carrying on. Such ruses, coupled with stubborn and bloody resistance when the situation warranted, worked. Baden-Powell fought off the enemy and withstood the Boer siege for 217 days. He held on to Mafeking until he was finally relieved by the arrival of a British army that chased off the Boers.
