Mafeking Mooch Roberts relieved the town after fighting their way in. There were immense celebrations in Britain at the news (briefly creating the verb "maffick", meaning to celebrate both extravagantly and publicly). Notably, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, who had headed the defence of the town, was treated as a hero upon his return to Britain in 1903. During the years immediately following the end of the Second Boer War, men of all classes in Britain wanted to associate themselves with the heroism of those who had served at Mafeking. It was a common sight at the time to see men affecting minor disabilities
Siege of Mafeking whose orders were to command a highly mobile field force of cavalry, made the mistake of allowing his overaccumulation of stores at Mafeking to dictate his actions. Consequently, he chose to immobilize half his force to hold Mafeking against a Boer attack. Baden-Powell later claimed his forces were barely trained and he was aware of the Boers' greatly superior numbers, commando tactics and the failure of the earlier Jameson Raid and decided that the best way to tie down Boer troops would be through defence rather than attack. However, contrary to Baden-Powell's claims, his forces that remained outside the besieged