Cecil Rhodes a one-off gun named Long Cecil. Rhodes used his position and influence to lobby the British government to relieve the siege of Kimberley, claiming in the press that the situation in the city was desperate. The military wanted to assemble a large force to take the Boer cities of Bloemfontein and Pretoria, but they were compelled to change their plans and send three separate smaller forces to relieve the sieges of Kimberley, Mafeking and Ladysmith. Although Rhodes remained a leading figure in the politics of southern Africa, especially during the Second Boer War, he was dogged by ill health throughout
Military history of Australia during World War II II cost thousands of Australian lives and consumed a large portion of the national income. During the war, 27,073 members of the Australian military were either killed, died of wounds or died while prisoners of war. Of these, 9,572 were killed in the war against Germany and Italy and 17,501 in the war against Japan. Prisoners of war held by the Japanese made up nearly half of Australia's deaths in the Pacific. At least 386 Australian civilian seamen were killed during the war. Total Australian war expenditure was £2,949,380,000 and at its peak in 1942–43, military costs accounted for 40.1