Siege of Mafeking 212 people were killed during the siege, with over 600 wounded with further losses among the local Baralong. Boer losses were significantly higher. The siege established Baden-Powell as a celebrity in Britain, and when he wrote "Scouting for Boys" in 1908, his fame contributed to the rapid growth of the Boy Scout Movement. Siege of Mafeking The Siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mahikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of the
Mafeking Cadet Corps he was a cadet. The youngest cadets on the nominal roll were aged 11. At the end of the siege, 24 cadets were awarded the Defence of Mafeking bar to the Queen's South Africa Medal. Robert Baden-Powell was the British commander during the siege of Mafeking. He was impressed by the cadets and wrote of them in the opening pages of his 1908 book, "Scouting for Boys". Baden-Powell related the following conversation with one of the cadets: "I said to one of these boys on one occasion, when he came in through rather a heavy fire: 'You will get hit