Mafeking Mooch determined Boer fighters. Britain’s war effort had been hampered because up to 40 percent of British recruits were unfit for military service, suffering from medical problems such as rickets and other poverty-related illnesses. Mafeking Mooch The Mafeking Mooch was an affected style of walking performed by some British men during the first decade of the 20th century to give the impression that they had been injured during the celebrated siege and/or relief of Mafeking. The town of Mafeking was home to one of the major British garrisons besieged at the start of the Second Boer War in October 1899. The
Military history of Australia during the Second Boer War disrupting supply lines. The Boers first struck at the Battle of Kraaipan on 12 October 1899. Late at night, 800 commandos rode south into the Cape Colony, attacking the British garrison at Kraaipan and cutting railway and telegraph lines. Although the British repelled their advance at the Battle of Talana Hill, and the Battle of Elandslaagte, the Boers continued to pour south, besieging the British settlement of Ladysmith and advancing on Mafeking and Kimberley. As the Boers established siege-guns around Ladysmith, the British commander of the garrison there, Sir George Stuart White, attempted a sortie with cavalry against the Boer