Since the anniversary of the Relief of Mafeking is upon us, I will show the medals of a few men who took part in this event. First the background:
After the successful relief of the Siege of Ladysmith, Lord Roberts turned his attention to the continuing Siege of Mafeking. A plan was devised whereby two relief columns would attack the encircling Boers, one from Rhodesia in the north and the other from the Cape Colony in the south. Both columns would be spearheaded by mounted infantry.
One of the mounted units that had stood out during the Natal campaign was the Imperial Light Horse, an irregular regiment raised in September 1899, mainly from Transvaal refugees. Although they were amateur soldiers with less than a month of training, men of five ILH squadrons excelled during the defeat of the Boers in the Battle of Elandslaagte, and in the Defence of Ladysmith, which included the successful raid on Gun Hill and the heroic defence of Wagon Hill. One ILH squadron also did notable service in the Relief of Ladysmith operations and its men were amongst those who rode into Ladysmith on 28/2/1900 to lift the siege. In recognition of the outstanding service given by the ILH in the few months of its existence, Lord Roberts selected this regiment to be the main mounted component of the southern column in the Mafeking relief operation.
After a sea voyage to Cape Town and a rail journey northwards, the Southern Column made for Mafeking. The ILH skirmished with the Boers on several occasions, but made steady progress and reached the outskirts of Mafeking on 16/5/1900, where it again skirmished with the Boers. Late in the afternoon, Lieutenant-Colonel Edwards, the Officer Commanding ILH, recorded that at “6 p.m. – Patrol No. 1 returned, reporting ‘all clear’, and Patrol No. 2, sometime later, reporting that they had entered Mafeking without opposition and had seen nothing of the enemy!”
On hearing this news, Colonel Mahon, the Officer Commanding Southern Column, ordered his men to assemble and move into Mafeking. Early in the morning of 17/5/1900, Colonel Baden-Powell, Officer Commanding Mafeking Garrison, welcomed the relief force into the town.
It was some men of the ILH who could make the unique claim to have been the first in to both Ladysmith and Mafeking to lift the sieges on those two towns.
With the ending of the Siege of Mafeking, the ILH added another battle honour to its already distinguished record.
