The Siege of Mafeking remains one of the most renowned actions of the Second Boer War, with the British Army defeating a Boer force of up to 8,000 men with barely 1,500 troops. In a siege that lasted 217 days, Robert Baden-Powell and his troops withheld attack from the Boers against all the odds and Mafeking was finally relieved on 17 May 1900. It caused much public excitement in Victorian Britain, with Baden-Powell emerging as a national hero. If you want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story. One of the most famous, if controversial, battles of the Second Boer War – memorialised across South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom The Siege of Mafeking was instrumental in turning Robert Baden-Powell (later founder of the Scouts) into a national hero Includes significant contribution from South African, Canadian and Australian troops.