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Mafikeng "Place of Stones" - A short history of the town, Overview of the Siege.- A general overview of Siege. Day to Day - The day to day happenings of the siege, as described by different people in their diaries. Important People - Biographies of people that played a role in the siege. Cultures - More about the cultures involved in the siege. Logistics - Communication, Food and Money as well as Weapons. Military Aspects - Animation of certain battles as well as a more detailed description, and the effect it had on the culture. Today and tomorrow - A Pictorial overview. Glossary - A short description of uncommon words and pronunciation of some Afrikaans words. Interviews - Interviews with famous historians. Remembrance - Lists of names that were knows to die in the war and a place were you can give your remembering to the brave heroes that died in the siege. Credits - Credits to all the people that helped to make this possible.
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In the beginning of the siege the ladies and children moved to a shell hole about a kilometer out of town. This was called the Woman's Laager. But we know that not all the woman and children left Mafikeng because L B Webster later wrote in his diary that BP decided that every man and boy available would fall under the the colours. All fit boys between 12 and 15 had to report to his HQ. There they were told that they would be employed as dispatch runners. There officer was Lieut Goodyear and there sgts were Luke Green and Ivan Stenson. Webster was one of the boys . They were issued with uniforms at Julius Weil's shop. At the beginning of the siege everybody ran for cover as they heard firing but later got so used to it that they took little notice of the shooting and only took shelter if the skirmish was heavy . The ladies were kept busty with e.g. sewing. During the siege the nuns made it their pastime (when they had time to spare) to sew. Some sew for the garrison and others made Red Cross flags, pennants, haver-sacks etc. The only fine work done was point lace. Mother Mary Stanislaus wrote about this in her dairy and in letters to her brother. Later the people of town even went for short rides in the country. The men and boys kept themselves busy with games of all sorts. They especially loved their cricket an football. Cricket, football, pony-racing and polo were regular events in town. Baden-Powell awarded the prizes. Baden Powell made it a point to keep the morale of the town high and he arranged many concerts and other forms of entertainment. He also took a leading role in the Sunday concerts. He did an impersonation of the pianist Paderewski. The polo matches had to be stopped because Cronje disapproved of the desecration of Sundays and threatened to shell the field. Church services were held but not always well attended.
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